Reading & Writing English: Words Ending In "D"

The different sounds that the letter"d" takes at the end of a verb in the past tense

An extract from the book: Word Power by the author of this article.

The English language indicates that the action of the verb is in the past by having some form of the "d" or "t" sound end the word. We say some kind of "d" or "t" sound although the word is almost always written with a "d".

Many people who learn English are so confused by the irregular forms of the verbs that they give up and invent their own ways of referring to the past. Some say: "Yesterday I walk to work" or other ways to avoid using the past tense that they have never learned.

Sure, there are irregular words in English. The past of teach is taught; the past of buy is bought; the past of think is thought. But even these irregular words end in some kind of a "t" sound to indicate that the verb refers to the past. Luckily, there aren't too many of these irregular verbs. You just have to learn them. The good thing is that they behave more or less the same way.

But let's look at the regular verbs. Most English verbs are regular. To indicate the past, they put some kind of a sound made with the tongue touching the back of the upper teeth. Almost always it is the sound of a "d" or of a "t".

The ending of the verb