Pronouncing English word endings is confusing, but it’s important! It’s confusing because English is not a phonetic language, and it’s important because errors will reduce your intelligibility (=how easily people understand what you say). We put together 25 word endings with explanation & exercises to help you understand that word endings are not always spoken as they are spelled. In this big blog, we explain how to pronounce English word endings and help you understand and practice some of the most common and confusing word endings.
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In English, we add D or ED to make regular past tense verbs (and sometimes to make adjectives), but we often do not speak the -ed as a seperate syllable. Instead, we make a -d or -t sound without adding the extra syllable. Thus, danced sounds like danst, not dans-ed. Loved sounds like lovd, not lov-ed. Watched sounds like watcht not watch-ed. Helped sounds like helpt not help-ed.
Understanding about vibrated and un-vibrated sounds will help you feel the natural pattern that directs these word endings. Say these consonants and consonant clusters out loud and feel the vibration – or lack of vibration – in your throat. B, C, CH, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y and Z. (Note: X sounds like eks and is un-vibrated)
The unvoiced sounds include p. k, s, ch, sh, x. Practice saying: popped = popt, hopped=hopt, baked-bakt, taped=tapt, passed=past, typed=typt, stopped=stopt, packed = pakt, joked=jokt
Voiced consonant sounds include: v, n, m, r, l, w, z. These words are easy because you write D and you say D!
Loved, shoved, mined, cared, dialed, filled, phased, soiled, carried, bowed.
Also pronounce the D sound after words with no mid-consonant, such as keyed and stayed.
T ending: Yesterday, I danced and cooked and walked and talked and laughed.
D ending: The day before that, I lived and loved and studied and tuned pianos while it rained and rained and rained. Oh, and by the way, it also hailed! I was not thrilled.
Pronounce -ed as an extra syllable following t and d. Please note that the preceding consonant is blended with the -ed sound:
Say toas-ted, pos ted, ai-ded, fa-ded, lis-ted, trus-ted, plea-ded
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The words ending with -ED require a schwa /ə/ which is a relaxed “uh” sound. If you do not know how and when to make the schwa, please read our Schwa article.
The schwa /ə/ is required for many English word endings.
Taps, tips, hits, hacks, jacks, jets, cats, cokes, bites, mats, knits, caps, clips, bots, clots, zaps, lacks, fakes, votes, waits
Mails, nails, lanes, bones, bills, thrills, hills, bins, canes, cones, drones, drives, forms, greens, homes
Posts, coasts, boasts, roasts, pastes, casts, bastes
Word endings are seldom stressed, but they remain important. Be sure you say them correctly. Words ending in -y are often adjectives and words ending in -ly are often adverbs. Sometimes we make adverbs by adding -ly to an adjective. Remember, adjectives describe nouns and adverbs describe verbs and adjectives.
1. Let’s start with adjectives that end in -y, Be sure that the -y ending is clearly spoken and that the -y sounds like the long E in tea, see, and me. (Note: a long sound says it’s name).
Re: -ly endings: If you know someone named Lee, that is precisely the sound you want to put at the end of happily. Do you like to drink tea? That is the sound that goes at the end of chatty. And do you have keys? That completes the word lanky.
Slow down and carefully pronounce the syllables apart for accuracy, and then connect them for flow / fluency / a native sound. Example: ha-ppy, happy
2. Now practice the word sets below. Be sure that the -ly ending is clearly spoken and that the -ly sounds like the name Lee.
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Words that end in -ing sound like singing and ringing. The -ing sound is nasal because your throat closes to produce this sound. Words that end in -ing can be nouns, verbs or adjectives.
Practice these words with the syllables apart to get a strong -ing, and then connect them, which will sound like rai-ning, lear-ning, mea-ning, see-ming.
Speak them apart for accuracy and then connect them for flow / fluency / a native sound. The connection is essential.
It was raining on Monday evening, and we were finishing explaining baking to our good friend Bing Ling. The wind was blowing and howling through big old trees standing like kings in the park. And the phone began ringing and ringing and ringing. It was making that old fashioned ring sound. You know… ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling. I answered and heard someone breathing and then singing! I was leaning on the wall as I was speaking on the phone. I was listening carefully but when I did not understand what the man was saying and singing he started laughing and laughing. It was so confusing! I hung up.
-tion sounds like “shun”/”shən.” Do you hear the schwa? The upper case letters remind you that the STRESS comes right before the schwa / the final, unsytressed syllable. Exaggerate to clearly hear the pattern:
InvestiGAtion (shun), liberAtion, proclaMAtion, fasciNAtion, prepaRAtion, procrastiNAtion, founDAtion, simplifiCAtion, compliCAtion, compiLAtion, sepaRAtion
When the word is a noun or an adjective, the stress goes at the beginning of the word, where you see the upper case letters. The end of the word, where you see the lower case letters, has a schwa and is unstressed. The end of the word sounds like -tun/tən.
