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ESL Guide to Past Tense "ed" Endings

This document discusses pronunciation of the "ed" ending in past tense verbs in English. It notes that the "e" is usually silent when added to regular verbs ending in a silent "e", but is pronounced when the verb ends in "d" or "t" to avoid confusion. A few examples are provided of verbs where the "e" is pronounced or silent in the past participle. Suggestions are made to practice reading sentences in the past tense to become more familiar with pronunciation of "ed" endings.

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Junia Schanberger
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61 views2 pages

ESL Guide to Past Tense "ed" Endings

This document discusses pronunciation of the "ed" ending in past tense verbs in English. It notes that the "e" is usually silent when added to regular verbs ending in a silent "e", but is pronounced when the verb ends in "d" or "t" to avoid confusion. A few examples are provided of verbs where the "e" is pronounced or silent in the past participle. Suggestions are made to practice reading sentences in the past tense to become more familiar with pronunciation of "ed" endings.

Uploaded by

Junia Schanberger
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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January 13, 2011

by: Philip Schanberger

SUBJECT OBSERVATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS


Past Tense (past A common observation of native Portuguese speakers is hearing the e pronounced
participles) with in “ed” endings on “regular” (as opposed to irregular verbs) verbs in the past tense
“ed” endings (known as the past participle). This is very common amongst ESL speakers of all
levels. However, some verbs in the past tense do pronounce the e in the “ed” ending
as the following illustrates.

They walked to the store and it started to rain. The “e” is silent in “walked”, but
pronounced in “started.”

Infinitive Past Participle


Access Accessed. Silent “e.”
Accept Accepted. Pronounced “e.”

When a regular verb ends in a silent e, only the letter d must be added in order to
form the past participle. The e remains silent in the past participle.

Infinitive Past Participle


  to close   closed
  to move   moved
  to please   pleased
  to receive   received

The ending ed is usually not pronounced as a separate syllable. For instance, in


each of the following examples, both the bare infinitive and the past participle consist
of one syllable. For example:

Bare Infinitive Past Participle


  puff   puffed
  work   worked
  miss   missed
  watch   watched

However, when the ending ed is added to verbs which end in d or t, the ed ending of
the past participle is pronounced as a separate syllable. The reason for this is that
the sounds of d and t are so similar to the sound of the ed ending, that the ending
must be pronounced as a separate syllable in order to be heard clearly.

In each of the following examples, the bare infinitive consists of one syllable;
whereas the past participle consists of two syllables and the e in the “ed” ending is
pronounced. For example:

Bare Infinitive Past Participle


  add   added
  land   landed
  hunt   hunted
  wait   waited

Similarly, when d is added to verbs ending in a silent e preceded by d or t, the final


ed of the past participle is pronounced as a separate syllable. In each of the following
examples, the bare infinitive consists of one syllable; whereas the past participle
consists of two syllables and hence, the e in the “ed” ending is pronounced. For
example:

Bare Infinitive Past Participle


  fade   faded
  glide   glided
  cite   cited
  note   noted

Grammar Notes: Most English verbs form the past participle in a regular, predictable
manner. These verbs are commonly referred to as regular verbs.

The past participle of a regular English verb is formed by adding the ending ed to the
bare infinitive of the verb. For instance, the past participle of the verb to work is
worked.

When a regular verb ends in y immediately preceded by a consonant, the y is


changed to i before the ending ed is added. For example:

Infinitive Past Participle


  to study   studied
  to rely   relied
  to carry   carried

However, when a regular verb ends in y immediately preceded by a vowel, the y is


not changed before the ending ed is added. For example:

Infinitive Past Participle


  to play   played
  to convey   conveyed
  to enjoy   enjoyed

Suggestion: Practice reading aloud simple sentences written in the past tense that
utilize verbs with an “ed” ending.

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