Past simple - Regular verbs
Past Simple – Regular verbs. We all need a past. Without it we can’t talk about our life experiences or tell a story. Understanding where you are in time, in any language, is important.
Here I want to talk about the pronunciation of ‘past simple regular verbs’.
Understanding where you are in time, in any language, is important.
There is more than one 'ed'
Have you ever thought about how to pronounce the ‘ed‘ sounds in English? Do you know how many ‘ed‘ sounds there are?
There are infact 3 ‘ed‘ sounds. The ‘3-eds‘. Understanding and using the different ‘ed‘ sounds is an important step to mastering the ‘past simple’. In this article I’ve created a simple exercise to help you practice and improve your oral abilities. First of all, please click on the words to hear the sounds.
Grammar point: I will discuss the grammar rules in a future post.
Now it's your turn
Below, I’ve added a list of common ‘Past simple’ regular verbs. Which ‘ed’ sound would you use? How would you pronounce them?
Here are the rules:
- Say the word in its infinitive form,
- Say the word again in its ‘Past simple’ form. – Add the / t / , / d / , / ɪd / to the end of the word. Can you guess the correct ‘ed’ sound?
- Click on the word to hear the pronunciation. Were you correct?
An additional challenge
Can you repeat the rhythm?
As an addiitional exercise can you say the ‘past simple’ form of the verb with the correct ‘word stress’ (accentuation)? For example: ‘accepted’ has 3 syllables : ac – cep – ted. My voice stresses the ‘cep‘.
I have shown the first 4 words with the correct ‘word stress’. Listen carefully and try and repeat the same rhythm. Can you say word with the correct stress pattern?
accept
add
advertise
advise
afford
authorize
approve
avoid
bill
borrow
budget
calculate
call
cancel
change
complain
confirm
check
count
consider
convince
complete
deliver
decide
decrease
develop
dispatch
drop
distribute
divide
establish
employ
encourage
estimate
exchange
extend
guarantee
fix
fund
improve
inform
increase
install
interest
invest
invoice
lengthen
limit
lower
maintain
manage
mention
message
obtain
offer
order
organise
owe
pack
participate
plan
process
produce
provide
prevent
promise
purchase
recruit
reach
receive
reduce
refund
refuse
reject
remind
remove
reply
report
resign
respond
result
return
schedule
separate
share
succeed
suggest
supply
target
vary
I hope you enjoyed this exercise. Word stress is a difficult area for French speakers and can be a common cause of confusion during a conversation.
Use the words in a sentence
Can you use any of these verbs in a sentence? Think about a past experience. Something that happened yesterday, last week or last year. Create a sentence using the verbs listed above.
- Examples
- Last week our company recruited 3 new empolyees.
- Yesterday my boss approved my trip to the UK.
- The company produced 10% more products compared to last year.
- She offered me the job and I accepted.
- The client ordered the part last week. They contacted me this morning to confirm delivery.
If you have a problem with a specific sound, or the pronunciation of a certain word, please add a comment and tell me, or contact me direct.
