Key Pronunciation- -ed & -s Endings

Hello and welcome to our next lesson on interviews.

In this lesson, we’re going to look at what pronunciation practice you can do to improve your speaking during an interview.

We will focus especially on two of the most common pronunciation challenges for all English language learners, which are the correct pronunciation of -ed and -s endings.

Correct pronunciation of the regular past tense endings, the -ed ending in the words such as worked, designed, or conducted, is so important in interviews because so much of what you say during an interview is about what you did in the past.

So naturally, many of the verbs you will use will be in the past tense.

So we need to say these words correctly if we want to be understood. -

Ed causes problems because it’s pronounced differently for different verbs.

Listen again to the three verbs I mentioned earlier, worked, designed, conducted.

What sound do you hear at the end of each of those verbs.

Worked, yes.

A /t/.

Designed, a /d/.

And conducted, that’s right.

A final syllable sound, /id/.

Let’s look at these sample sentences for a minute.

You could use any of these verbs to talk about yourself during an interview.

I prepared reports.

I solved problems.

I managed a team.

I programmed computers.

I scheduled meetings.

Why does -ed in these verbs sound like /d/?

Because these verbs are in voice sound, a sound that vibrates.

R in prepare, v in solve, g in manage, m in program.

In schedule.

After these voice sounds, we pronounce -ed as as /d/.

Let’s look at some other sentences.

I worked In sales.

I helped co-workers.

I increased profits.

I coached new employees.

What about these? All of these verbs end in voiceless sounds.

After these voiceless, non vibrating sounds, we pronounce -ed as /t/.

Pay attention to how I pronounce the past tense in these sentences.

I acted independently.

I invented an app.

I instructed my team.

I expanded my store.

I exceeded my goals.

All these verbs end in t or d.

After t or d, we add an extra syllable and pronounce -ed as /id/.

Just like -ed endings, the final s can be challenging for English language learners.

But like -ed, correct pronunciation of final s follows clear rules.

With practice, you will easily master correct pronunciation of s endings.

During interviews, correct pronunciation of -s endings are especially important for regular plural nouns in 3rd person singular present verbs.

Words like books, computers, asks, pays.

You want to say them loud and clear when you talk about your current work or education.

Listen to the next sentences.

I score well on tests.

I prepare weekly reports.

My design looks good.

I have many duties.

When a noun or verb base word ends with a voiceless sound, we pronounce the s as .

How about these next sentences?

Pay close attention to how s is pronounced.

I work on two teams.

My day begins early and ends late.

My software solves problems.

What did the s sound like this time?

That’s right, a /z/.

When a noun or verb base word ends with a vowel sound or a voice sound, we say .

And we add an extra syllable, an -es to words that end with these sounds, ‘s’, ‘z’, ‘sh’, ‘j’, and ‘ch’.

Like in these examples.

I am taking two programming classes.

I like challenges.

Listen and repeat as I say some nouns and verbs with -s endings.

Which ending do you hear?

Places.

Ads.

Commercials.

Shows.

Models.

Products.

Images.

Uses.

Sells.

Repeats.

Changes.

Taxes.

Keys.

Listens.

Pays.

Now, put each word in its correct place on the chart like this one.

Pause the video while you fill in the chart.

If your chart looks like this one, you are correct.

After this lesson, spend some time and think about the words you may use at your next interview.

When you’ve figured out the ending sounds, add them to this chart.

Let’s review.

In this lesson, we identified and practiced correct pronunciation of word endings.

Such as -ed and -s endings.

There are more activities for both -ed and -s endings in the resource materials for this lesson.

Read the sentences out loud, record yourself and check your pronunciation.

With practice, you can improve your pronunciation of these word endings and increase your clarity and fluency.

Correct word endings sound better and make you easier to understand.

They will help you make your interviews successful.