Although the morphological suffix for the simple past tense -ed, the suffix is pronounced differently depending on the sound of the last syllable of the verb. If the last syllable of the verb sounds like:
- t, tt, te [t]*
- d, de [d],
then the suffix is pronounced as a voiced ed [әd]. For example:
- accepted [aksɛptәd]
- collected [kolɛktәd]
- expected [ɛkspɛktәd]
- included [Inklʊdәd]
- needed [nidәd]
- pointed [pointәd]
- stated [stetәd]
- wanted [wantәd]
If the last syllable of the verb is a voiceless sound, then the suffix is pronounced as an unvoiced t [t]. Voiceless sounds are produced by not vibrating the larynx, or voice box, in the throat. The voiceless, or unvoiced, sounds in English are:
- p, pe [p]
- k, ck, ke [k]
- s, se, ce [s]
- sh [š]
- f, gh [f]
- th [θ]
- h [h]
- y [j]
For example:
- asked [askt]
- beeped [bipt]
- developed [divɛləpt]
- kissed [kIst]
- laughed [laft]
- replaced [riplest]
- walked [wakt]
- washed [wašt]
If the last syllable of the verb is a voiced sound, then the suffix is pronounced as a voiced d [d]. Voiced sounds are produced by vibrating the larynx, or voice box, in the throat. The voiced sounds in English are:
- m, me [m]
- n, ne [n]
- b, be [b]
- g, ge [g]
- v, ve [v]
- z, ze [z]
- ch [č]
- w [w]
- r, re [r]
- l, ll, le [l]
- j, dge [ĵ]
- th [ð]
- ng [ŋ]
All vowels in English are also voiced sounds. For example:
- compared [kumperd]
- described [diskaibd]
- followed [falowd]
- involved [Invalvd]
- named [nemd]
- performed [pərformd]
- revealed [riviəld]
- watched [wačd]
*The letters in brackets are the sounds written in the International Phonetic Alphabet preceded by some spellings of the sounds in written English.
Unlike regular English verbs, irregular English verbs do not follow any real pattern in the simple past tense. Some irregular verbs have the same base and simple past tense forms. For example:
- Base – Simple Past
- bet – bet
- cost – cost
- cut – cut
- fit – fit
- let – let
- rid – ride
- shut – shut
- wet – wet
Other irregular verbs experience a vowel sound change from the base form to the simple past tense form. For example:
- Base – Simple Past – Vowel Change
- become – became – [ə] → [e]
- break – broke – [e] → [o]
- draw – drew – [a] → [u]
- freeze – froze – [i] → [o]
- meet – met – [i] → [ɛ]
- sing – sang – [i] → [a]
- throw – threw – [o] → [u]
- write – wrote – [ai] → [o]
Other irregular verbs experience a consonant sound change from the base form to the simple past tense form. For example:
- Base – Simple Past – Consonant Change
- build – built – [d] → [t]
- dwell – dwelt – [l] → [lt]
- have – had – [v] → [d]
- keep – kept – [p] → [pt]
- leave – left – [v] → [ft]
- make – made – [k] → [d]
- send – sent – [d] → [t]
Other irregular verbs experience both vowel sound and consonant sound changes from the base form to the simple past tense form. For example:
- Base – Simple Past – Vowel Change – Consonant Change
- bring – brought – [i] → [ɔ] – [ŋ] → [t]
- buy – bought – [ai] → [ɔ] – [Ø] → [t]
- creep – crept – [i] → [ɛ] – [p] → [pt]
- flee – fled – [i] → [ɛ] – [Ø] → [d]
- hear – heard – [i] → [ə] – [r] → [rd]
- leave – left – [i] → [ɛ] – [v] → [ft]
- lose – lost – [u]→ [a] – [s] → [st]
- sell – sold – [ɛ] → [o] – [l] → [ld]
Other irregular verbs are simply irregular. For example:
- Base – Simple Past
- be – was/were
- do – did
- go – went
In addition to the pronunciation changes of irregular verbs in the simple past tense, many irregular verbs also undergo some irregular spelling changes that must simply be memorized. For a printable download of the most common irregular English verbs, please see English Irregular Verbs: Simple Past Tense and Past Participles.
For information on other verb forms in English, please read the article The English Verb System for ESL Students.