Pronunciation of the ‘d’ sound

d_2 sound.png

 This sound is prepared in the following way:

  1. Leave your mouth slightly open

  2. Press your tongue to the back of your top teeth and the roof of your mouth

  3. Then bring your tongue into your mouth to make the sound

Words beginning with ‘d’

Dinosaur, dog, door, dagger, damp, day, dot, dark, drama, deliver

Words with ‘d’ in the middle

Medal, advantage, production, study, today, older, video, Sweden

Words ending with ‘d’

Mad, good, hard, cupboard, bored, forward, afraid, brand, food

The ‘d’ sound in the past tense

Depending on what sound a verb ends with, we also use the ‘d’ sound when we pronounce -ed for the past tense form of words.

So, what are the rules?

  • If a verb ends with a ‘t’ or ‘d’ sound, the past tense form -ed is pronounced ‘id’. For example: part - parted, brand - branded.

  • If a verb ends with a vowel or a voiced sound, the past tense form -ed is pronounced ‘d’. For example: call - called, play - played.

Be careful! Verbs that end with unvoiced sounds (with the exception of ‘t’) do not use this ‘d’ sound. Instead they use the ‘t’ sound. For example: cook - cooked.

Difference between ‘d’ and ‘ð’

It can be difficult to make the difference between these two sounds clear. Consider the placement of your tongue and teeth: for the ‘d’ sound your tongue is behind your top teeth, whereas your tongue is between your top and bottom teeth for the ‘ð’ sound.

Practice the following pairs to make the difference really clear in your mind:

  • Udder vs other

  • Though vs dough

  • Day vs they

Homophones

Bored = board

Dear = deer

Desert = dessert

Pedal = peddle

Sentences to practice

  1. Can we go paddle boarding?

  2. I saw an eagle in Scotland

  3. I desperately want a dog

  4. Rebecca needed a washing machine

  5. The children were all very bored

  6. She was brilliant at drama

  7. I love watching the diving in the Olympics

  8. They ran past the abandoned building

  9. He is older than me

  10. What do you think of the draft email?

  11. The farmer’s pig won 3 medals

  12. There are deer in the park

  13. When is the wedding?

  14. We’ve been played

  15. The door slammed in her face

  16. You could be a hand model!

  17. What’s your favourite type of sandwich?

  18. The toddler threw her doll out the window

  19. They won the game with a header

  20. Francis had a great holiday

If you would like more practise, I created another post here