How to pronounce words that end in -ted, -ded in English

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

When you see words that end in -ted or -ded, they usually come from verbs in their past tense or past participle forms.

Examples of past tense and past participle forms are waited, invited, started, decided, added, visited, painted, reminded, etc

In English, words that end in -ted or -ded often have a special pronunciation. They are usually pronounced as /tɪd/ or /dɪd/. The sounds /tɪd/ and /dɪd/ make the words easier to say and help the words flow more naturally in speech.

For example, the -ted at the end of waited sounds like /tɪd/. So, “waited” /ˈweɪ.tɪd/ sounds like “way-tid”. And The -ded at the end of needed sounds like /dɪd/. So, “needed” /ˈniː.dɪd/ sounds like “nee-did”.

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Other examples of words that end in -ted or -ded are:

1. Excited – Pronounced /ɪkˈsaɪ.tɪd/

• Excite (verb) + -ed (past tense) = Excited
• The -ted at the end sounds like /tɪd/. So, “excited” sounds like “ex-sigh-tid”.

2. Added – Pronounced /ˈæ.dɪd/

• Add (verb) + -ed (past tense) = Added
• The -ded at the end sounds like /dɪd/. So, “added” sounds like “a-did”.

3. Started – Pronounced /ˈstɑː.tɪd/

• Start (verb) + -ed (past tense) = Started
• The -ted at the end sounds like /tɪd/. So, “started” sounds like “star-tid”.

Some other words that end in -ed have their unique pronunciation

However, some other words that end in -ed in English have unique pronunciations because of the context, word origin, and word class.

Examples of such words are supposed pronounced as /səˈpoʊzd/, aged as /eɪdʒd/, blessed (verb) as /blɛst/, and blessed (adjective) as /ˈblɛsɪd/, naked as /ˈneɪ.kɪd/, crooked as /ˈkrʊkɪd/, learned (when used as an adjective meaning scholarly) as /ˈlɜrnɪd/, beloved as /bɪˈlʌvɪd/, and dogged as /ˈdɔːɡɪd/.

• He was supposed to finish the report. (Sounds like “sup-pozd”)
• The cheese is aged to perfection. (Sounds like “aijd”)
• They felt blessed to witness the miracle. (Sounds like “blest”)
• The toddler was running around naked. (Sounds like “nay-kid”)
• The old house had a crooked staircase.” (Sounds like “kru-kid”)
• The professor is a learned individual.” (Sounds like “lur-nid”)
• She is his beloved wife. (Sounds like “bi-lov-id”)
• His dogged perseverance led to success.” (Sounds like “daw-gid”)