The pronunciation rules for regular past participles are the same as for regular simple past tense verbs. If the last syllable of the verb sounds like [t] or [d], then the suffix is pronounced as a voiced ed [әd]. If the last syllable of the verb is a voiceless sound, then the suffix is pronounced as an unvoiced t [t]. And, if the last syllable of the verb is a voiced sound, then the suffix is pronounced as a voiced d [d]. For more information on the pronunciation of regular past participles, please read the article Forming the Simple Past Tense of English Verbs: Spelling Changes and Pronunciation.
Unlike regular English past participles, irregular past participles do not follow any real pattern. Some irregular verbs have the same base and past participle forms. For example:
- Base – Past Participle
- become – become
- cast – cast
- cut – cut
- hit – hit
- input – input
- offset – offset
- shut – shut
- wet – wet
For other irregular verbs, add the morphological suffix an -en or -n to the end of the base form. For example:
- Base – Past Participle
- arise – arisen
- be – been
- draw – drawn
- fall – fallen
- give – given
- know – known
- mistake – mistaken
- throw – thrown
Other irregular verbs experience a vowel sound change from the base form to the past participle. For example:
- Base – Simple Past – Vowel Change
- begin – begun – [I] → [ə]
- cling – clung – [i] → [ə]
- drink – drunk – [i] → [ə]
- hold – held – [o] → [ɛ]
- lead – led – [i] → [ɛ]
- meet – met – [i] → [ɛ]
- plead – pled – [i] → [ɛ]
- swim – swum – [I] → [ə]
Other irregular verbs experience both a vowel sound change and the additional of the morphological suffix an -en or -n t from the base form to the past participle. For example:
- Base – Simple Past – Vowel Change
- awake – awoken – [e] → [o]
- bear – born – [e] → [o]
- choose – chosen – [u] → [o]
- hide – hidden – [ai] → [I]
- outdo – outdone – [u] → [ə]
- ride – ridden – [ai] → [I]
- smite – smitten – [ai] → [I]
- write – written – [ai] → [I]
Other irregular verbs experience a consonant sound change from the base form to the past participle. 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]
- creep – crept – [i] → [ɛ] – [p] → [pt]
- do – done – [o] → [ə] – [Ø] → [n]
- flee – fled – [i] → [ɛ] – [Ø] → [d]
- hear – heard – [i] → [ə] – [r] → [rd]
- leave – left – [i] → [ɛ] – [v] → [ft]
- teach – taught – [i] → [ɔ] – [č] → [t]
- sell – sold – [ɛ] → [o] – [l] → [ld]
In addition to the pronunciation changes of irregular past participles, 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.