CAPtain, MOUNtain, FOUNtain, CERtain, CURtain
But when the word is a verb, the stress usually goes to the second syllable, which is clearly pronounced with a long A sound:
conTAIN, susTAIN, abSTAIN, perTAIN, deTAIN, mainTAIN
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N: Tongue tip is pressed against the alveolar (al-ve-O-ler) ridge.
M: Close your lips and let the M come through your nose. Practice humming the M.
Hint: These sets have rhyming vowels.
Instructions: Using a mirror, exaggerate the final Ms. Really close/press your lips together and feel it. Use the mirror to see the difference in lips between final N (open lips) and final M (closed lips).
The pronunciation of the final R sound is one of the most noticeable differences between American and British English.
In General American (GA) English, the final R is always pronounced. This means that words like “car,” “mother,”and “bitter” have a strong /r/ sound at the end or before a consonant. The tongue tenses and lifts slightly toward the roof of the mouth, creating a clear “r” sound.
In most accents of British English (such as Received Pronunciation (RP) – or the more modern term “Standard Southern British English” (SSBE) – the final R is not pronounced unless followed by a vowel. Instead, words ending in R are pronounced with a longer vowel sound or a schwa /ə/. Read our article about the schwa sound here.
Pro tip: These rules also apply to mid position, end-of-syllable Rs in words like farther and further.
In British English (and only in British English), an R sound may appear when a word ending in a vowel is followed by another vowel. Do not use the linking or intrusive R in American English unless you are going for a non standard dialect.
The -ate word ending can be tricky because it has two different pronunciations, depending on whether the word is a verb or a noun/adjective.
When -ate appears at the end of a verb, it is usually pronounced /ate/.
When -ate appears at the end of a noun or adjective, it is usually pronounced /ət/.
If you’re unsure if a word is a noun, verb or adjective, check how the word is used in the sentence. Verbs have the strong /ate/ sound, while nouns and adjectives have the unstressed /ət/ (schwa) sound.
Practice saying these words aloud and notice the pattern!
And my favorite -ate word, chocolate 😉 – is pronounced by completely dropping the middle syllable (the “o”) and simply saying CHOC-lət. Whether it’s a noun or an adjective, this is the way native speakers say it.
The -able and -ible endings are common in adjectives and usually sound like /əbl/ (a soft “uh-bl” sound). The pronunciation is the same for both spellings.
A common mistake is pronouncing these endings as “able” or “ible” with a strong final syllable. Instead, the sound should be soft and unstressed.
The -ous ending appears in many adjectives and is usually pronounced /əs/ (a soft “uhs” sound).
A common mistake is pronouncing the “o” as a full vowel. Instead, it is reduced to a schwa.
Words ending in -al often sound like /əl/ (a soft “uhl” sound). This is common in adjectives and some nouns.
A mistake to avoid is stressing the final syllable. The -al sound is always weak, unstressed, and contains a schwa.
The -ive ending is common in adjectives and is usually pronounced /ɪv/ (like “iv”).
The “i” sound can fall between a short “i,” like in the word “hit,” and a schwa. As an American, I definitely use a schwa. Of course, don’t pronounce the”e” at the end. In most cases, it’s silent.
The -ize (or -ise in British English) ending is always pronounced /aɪz/ (rhymes with “eyes”).
The spelling difference between -ize and -ise depends on the variety of English, but the pronunciation is the same. Keep this long “i” sound strong and clear. Remember, a long vowels says its name.
The -ment ending is common in nouns and is pronounced /mənt/ (like “munt”).
A common mistake is stressing the final syllable. Instead, the -ment sound is weak and unstressed. Of course, the final vowel sound is a schwa.
The -ity ending is common in nouns and is usually pronounced /ɪti/ (like “ih-tee”). The stress often shifts to the syllable before -ity.
A common mistake is pronouncing -ity as “eye-tee” instead of “ih-tee” or “ə-tee.”
The next to the last syllable has an -i, which can be spoken as a short “i” or as a schwa.
The -en ending appears in both adjectives and verbs. It is usually pronounced /ən/ (a soft “uhn” sound), and in some words, the -en is almost silent.
Did you notice that some letters, like the -t in in “listen” and “fasten” were dropped?
The -th ending appears in ordinal numbers and many nouns. It can be pronounced as /θ/ (a soft “th” sound, as in “thin”) or /ð/ (a voiced “th” sound, as in “this”). Practice pronouncing
A common mistake is pronouncing -th as “t” or “d” instead of using the correct “th” sound. Another error is to confuse vibrated and un-vibrated TH sounds. Read our article about making the 2 English TH sounds.
Want to improve your pronunciation with a native-speaker trainer from The English Center team? Not sure what to do next? Contact us! We are happy to speak with you in English or Dutch.
You might also enjoy reading our article, “30 English Pronunciation Tips.”
“Pronounce English Word Endings” by Brenda de Jong-Pauley, MA, Director, The English Center, 2025
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