/d/

LISTEN

/d/…/d/…/d/…/d/
​
day…drive…made…address

Pronunciation:
​The sound /d/ is a voiced, alveolar, stop consonant.

  • Touch your alveolar ridge (the hard space behind your upper teeth) with the tip of your tongue.
  • Move your tongue sharply downward and let air out in a short burst.
  • Your vocal cords should vibrate.

The sound /d/ can be in these consonant clusters:

BEGINNING OF A SYLLABLE

​​/dr/ – drink
/dw/ – dwell

END OF A SYLLABLE

/rd/ (“rd” / “red”) – hard, feared
/ld/ (“ld” / “led” / “lled’) – told, piled, filled
/nd/ (“nd” / “ned” “nned”)  – land, rained, planned​
/md/ (“med” / “mmed” / “mbed”) – claimed, hummed, combed
/lmd/ (“lmed”) – calmed
/rmd/ (“med”) – harmed
/bd/ (“bed” / “bbed”) – cubed, robbed
/gd/ (“gged”) – hugged
/vd/ (“ved”) – loved
​​​/zd/ (“zed” / “sed”) – amazed, raised
/ðd/ (‘thed”) – breathed
​/dʒd/ (“ged” / “dged”) – raged, judged
/dz/ (“ds” / “des”) – roads, grades
/rdz/ (“rds”) – cords
/ldz/ (“lds”) – builds
/ndz/ (“nds”) – frie​nds

Spelling:

  • “d” – had, avoid
  • “de” – made, reside
  • “dd” – sudden, address
  • “ed” – loved, feared

Grammar Tip:
​The “-ed” ending is used to mark most past tense verbs, some past participles, and some participial adjectives. The “-ed” ending is pronounced /d/ after a vowel or a voiced consonant.

  • loved
  • called
  • amazed
  • tried ​

The “-ed” ending is pronounced /əd/ after the sounds /t/ or /d/.

  • handed
  • wanted
  • interested
  • loaded

COMPARE

Compare /d/ with /t/:

/d/…/t/…/d/…/t/…/d/…/t/

These are both alveolar, stop consonants. However, /d/ is a voiced consonant and /t/ is a voiceless consonant. When you pronounce /d/, your vocal cords should vibrate.

You can hear the difference between /d/ and /t/ in these words.

1. A. dip, B. tip
2. A. drunk​, B. trunk
3. A. pad, B. pat
4. A. mend, B. meant
5. A. burned, B. burnt
6. A. rending, B. renting

Practice recognizing words with /d/ and /t/ by taking the quiz here (external source).

Compare Word Forms:
As extra practice, take the quiz here (external source). You will listen to sentences with or without a verb that ends in “-ed” and identify which sentence you hear.

PRACTICE

Listen and repeat these words:

1. dot
2. dear
3. drink
4. draw
5. dresser
6. sad 
7. tend
8. birds
9. learned
10. loved

11. judged
12. understand
13. divided
14. address
15. redo
16. thunder
17. medicine
18. bundle
19. mandatory
20. dedicated 

Now, practice /d/ in sentences. Say the words first, then the sentences.

1. doctors – diagnose – kinds – diseases
Doctors diagnose all kinds of diseases.
2. did – decide – dessert
Did you decide what you want for dessert?
3. children – dressing – different
Children love dressing up as different ​characters.
4. send – include – address
When you send the invitations, include your address.
5. burned – dish – dinner
I burned the dish I was cooking for dinner.
6. heard – bad – Monday
​I heard the bad news on Monday.

To practice with different varieties of English, choose another native English speaker by clicking one of the links below:

Male – US Midwest (St. Louis)

Male – US Midwest (Iowa)

Male – US Midwest

Female – US Northeast

Female – US Southeast

USE IT

Practice the task below. Then, record yourself completing that task. Give your recording to a teacher or an English-speaking friend for feedback.

Prepare:​
Think about the last time you prepared for a big test. What did you do to prepare? 

  • Memorized information
  • Analyzed examples
  • Studied your notes
  • Reviewed old exams​
  • Stayed up all night
  • ​Discussed questions with a teacher
  • Completed a practice test
  • Joined a study group
  • Hired a tutor

Record:
In your recording, describe what you did to prepare for the test. Then, explain which preparations were most helpful.

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