Learning the American Accent: How to Pronounce Past Tense Verbs

You’ve mastered the past tense verbs.  You’ve changed see to saw, am to was, and added the “-ed” for the regular past tense.  You’ve read, learned, written, and spoken:  but did you say it correctly?  Even though we add two letters (“ed”) to make a verb past tense, we usually only add one sound.  Sometimes, it’s a voiced “d” sound, as in played or listened.  Sometimes, the “ed” is pronounced as the unvoiced “t” sound, as in “looked.”  When the sound preceding the “ed” is voiceless, like the “k” in “look,” the “ed” will also be voiceless.  When it is a vowel or voiced consonant, such as in play or listen, the “ed” will also be voiced.  But when the verb ends with a t or d, we add a syllable, pronouncing the “e” as well as the “d,” and is “treated” or “headed.”  Look at the lists below for more examples, or listen to the recording to practice the correct pronunciation.

Past tense verbs with a voiceless “t” sound:

liked

looked

worked

helped

stopped

talked

washed

noticed

Past tense verbs with a voiced “d” sound:

called

showed

lived

moved

answered

turned

learned

played

remembered

dried

rained

snowed

happened

named

Past tense verbs with an added syllable (sounds “e” and “d”):

ended

sounded

wanted

landed

needed

pointed

waited

wanted

Want even more past tense verbs?  Try our Online Courses.