Pronouncing -ed endings

Look at the sound immediately before the -ed — the sound, never the letter. If it is /t/ or /d/, the ending is a new syllable. Otherwise it matches the voicing of that sound: voiceless takes /t/, voiced takes /d/.

This is the only case that makes the word longer. want has one syllable; wanted has two.

After p, k, f, s, sh, ch or a voiceless th. No extra syllable — walked is one syllable and ends in a clean t.

Everything else: b, g, v, z, m, n, l, r, and all vowels. No extra syllable.

laughed ends in the letters ghed but the sound before -ed is /f/, which is voiceless, so it takes /t/ — laft. washed ends in /ʃ/, also voiceless, so washt. Only ever listen to the sound.

Test yourself: say the base verb aloud, stop before the ending, and notice whether your throat is vibrating. That is the whole rule.

A small set of -ed adjectives keep the older /ɪd/ pronunciation even though the rule would predict otherwise. learned as an adjective meaning scholarly is LEARN-id, while the past tense verb is learnd. The same happens with aged , blessed and beloved .

The matching rule for plurals and third-person verbs is in the -s endings guide, and the whole set is playable as a word list.

Every word above is a button. Set the accent and voice you want on the main screen, then come back — the guides use whatever you chose. To hear two accents against each other, use Compare; to test whether you can actually hear a contrast, use the listening quiz.