There are three ways to pronounce the final -ed of regular verbs in the simple past tense. This pronunciation is determined by the final sound of the verb in the infinitive: Is it a voiced consonant, an unvoiced consonant, or a vowel sound?

Learn more about vowel sounds and voiced and unvoiced sounds in the lesson on English phonetics.

After unvoiced sounds such as p, k, f, s, , and the final -ed is pronounced like t as in the word cat. Note that the -e remains silent.

Click on these words to hear the sound files.

IPA*	infinitive	past tense
p
	help	helped
f	stuff	stuffed
	laugh	laughed
s	miss	missed
	dice	diced
	fix	fixed
k	look	looked
	fish	fished
	march	marched

*IPA refers to the International Phonetic Alphabet.

After voiced sounds such as b, , g, v, z, , , m, n, ŋ, l, and r the final -ed sound is pronounced like d as in good. Note that the -e remains silent.

IPA	infinitive	past tense
b	grab	grabbed
g	hug	hugged
v	save	saved
z	ooze	oozed
	please	pleased
	massage	massaged
	rage	raged
m
	resume	resumed
n	sign	signed
ŋ	bang	banged
l	peel	peeled
r	honor	honored
	breathe	breathed

The final -ed is also pronounced like the d in good after all vowel sounds. Note that the -e remains silent.

For verbs ending in d and t the final -ed is pronounced Id as in the final two letters of the word did.

Note that here the -e is not silent and this final -ed sound adds another syllable to the end of the verb.

Learn more about English pronunciation and verbs.

Pronunciation     International Phonetic Alphabet

Verbs     Present Tense     Simple Past

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