Level 1

Pronunciation Rules of the Past Simple

a) Verbs ending in the sound /t/ or /d/, add an extra
syllable, pronounced /-id/: decide > decided; want >
wanted; hate > hated; visit > visited; start > started
b) After the sounds /f/, /k/, /p/, /ss/, /sh/, /ch/ or /x/, the
-ed syllable is pronounced /t/: look > looked
(pronounced /lu:kt/); watch > watched; laugh >
laughed; stop > stopped
c) After other consonants and vowel sounds, the ed is
pronounced /d/: live > lived; play > played; die >
died; love > loved; clean > cleaned; marry > married
Reading + Pronunciation Exercise: WHO DID WHAT?
Do you want to know more about Picasso, Einstein,
Nureyev and Mozart? Match each activity with one of
these four celebrities. Example: G2. Then, say which
underlined past tense is pronounced:
/-tid/, /-vd/, /-zd/, /-ld/, /-rd/, /-pt/ or /-st/.
A He came from a Jewish family.
B He painted the Guernica for the Spanish Republic.
C He emigrated from Russia to Paris.
D He escaped the Nazis and survived.
E He criticised Francos dictatorship all his life.
F You can find his face on some 50-cent coins.
G He couldnt read until the age of 8.
H He died of Aids.
I He failed his Physics exam at school.
J He died young and poor.
K He invented cubism.
L He was the best dancer of his time.
M He composed a wonderful Requiem.
N He discovered the relativity theory.
O He died in exile.
P He wrote music for several kings.
Q His paintings are sold for millions.
R His mediocre competitor, Salieri, hated him.
S He never danced at the Maestranza theatre.

T He had the reputation of being a Latin lover.