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The -ed ending
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Words Ending In "D"
by Frank Gerace
The different sounds that the letter"d" takes at the end of a verb in the past tense.
(An extract from the book: Word Power by the author of this article.)
The English language indicates that the action of the verb is in
the past by having some form of the "d" or "t" sound end the word.
We say some kind of "d" or "t" sound although
the word is almost always written with a "d".
Many people who learn English are so confused by the irregular
forms of the verbs that they give up and invent their own ways
of referring to the past. Some say: "Yesterday I walk to work" or
other ways to avoid using the past tense that they have never learned.
Sure, there are irregular words in English. The past of teach is
taught; the past of buy is bought; the past of think is thought.
But even these irregular words end in some kind of a "t" sound
to indicate that the verb refers to the past. Luckily, there aren't
too many of these irregular verbs. You just have to learn them.
The good thing is that they behave more or less the same way.
But let's look at the regular verbs. Most English verbs are regular.
To indicate the past, they put some kind of a sound made with the
tongue touching the back of the upper teeth. Almost always it is
the sound of a "d" or of a "t".
The ending of the verb “love” in the past: “I
loved the movie” is very different from the ending of the
verb “walk”: "I walked to work.” When it sounds
like the letter “d”, it is a voiced sound, that is
the vocal cords vibrate. When it sounds like a “t”,
it is a voiceless or an unvoiced sound.
But how do you know when it should end with a voiced "d" sound
and when with a voiceless "t" sound? Although you may not believe
it, there is a "rule" that will help you to form the past of most
English verbs. You may still make some mistakes but little by little
you will feel the mistakes and will correct them. The structure
of your mouth will force you to make the right sound.
The "rule" for the formation of the past is similar to the "rule" for
the "s" at the end of plural nouns and verbs in the third person
singlular of the present tense.
The rule of the "d" in three parts:
There is a one simple "rule" that covers the pronunciation
of the "d" and "t" sounds.
The sound that indicates the past of the verb is the voiceless "t" sound
when the verb ends in a voiceless consonant. On the other hand,
the indication of the past is the voiced "d" sound when the verb
ends in a voiced consonant.
The three parts of the rule are:
1. the voiceless "t" sound,
2. the voiced "d" sound,
3. the added syllable.
1. The voiceless (unvoiced) "t"
The "rule" tells us when the last sound of a verb is is like that
of the words talk, cap, mess, etc (that is, a
voiceless sound), the past of the verb ends with a voiceless (or
unvoiced) sound like that of the word walked. The past of these
verbs is talked, capped, messed and the "d" is
unvoiced.
For example the letter "d" that represents the past in the written
word is pronounced like the "t" of Tom (a voiceless sound) when
the verb ends in a voiceless sound. So when the verb ends in voiceless
sounds such as the letters k in the word looked, p in the word
stopped, f in the word cuffed (or gh in the word laughed) the past
is indicated by the voiceless "t" sound. This always happens so
don't be fooled by the written letter "d".
The past tense of the verb is also indicated by a voiceless sound
when the verb ends in any "hissing" sound such as the words: face,
wash, crunch. All these sounds are voiceless so the
verbs that end with them will always have the "d" of their past
form sounded voicelessly and therefore become the forms faced,
washed, crunched.
It is important to note that although the voiceless "d" is written "ed",
you do NOT add a syllable to the original word.
2. The voiced "d"
The "d" is voiced in two situations:
a. when the word ends in a vowel sound such as, played,
teed, owed, cued.
The "strange" vowels are also followed by a voiced "d" such as
in the words: furred, papered, pawed. The past
of verbs ending in a diphthong sound also end in a voiced "d" sound,
for example in the words: plowed, paid, toyed .
b. when the word ends in a voiced consonant.
Some examples of the second case are: b as in
the word robbed, n in the word drowned, l in
the word mailed, g in the word logged, v in
the word heaved, m n the word farmed, n as
in the word panned, thesoundof the letters ng as
in the word ring, r as in the word cars, v as
in the word stoves, and thin the word bathed.
Remember that that the voiced "d" sound forms the past of verbs
that end in a voiced consonant, for example, burned is
the past of the verb burn and lovedis the past
of love.
It is important to note that although the voiced "d" in these words
is written with "ed", you do NOT add an extra syllable.
3. The added syllable
In both cases, when the verb ends in either the sound of the
voiced "d" or
the sound of the voiceless "t", the English language adds a syllable
to the verb.
For example, the verbs in the present tense visit, vote,
side, need, plant, adopt, add "ed" to make the past
tense and become visited, voted, sided, needed, planted, adopted.
The "ed" is pronounced with a special vowel followed by a voiced "d".
The special vowel is the "short i" which has the IPA symbol of
the small capital
"i". We treat this sound in the book in the chapter on
the short vowels. Remember a ship is not a sheep. You have to be
able to hear the difference to be able to use this vowel in the
added syllable.
It is only in this special case that you pronounce
the second syllable of the past of a verb. Not all verbs have two
syllables in the past. It is important that you realize that most
common English verbs have only one syllable. Do not think that
you have to pronounce the "ed" of the words such as walked,
talked, played, tuned, tooled. Do not read these words
as they were written in your language.
Although many verbs have "ed" in their past, it is just a strange
note of English spelling. You often only pronounce one syllable
with the past indicated by a voiced "d" or an unvoiced "t" according
to which sound preceded the ending.
You only pronounce the "ed" when the root form of the verb ends
with your tongue touching the back of your teeth, either with a
voiced "d" sound or with an unvoiced "t" sound. For example, "Today,
I heat the coffee but yesterday I heated it" (2 syllables because
the last consonant is a "t"). But, "Today I talk to my friend but
yesterday I talked on the phone." (one syllable because the last
consonant is not a "t" or a "d")
The extra syllable: Listen to this as often as necessary for you
to be able to distinguish the unvoiced "t" from the voiced "d".
Review and practice all parts of the “RULE”!
The first part of the "rule": the voiceless "t";
The second part of the "rule": the voiced "d" :
The third part of the "rule": the added syllable