Pronunciation Guide: Regular Simple Past Verbs [Words that End in ed]

When pronouncing a simple past tense verb, (a verb that ends in ed), you will use one of three different sounds for its ed ending. It will be either id, t, or d. To determine which verb will end with which ed sound will depend upon what the last sound was in the infinitive verb. For example: walk ends in a k sound, call ends in a l sound, and want ends in a t sound. These regular verbs in the past tense are walked, called, and wanted. The ed of these simple past tense verbs are all pronounced differently. Walked ends in a t sound. This past tense verb is only one syllable, as in wokt. Called ends in a d sound. This past tense verb is also one syllable, as in cald. Wanted however ends in an id sound, making this verb two syllables, as in want-id.

Sound #1: The ed sound id
Only regular verbs ending in either a t or d sound such as want or sound will make the ed sound like an id. This id sound is an extra syllable in these words. Wanted is pronounced want-id" and sounded is pronounced sound-id. Both words now have two syllables in the simple past tense, now that ed is added. The words want and sound end with a t and a d sound. Because of these sounds alone, when the ed is applied, the ed is pronounced id. Because the root word walk of walked ends in a k sound for example, it will not have an id sound.

Here are twelve verbs that do end with a t sound:
date, gate, haunt, mount, note, pant, pet, rant, taunt, want, wait, and vote. When each of these verbs is in the past tense, it has an ed ending. This ending is pronounced id. The words then become dated (date-id), gated (gate-id), haunted (haunt -id), mounted (mount-id), noted (note-id), panted (pant-id), petted (pet-id), ranted (rant-id), taunted (taunt-id), wanted (want-id), waited (wait-id), and voted (vote-id). All of these verbs now have an extra syllable because of the ed ending pronounced id.

Here are twelve verbs that end with a a d sound:
bud, demand, fade, fund, hand, kid, mind, nod, raid, sound, wade, and wind. When these verbs are in the past tense, they have an ed ending that is pronounced id. The words then become budded (bud-id, demanded (demand-id), faded (fade-id), funded (fund-id), handed (hand-id), kidded (kid-id), minded (mind-id), nodded (nod-id), raided (raid-id), sounded (sound-id), waded (wade-id), winded (wind-id). All of these verbs now have an extra syllable because of the ed ending pronounced id.

I repeat only those regular infinitive verbs ending in with a t or d sound will have an id sound when the ed is applied in the simple past tense.

Sound #2: The ed sound t
Only regular verbs ending in the following sounds: ch, f, gh (f), ph (f), k, p, c(s), s, sh, or x will have a t sound for the ed in the simple past tense form. Examples of these verbs ending in ed are: watched (watcht), stuffed (stuft), laughed (laft), morphed (morft), walked (wokt), helped (helpt), danced (danst) or missed (mist), washed (washt) and fixed (fixt). Unlike the id sound of ed on an infinitive verb that ends in either a t or a d sound, adding an ed that is a t sound does not add an additional syllable.  For example, the verb laugh is one syllable and after adding ed, laughed is still one syllable.  

Sound #3: The ed sound d
Only regular verbs ending in the following sounds: a vowel sound, g (a hard g), g (a soft g that sounds like j), l, m, mb (an m with a silent b), n, ng, r, s (an s that sounds like a z), v, z, and end in the will have a d sound for the ed in the simple past tense form. Examples of these verbs ending in ed are: glued (glewd), plugged (plugd), changed (chainjd), called (cald), hemmed (hemd), climbed (klimd), phoned (fownd), stringed (stringd), entered (enterd), advised (advizd), lived (livd), realized (reelizd), and bathed (bathd).  Unlike the id sound of ed on an infinitive verb that ends in either a t or a d sound, adding an ed that is a d sound does not add an additional syllable.  For example the verb call is one syllable and after adding ed, called is still one syllable.