Many languages have a one-to-one spelling-pronunciation relationship, but the English language has no such thing! This is why English pronunciation can be difficult for students to master.

On top of the 26 vowel sounds and many tricky consonant sounds, students also need to learn the pronunciation of endings that change according to the last sound of a word.

The past tense ending -ed, for example, is pronounced as /t/, /d/, or /ɪd/ depending on the last letter of the verb. Luckily there are easy rules (listed below) for language learners to follow!

Rule 1

-ed becomes /t/ following voiceless consonants

Voiceless (also called soft or unvoiced) consonants refer to sounds that don’t make your vocal cords vibrate. If you put your hand to your throat when you pronounce these sounds, you won’t feel a vibration. These sounds are all soft like a whisper.

Voiceless consonants in English include: /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /ʃ/ (also written as /sh/, as in the first sound in “shirt”), /tʃ/ (also written as /ch/, as in the first sound in “cheese”), and /θ/ (also written as /th/, as in the first sound in “thanks”).

When a base verb ends in these sounds, the -ed ending is pronounced with the voiceless sound /t/. The reason for this is that it is natural (i.e., easier to pronounce) for a voiceless sound to follow another voiceless sound.

Rule 2

-ed becomes /d/ following voiced sounds

Voiced (also called loud) consonants and vowels refer to sounds that make your vocal cords vibrate. If you put your hand to your throat when you pronounce these sounds, you will feel a vibration. These sounds are all loud—you can hear the noise they make.

Voiced consonants in English include: /b/, /dʒ/ (as in the first sound in “jump”), /ʒ/ (also written as /zh/, as in the final sound in “beige”), /g/, /j/ (also written as /y/, as in the first sound in “yes”), /l/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ (the “ing” sound), /ð/ (also written as /th/, as in the first sound in “there”), /r/, /v/, /w/, /z/, and any vowel sound.

When a base verb ends in these sounds, the -ed ending is pronounced with the voiced sound /d/. The reason for this is that it is natural (i.e., easier to pronounce) for a voiced sound to follow another voiced sound.

Rule 3

-ed becomes /ɪd/ following t or d

When a base verb ends in the letters t or d, the -ed ending is pronounced with the syllable /ɪd/ (also written as /əd/ or /ed/—the same vowel sound as the word “it”).

The reason we add a whole extra syllable, including a vowel sound, is because it would be impossible to say two /t/ or two /d/ sounds together without a vowel in between. Imagine trying to say “wantt” instead of “wanted” or “needd” instead of “needed”!

If you have any questions or comments regarding us or our classes, please fill out our contact request form

The post Pronunciation of Regular Past Tense in English appeared first on Adi's Language School.

In English, there is Regular (12-hour) Time and Military (24-hour) Time.

REGULAR (12-hour) TIME  is used by most people in everyday talk.

O’CLOCK

If you want to express the exact hour, use “o’clock”. For example, “It’s one o’clock” (1:00). Or “It’s four o’clock” (4:00).  You can only say “o’clock” at the exact hour.

If you want to emphasize the exact hour, add the word “sharp“. For example, “It’s eight o’clock sharp” (8:00). Or “You need to be there at five o’clock sharp” (5:00).

PAST and TO

There are 60 minutes in an hour. With minutes 1 – 29, use past (or after) the hour. For example, “It’s ten past three”, or 3:10. Or, “It’s twenty after eight”, 8:20.

With minutes 31 – 59, use to and the next hour. For example, when it’s 10:40, say “It’s twenty to eleven” (Eleven minus twenty minutes). Or when it’s 3:50, we say “It’s ten to four” (Four minus ten minutes). It’s always correct to say “It’s three fifty” (3:50). But many times, you will hear people say “It’s ten to four”.

QUARTER and HALF

Instead of 15 minutes, you can say “a quarter” and instead of 30 minutes, you can say “a half“.

