English with Darren

What sound does -ed make in the word called?  Is it a /d/ sound or an /ɪd/ sound?

Listen and read.

General rules

We add -ed to regular verbs in the Past Simple:

I usually call my sister at the weekend, but last week I called her on Monday.

We pronounce -ed /d/ here.

call:  /kɔːl/

called:  /kɔːld/

Most verbs just make a /d/ sound at the end when we add -ed, for example:

	/d/
enjoy	enjoyed
play	played
show	showed
rain	rained
learn	learned

Exceptions

But this isn't the same for all verbs.  What sounds can you hear at the end of these words?

• stopped
• booked
• danced
• watched

Look at the table below.  Were you right?

	/pt/	/kt/	/st/	/tʃt/
stop	stopped
book		booked
dance			danced
watch				watched

Two more important sounds

There's one last important group of sounds.  Listen to the pronunciation of the words below.  What are the last sounds that you can hear?

• end
• decide
• visit
• want

These words end in either a /d/ or a /t/ sound.

Listen to the pronunciation of the words below.  What happens to the /d/ and /t/ sounds when we add the letters -ed?

• ended
• decided
• visited
• wanted

Check your answers in the table. 

	/dɪd/	/tɪd/
end	ended
decide	decided
visit		visited
want		wanted

1. When a word ends in a /d/ sound like end or decide, it makes a /dɪd/ sound when we add -ed:  /'end.ɪd/ and /dɪˈsaɪ.dɪd/.
2. When a word ends in a /t/ sound like visit or want, it makes a /tɪd/ sound when we add -ed:  /ˈvɪz.ɪ.tɪd/ and  /'wɒn.tɪd/

Syllables

Look at the table below.  What also happens when we add -ed to a word that ends in a /t/ or /d/ sound?

Verb		Verb + ed
end	1 syllable	en.ded	2 syllables
de.cide	2 syllables	de.ci.ded	3 syllables
vis.it	2 syllables	vis.i.ted	3 syllables
want	1 syllable	wan.ted	2 syllables

• The answer is that we make an extra syllable.  For example, the word end has one syllable, but when we add -ed, it has two syllables: /'en.dɪd/
• We only make an extra syllable when we add -ed to a /t/ or /d/ sound.  For all the other examples on this page, the number of syllables stays the same when we add -ed.

call	1 syllable	called	1 syllable
enjoy		enjoyed
play		played
show		showed
rain		rained
learn		learned
stop		stopped
book		booked
dance		danced
watch		watched

Interested in learning more?

When we add -ed to stop, the spelling changes to stopped. 

We also change the spelling when we add -ed to try:  tried, but not when we add -ed  to play:  played.

There are three spelling rules here that we need to follow when we add -ed to regular verbs in the Past Simple. 

Tell me more!