Learning the past tense of regular verbs is an essential part of mastering the English language. While many verbs follow the same rule of adding -ed to the base form of the verb to form the past tense, there are three different pronunciations for -ed: /t/, /d/, and /id/. In this blog post, we will focus on teaching regular past tense -ed with a focus on sound /t/, /d/, and /id/.
Teaching Regular Past Tense -ed with a Focus on Pronunciation
Let's look at the pronunciation of /t/. When the final consonant sound of a regular verb is voiceless, such as "walk," "laugh," or "ask," the -ed ending is pronounced with a /t/ sound. For example, "walk" becomes "walked," "laugh" becomes "laughed," and "ask" becomes "asked." It is important to teach students to pronounce the /t/ sound clearly and distinctly and to not let it merge with the preceding sound.
The pronunciation of /d/ follows a different rule. When the final consonant sound of a regular verb is voiced, such as "live," "move," or "love," the -ed ending is pronounced with a /d/ sound. For example, "live" becomes "lived," "move" becomes "moved," and "love" becomes "loved."
Lastly, the pronunciation of /id/ is used when the final consonant sound of a regular verb is either /t/ or /d/. For example, "want" becomes "wanted," "need" becomes "needed," and "end" becomes "ended." To produce the /id/ sound, the tongue touches the back of the top teeth and then moves down, producing a quick "d" sound. Teaching the correct pronunciation of /id/ is crucial, as it is often overlooked and mispronounced.
Looking for an activity to help you with this? Bjorem Speech has a Regular Past Tense -Ed deck that is perfect! There are cards that provide a sound cue for each of the ways we produce past tense -ed. The back of each card tells you how it is pronounced based on the target word and the spelling pattern. Watch this video to see how I use these cards!
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