At minute 15, say it’s “a quarter past” or “a quarter after”. So, when it’s 7:15, say it’s “a quarter past seven”.

At minute 45, say it’s “a quarter to” the next hour. For example, at 5:45, say it’s “a quarter to six” (or 15 minutes before 6:00).

At minute 30, say it’s “half past” or “and a half“. So at 9:30, you can say it’s “half past nine” or “nine and a half” (half an hour after 9:00).

You cannot use to with half.

As mentioned before, it’s okay to say “It’s seven fifteen” (7:15), “It’s five forty-five” (5:45) or “It’s three thirty” (3:30). But you will definitely hear people say “It’s quarter past seven”, “It’s a quarter to six” or “It’s half past three”.

AM, PM and IN THE MORNING, IN THE AFTERNOON, AT NIGHT

There are 24 hours in a day. For hours 0 through 12, say “A.M.”. So for hour 7 (in the morning), say “It’s seven A.M.” (7:00 A.M.). For hours 12 to 24, say “P.M.”. So for example, at hour 14, say “It’s two P.M.”

Instead of A.M., you can say “in the morning“. For example, “It’s six o’clock in the morning” or “It’s 6 A.M.“.

Instead of P.M., you can say:

• “in the afternoon” from 12 P.M. until 5 P.M. For example, “It’s three in the afternoon” or “It’s 3 P.M.”
• “in the evening” from 6 P.M. until 8 P.M. For example, “It’s seven in the evening” or “It’s 7 P.M.”
• “at night” from 8 P.M. until 12 A.M. For example, “It’s nine o’clock at night” or “It’s 9 P.M.”

Noon, Midday, Midnight

At hour 12, say it’s “noon”. You also sometimes hear people say “midday”. At hour 24, say it’s “midnight”.

“Noon” is 12:00 P.M. And “midnight” is 12:00 A.M. (The start of a new day or 24 hour cycle.)

QUESTION and ANSWER

How do you ask someone about the time? You say: “What time is it?”

The answer always starts with “It’s“, such as “It’s half past three in the afternoon.”

When you answer, always add A.M., P.M., in the morning, in the afternoon or at night to the time for clarity.

MILITARY TIME exists, but is rarely used in everyday speech.

With this method of counting the hours in the day you start with 00:00 at midnight (12:00 a.m.) and count up from there until 23:59 for 11:59 p.m.

You will also say this differently, so for 23:00, you would say “twenty three o’hundred.” Or, for 15:00 and 15:50 you would say “You need to report to the office at fifteen hundred hours today. After that you can leave at seventeen o’fifty.” Note that you do not say “A.M.”, “P.M.”, “in the morning”, “in the evening” or “at night” for military time.

A quick and fun way to convert military time into regular time or vice-versa is to subtract or add 12.

For example, 17:00 in regular time is 17-12 = 5 P.M.

And 9 P.M. in military time is 9+12 = 21:00.

QUIZ

A. Say the following times in all the possible ways:

1. 3:45 A.M.
2. 6:15 P.M.
3. 8:30 P.M.

B. What is the regular time?

1. 13:00
2. 19:00
3. 22:00

C. How else can you say:

1. 12 P.M.
2. 12 A.M.

ANSWERS

A.

1. It’s three forty-five A.M.; It’s three forty-five in the morning; It’s fifteen (minutes) to 4 A.M.; It’s a quarter to 4 in the morning.
2. It’s six fifteen P.M.; It’s six fifteen in the evening; It’s fifteen minutes past 6 P.M.; It’s a quarter past 6 in the evening.
3. It’s eight thirty P.M.; It’s eight thirty at night; It’s eight and a half P.M.; It’s half past 8 at night.

B.

1. 1 P.M.
2. 7 P.M.
3. 10 P.M.

C.

1. noon or midday
2. midnight

If you have any questions or comments regarding us or our classes, please fill out our contact request form

The post How to Tell Time in English appeared first on Adi's Language School.