Pronunciation of past simple

Pronunciation of Past Simpleregular verbs

likedlovedwaited

lik-tlov-d

wait-ɪd

aspirated and voiced consonants

say: ssssssssssss

put your hand in front of your mouth like this

what do you feel?

say: ssssssssssss

where do you make this sound?

/ s /is an aspirated consonant

/ s /is an aspirated consonant

/ s /is an aspirated consonant

consonante aspirata

aspirated consonantsare made by expelling air

now say: zzzzzzzzzzz

put your hand in on your throat like this

what do you feel?

now say: zzzzzzzzzzz

where do you make this sound?

/ z /is a voiced consonant

/ z /is a voiced consonant

consonante sonora

voiced consonantsare made by

vibration of the vocal cords

/ s / and / z / are a consonant pair

/ s / and / z / are a consonant pair

the mouth is in the same position for both

exercise

find other consonant pairs

aspirated ssoon

voiced zzero

ppen

vvery

θthin

bbed f

fat

ðthis

dday t

tell

tʃchurch

dʒjudge

ʃship ʒ

beige

kcat g

get

aspirated ppen

ssoon

voiced bbed

zzero

vvery

θthin

ffat

ðthis

dday t

tell

tʃchurch

dʒjudge

ʃship ʒ

beige

kcat g

get

aspirated ppen

ffat

ssoon

voiced bbed

vvery

zzero

θthin

ðthis

dday t

tell

tʃchurch

dʒjudge

ʃship ʒ

beige

kcat g

get

aspirated ppen

ffat

θthin

ssoon

voiced bbed

vvery

ðthis

zzero

dday t

tell

tʃchurch

dʒjudge

ʃship ʒ

beige

kcat g

get

aspirated ppen

ffat

θthin

ttell

ssoon

voiced bbed

vvery

ðthis

dday

zzero

tʃchurch

dʒjudge

ʃship ʒ

beige

kcat g

get

aspirated ppen

ffat

θthin

ttell

tʃchurch

ssoon

voiced bbed

vvery

ðthis

dday

dʒjudge

zzero

ʃship ʒ

beige

kcat g

get

aspirated ppen

ffat

θthin

ttell

tʃchurch

ʃship

ssoon

voiced bbed

vvery

ðthis

dday

dʒjudge

ʒbeige

zzero

kcat g

get

aspirated ppen

ffat

θthin

ttell

tʃchurch

ʃship

ssoon

kcat

voiced bbed

vvery

ðthis

dday

dʒjudge

ʒbeige

zzero

gget

not all consonants form pairs - here are the English consonants that don’t have pairs:

aspirated hhot

voiced mmuch

nnice

ŋring

lleg

rrain

jyou

wwin

not all consonants form pairs - here are the English consonants that don’t have pairs:

general principle

it’s difficult to pronouncean aspirated consonant after a

voiced consonanteg. / -gt /

it’s difficult to pronouncean aspirated consonant after a

voiced consonant

or vice versaeg. / -fd /

it’s much easier to pronounce two aspirated consonants:

eg. / -ft /

ortwo voiced consonants:

eg. / -gd /

RULE

/ t /

when an infinitive ends with an aspirated consonant

the Past Simple ending (-ed)is pronounced / t /

/ t /

eg.like / laɪk /

> liked / laɪkt /

/ d /

when an infinitive ends with a voiced consonant

the Past Simple ending (-ed)is pronounced / d /

/ d /

eg.love / lʌv /

> loved / lʌvd /

/ d /

when an infinitive ends with a vowel

the Past Simple ending (-ed)is pronounced / d /

/ d /

eg.study / stʌdi /

> studied / stʌdid /

/ ɪd /

when an infinitive ends in/ t / or / d /

the Past Simple ending (-ed)is pronounced / ɪd /

/ ɪd /

eg.wait / weɪt /

> waited / weɪtɪd /

NB this rule is phonetic,it’s the last soundNOT the last letter

that decides the pronunciation

last sound ofinfinitive

Past Simple pronunciation

aspirated consonant -t

voiced consonant -d

vowel -d

-t or -d -ɪd

exercise

infinitive -t / -d / -ɪd infinitive -t / -d / -ɪd

like -t remember

seem -d explode

study -d analyse

wait -ɪd beg

ask form

try report

need launch

laugh listen

arrive describe

type decide

infinitive -t / -d / -ɪd infinitive -t / -d / -ɪd

like -t remember -d

seem -d explode -ɪd

study -d analyse -d

wait -ɪd beg -d

ask -t form -d

try -d report -ɪd

need -ɪd launch -t

laugh -t listen -d

arrive -d describe -d

type -t decide -ɪd