Pronouncing "ed" Endings

Free online pronouncing "ed" endings lessons and exercises. In these exercises, students learn proper pronunciation of "ed" endings. Included are explanations and examples of the three possible "ed" ending pronunciations (t, d, id). This section seems to be especially helpful to English as a Second Language students. Words that end in "ed" are abundant, and their pronunciation rules can be difficult to memorize. For students who did not have the advantage of learning these rules during the critical period of language acquisition (ages 2-12), understanding when to use the different "ed" pronunciations can be especially frustrating. Therefore, until these rules become more intuitive for the student in everyday speech, the best method of practice remains repetition, listening to their pronunciation when spoken by other native English speakers, and using them in the most common sentence structures.

Exercises

• Exercise 1 - Choose the correct "ed" ending sound. Multiple choice. 10 questions long.
• Exercise 2 - Choose the correct "ed" ending sound. Multiple choice. 10 questions long.
• Exercise 3 - Choose the correct "ed" ending sound. Multiple choice. 10 questions long.
• Exercise 4 - Choose the correct "ed" ending sound. Multiple choice. 10 questions long.
• Exercise 5 - Choose the correct "ed" ending sound. Multiple choice. 10 questions long.
• Final Exam - Cumulative Review. Drop down list. Practice what you have learned by choosing the correct pronunciation for multiple words written in a paragraph.

Explanation

• “ed” endings may be pronounced in one of the following three ways:

1)  t

2)  id

3)  d

Note: There are several exceptions to the rules explained below. Each of the following words do not follow the “ed” ending rules. For these words, the “ed” ending is pronounced like “id”.

aged blessed crooked

dogged learned naked

ragged wicked wretched

1)    “ed” endings are pronounced “t” if the end of the word sounds like:

 K, S, Ch, Sh, F, P, Th

Example: I helped my mom make cookies yesterday.

• In this example, the end of the word “help” sounds like P. So, the “ed” ending is pronounced “t”.

2)    “ed” endings are pronounced “id” if the end of the word sounds like:

T or D

Example: I wanted to go to the beach last weekend.

• In this example, the end of the word “want” sounds like T. So, the “ed” ending is pronounced “id””.

3)    “ed” endings are pronounced “d” for all other ending sounds:

A, B, E, G, H, I , J, L, M, N, O, Q, R, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

Example: I played soccer this afternoon.

• In this example, the end of the word “play” sounds like Y. So, the “ed” ending is pronounced “d”.