Past tense story

Reading

Hello everybody! My name is Past Simple Boy because I am very nostalgic and I always talk about the past.This is an old picture of me. I was eighteen in this picture. It was thirteen years ago. I studied at University at that time. I lived with my friends Paco and Javi in a big and old flat. We didn't study much and we enjoyed our life. Every weekend we went to the disco and met new girls. I remember I had a girlfriend called Margarita. I finished my studies in 1995. A year later I started to work as a Language teacher in a Secondary school. Life is not too bad, but those days were fantastic! Do you know about your parents' life when they were young?

Pronunciation

Student needs to remember is that pronouncing the /id/ ending is only appropriate when used with verbs ending in either a /t/ or a /d/ sound. This is the only circumstance under which an ending is pronounced with the additional syllable.

Examples of /id/ endings for past tense verbs include:

• "Doted" is pronounced with two syllables: "dot/id/"
• "Heeded" is pronounced with two syllables: "heed/id/"
• "Dictated" is pronounced with three syllables: "dictate/id/"
• "Replicated" is pronounced with four syllables: "replicate/id/"

An Exception to the Rule

When the past participle of certain verbs are being used as adjectives, then a second syllable will be added even if the base form does not end in a /t/ or /d/ sound. The "-ed" ending, in this case, is correctly pronounced /id/. Some of the more common words that fall into this category include:

• "Ragged" is pronounced with two syllables: "rag/id/"
• "Aged" is pronounced with two syllables: "age/id/"
• "Blessed" is pronounced with two syllables: "bless/id/"
• "Dogged" is pronounced with two syllables: "dog/id/"
• "Learned" is pronounced with two syllables: "learn/id/"
• "Wretched" is pronounced with two syllables: "wretch/id/"

This only applies to past participles being used as adjectives, however. For example: "The old man is wretched."

Verbs Ending in /t/ and /d/ Sounds

Learning the difference between past tense verbs with a /t/ ending and a /d/ ending is more of a challenge. Simply memorizing which letters at the end of the base form of the verb take a /t/ and which take a /d/ does not work for all cases. A more universal approach is needed. ESL students need to learn how to tell the difference between voiced /d/ sounds and unvoiced /t/ sounds.

Examples of /t/ endings for past tense verbs include:

• "Laughed" is pronounced with one syllable: "laugh/t/"
• "Walked" is pronounced with one syllable: "walk/t/"
• "Kissed" is pronounced with one syllable: "kiss/t/"
• "Finished" is pronounced with two syllables: "finish/t/"

Examples of /d/ endings for past tense verbs include:

• "Cleaned" is pronounced with one syllable: "clean/d/"
• "Saved" is pronounced with one syllable: "save/d/"
• "Enjoyed" is pronounced with two syllables: "enjoy/d/"
• "Married" is pronounced with two syllables: "marry/d/"