The sound /d/ voiced, alveolar, stop consonant

 

Spelling:

 

  • "d" - had, avoid
  • "de" - made, reside
  • "dd" - sudden, address
  • "ed" - loved, feared
 
 
LISTEN
 
 
 
/d/.../d/.../d/.../d/...

day...drive...made...address
 
 

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") - friends
 
 

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 /t/, 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
 
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:
 

Consonants /d/ and /g/

What we understand will appear here!
The answer has not yet been rated
a PALAVRA DEVERIA ESTAR AQUI
The answer has not yet been rated
The answer has not yet been rated
The answer has not yet been rated

Copyright English Phonetics © 2025. All rights reserved