Usage Tips
The words a, an, and the are articles, unstressed words that occur before nouns and
adjective-nouns combinations. Say them quickly, without emphasis. Pronounce the
vowel as /  /.
a book
an apple
the book
a cat
an orange the cat
a dog
an ice cube the dog
the universe
/  / in Unstressed Syllable
The sound/  / is known as “schwa” sound and is one of the most common sounds in
English. Almost every unstressed syllable in English is pronounced /  /. This
sound can be spelled with any of the vowel letters, a, e, i, o, u, or any combination of
these letters.
a-go
par-tial
so-da
oc-cur
cap-tain ef-fect
meth-od sta-tion
pi-geon
u-pon
o-pen
syr-up
ex-plain den-im
cup-board
/  / in Stressed Syllable
When /  / is followed by the consonant / r /, it can be the prominent, or stressed
vowel of a word.
urn
fur
serve bird
purse
nerve
earn work heard
girl
first syrup
worm
yearns
tournament earth
When the occurs before a word beginning with a vowel sound, the letter e is
pronounced /  /, in IPA format. Example, the /  /.
The apple
the orange
the ocean
the elephant
the onion
The umpire
the ice
the amoeba
the anthem
the honor
The eagles
the H-bomb
the heir received his/her grandpa’s clock
Note: The two vowel sounds are said together with no pause between them.
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Irregular and Regular Verbs
Rule: The present participle of any verb (regular or irregular) is formed by adding
“-ing” to the root.
To ask
asking
To count counting
To jump jumping
To love
loving
To play
playing
To study studying
To write writing
To get
getting
To fit
fitting
To buy
To hit
hitting
To set
setting
buying
Rules of Pronunciation of Irregular Verbs
Rule :
An irregular verb is a verb that does not form its past tense and past
participle by the addition of “-ed” to its root as in:
write wrote
get
got
buy bought
written
gotten
bought
fit
set
hit
fit
set
hit
fit
set
hit
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Rules of Pronunciation of the Ending “-ed” of Regular Verbs
Rule 1: The past tense and past participle of regular verbs are formed by adding
“-ed” to the root of the verb as in:
ask asked
count counted
love loved
call called
Rule 2: The past tense marker “-ed” is pronounced “[],” in IPA format, as an
unstressed separate syllable when added to verbs ending in /d/ or /t/
as in:
added
created
Rule 3:
counted
loaded
dictated faded
greeted wanted
landed
planted
invited
folded
The past tense marker “-ed” is pronounced like “[t]” in IPA format, when
added to verbs ending in a voiceless consonants (c, ch, f, k, p, s, sh, x, ) or
their sounds as in:
placedt
passedt
watchedt
faxedt
laughedt
blessedt
askedt stoppedt tapedt pickedt
washedt mixedt
closedt
Note: Be careful not to make a vowel sound before the [ t ].
Rule 4:
The past tense marker “-ed” is pronounced like [d] in IPA format, in all other
cases, that is, when added to verbs ending in a vowel sound, or one of the
voiced consonants (b, g, l, m, n, r, v, w, y, z), or their sounds as in:
rubbed
glued
changed warmed ordered begged
snowed loved
followed played
called cried
blazed learned
Note: Do not make a vowel sound before the [ d ].
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