“-ED” AND “-S/-ES” PRONUNCIATION

“-ed” pronunciation: (For past and past participle forms of verbs)

a) When “-ed” is added to a verb that ends in a voiced consonant or vowel sound, the
morpheme is pronounced /d/:

/b/ rubbed
/g/ begged
/v/ loved
// breathed
/z/ buzzed
/l/ called
/m/ climbed (remember that the “b” in this word is not pronounced)
/n/ rained
// hanged
// changed
/r/ warred
vowel stayed

b) When “-ed” is added to a verb that ends in a voiceless consonant sound, the morpheme is
pronounced /t/:

/p/ dropped
/k/ walked
/f/ laughed
// frothed
/s/ passed
// finished
// watched

c) When “-ed” is added to a verb that ends in /t/ or /d/, the morpheme is pronounced /ɪd/:

/t/ wanted, defeated

/d/ needed, added

“-s/-es” pronunciation: (For plurals and 3rd person singular)

a) When “-s” is added to a word ending in a voiced consonant or vowel sound, the morpheme
is pronounced /z/:

/b/ pubs, rubs

/d/ beds, needs
/g/ bags, begs
/v/ shelves, loves
/l/ nails, sails
/m/ rams, climbs
/n/ pens, rains
// songs, rings
vowel bananas, plays
b) When “-s” is added to a word ending in a voiceless consonant sound, the morpheme is
pronounced /s/:

/p/ caps, drops

/t/ cats, sits
/k/ sticks, walks
/f/ roofs, laughs
// paths, froths

c) If the word ends in a sibilant consonant /s, z, , , , /, we usually add “-es” and the
morpheme is pronounced /ɪz/:

/s/ buses, boxes, misses

/z/ fizzes, buzzes
// bushes, punishes
// matches, reaches
// cages, lodges