Aspirated and voiced consonants and how they determine the pronunciation of regular Past Simple endings

1. Pronunciation
of Past Simple
regular verbs

2. liked
loved
waited

3. lik-t
lov-d
wait-ɪd

4. aspirated and voiced
consonants

5. say: ssssssssssss

6. put your hand in front of your mouth like this

7. what do you feel?

8. say: ssssssssssss
where do you make this sound?

9. /s/
is an aspirated consonant

10. /s/
is an aspirated consonant

11. /s/
is an aspirated consonant
consonante
aspirata

12. aspirated consonants
are made by expelling air

13. now say: zzzzzzzzzzz

14. put your hand in on your throat like this

15. what do you feel?

16. now say: zzzzzzzzzzz
where do you make this sound?

17. /z/
is a voiced consonant

18. /z/
is a voiced consonant
consonante
sonora

19. voiced consonants
are made by
vibration of the vocal cords

20. / s / and / z /
are a consonant pair

21. / s / and / z /
are a consonant pair
the mouth is in the same
position for both

22. exercise

23. find other consonant pairs

24. aspirated s
soon
voiced z
zero
tʃ
church
g
ð get
this

25. aspirated p s
pen soon
voiced b z
bed zero
tʃ
church
g
ð get
this

26. aspirated p f s
pen fat soon
voiced b v z
bed very zero
tʃ
church
g
ð get
this

27. aspirated p f θ s
pen fat thin soon
voiced b v ð z
bed very this zero
tʃ
church
g
get

28. aspirated p f θ t s
pen fat thin tell soon
voiced b v ð d z
bed very this day zero
tʃ
church
g
get

29. aspirated p f θ t tʃ s
pen fat thin tell church soon
voiced b v ð d dʒ z
bed very this day judge zero
g
get

30. aspirated p f θ t tʃ ʃ s
pen fat thin tell church ship soon
voiced b v ð d dʒ ʒ z
bed very this day judge beige zero
g
get

31. aspirated p f θ t tʃ ʃ s k
pen fat thin tell church ship soon cat
voiced b v ð d dʒ ʒ z g
bed very this day judge beige zero get

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

33. not all consonants form pairs -
here are the English consonants
that don’t have pairs:
aspirated h
hot
voiced m n ŋ l r j w
much nice ring leg rain you win

34. general principle

35. it’s difficult to pronounce
an aspirated consonant after a
voiced consonant
eg. / -gt /

36. it’s difficult to pronounce
an aspirated consonant after a
voiced consonant
or vice versa
eg. / -fd /

37. it’s much easier to pronounce
two aspirated consonants:
eg. / -ft /

38. or
two voiced consonants:
eg. / -gd /

39. RULE

40. /t/
when an infinitive ends with an
aspirated consonant
the Past Simple ending (-ed)
is pronounced / t /

41. /t/
eg.
like / laɪk /
> liked / laɪkt /

42. /d/
when an infinitive ends with a
voiced consonant
the Past Simple ending (-ed)
is pronounced / d /

43. /d/
eg.
love / lʌv /
> loved / lʌvd /

44. /d/
when an infinitive ends with a
vowel
the Past Simple ending (-ed)
is pronounced / d /

45. /d/
eg.
study / stʌdi /
> studied / stʌdid /

46. / ɪd /
when an infinitive ends in
/ t / or / d /
the Past Simple ending (-ed)
is pronounced / ɪd /

47. / ɪd /
eg.
wait / weɪt /
> waited / weɪtɪd /

48. NB this rule is phonetic,
it’s the last sound
NOT the last letter
that decides the pronunciation

49. last sound of Past Simple
infinitive pronunciation
aspirated consonant -t
voiced consonant -d
vowel -d
-t or -d -ɪd

50. exercise

51. 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

52. 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