Have you heard people say words that use “ed” in them and it somehow sounds like a “d?”
Like have you heard somebody say that they “called” their mother, and the sound that comes from this doesn’t make sense to you?
Does this seem like a confusing aspect of English learning for you?
This is the next episode in our series on pronunciation, as it is such an important part of learning a new language.
Though English can be confusing at times, this series will take you through some common scenarios so that you can begin to understand how this works and the right way to say common words.
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Mastering Your Pronunciation
Pronunciation is such an important part of learning a new language.
Though there are multiple factors to mastering English, you will find that pronunciation is one of the most important.
You will find that practice helps you to master pronunciation, and this is something that you want to keep up with.
The reality is that miscommunication might actually keep you from making the connections in English that you want.
So this is a really important area as you are learning and trying to master English or any other language for that matter.
There are tricky things about English pronunciation to be aware of, and one of those areas is what we are focusing on today.
The area of pronunciation that we are focusing on today is the fact that “ed” can make three different sounds!
Luckily, once you know the rules it is pretty simple and that’s why we want to help you with today!
In this series, we are focusing on some of the trickiest English pronunciation and teaching you ways to make it easier.
You can learn things that even the natives may struggle with from time to time—and your conversations will go up a notch when you have these things under control.
The Next Step In Excellent Pronunciation
In this series, we are taking you through common issues that even natives struggle with.
We are focusing on the things that will help you to overcome the most common mispronunciation mistakes, and therefore help you to stay on track.
So the rule today is focused on this–If the verb base ends in a voiced sound, then the –ed ending sounds like “d”.
We will get into examples of this, but for right now think about this so that you can conceptualize how this may work.
As we did last time, we’re going to show you how this sound is made and formed so that you can get a feel for this.
You can try to go through this and even feel yourself making this sound so that you can get into good habits.
A voiced sound uses the vocal cords, and so you can try this to feel them at work.
A vibration or humming sound is made in the throat, and you can feel that happening within there.
This is something that you have likely done so many times, and never really given it a second thought.
Make the letter sound and touch your throat to feel it.
Some examples of this very sound are below for you to check out.
L rolled, called
N pinned, cleaned
R cared, offered
G raged, damaged
V grieved, loved
*S (Z) abused, used
*Z amazed, crazed
W flawed, followed
Y* obeyed
EIGH* weighed
Along the same lines, there are instances that you want to consider where a similar sound is made.
If the verb base ends in T or D, “ed” sounds like “id” or “ud”.
There aren’t as many examples of that, but there may be more than you think.
T created, wanted, hated, charted
D weeded, pleaded, guarded
Roleplay To Help
In this roleplay, Aubrey and Lindsay are talking about time management and how they use their time in certain situations.
Aubrey: “I was really productive this morning! I rolled out of bed and immediately cleaned my bathroom and then weeded our backyard!”
Lindsay: “Oh nice! I called my mom and we had a great chat.”
Aubrey: “I’m always amazed how much time can go by and suddenly I realize I haven’t talked to my mom in awhile! I used to call her every week!”
Lindsay: “A friend once offered some advice that if you have 5 minutes free, you should reach out and catch up with someone, because 5 minutes is enough to show them you cared enough to think of them.”
Aubrey: “If I’d followed that advice, I’d be much closer to friends from my youth. I’ve grieved for relationships that were damaged just because I didn’t stay in touch!”
Lindsay: “Yeah, it happens to the best of us. We’re all flawed!”
Takeaway
We don’t want pronunciation to be a stumbling block for you, and so hopefully this series is helping you a lot.
English can seem so confusing, but if you get to understand these rules and practice frequently you can overcome common errors.
One such area that can be confusing is what we focused on today, like why “ed” makes three different sounds.
As you can hopefully see, when you know the rules it doesn’t seem so complicated and frustrating.
Now that you know why this happens, you’ll notice verbs that end in “ed” when you’re listening to podcasts, watching TV or chatting with friends.
Being aware and practicing are what will help you to master pronunciation and ensure that you can speak like the natives and be an active participant in conversations.
If you have any questions, please leave them below in the comments section.
We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.