Adding Suffix -ed

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

The letters "ed" can be added to the end of a word to make a suffix.

A suffix is added to the end of a word to change its meaning. When you add the letters "ed" to the end of a word, that changes the tense of the word from present tense to past tense. Take a look at the word "walk." If you add the letters "ed" to the end of the word "walk," it becomes "walked."

Now read the words "walk" and "walked" in the following sentences:

• I walk to the park in the morning.
• I walked to the park yesterday.

You can see that the word "walked" means that it already happened in the past.

Now that you understand that the letters "ed" are added to the end of a word to change the tense of the word, you will explore the three sounds that "ed" makes.

Now, ed makes three sounds. How do you know which sound ed makes in a word? Follow these three rules:

1. The ed makes a /t/ sound when the last letter in the root word is unvoiced (using only air to make a sound). Read the examples below:
   • kissed
   • hoped
   • laughed
   • fixed
2. The ed makes the /d/ sound when the last letter is voiced (makes a noise for a sound). Read the examples below:
   • cleaned
   • played
   • snowed
   • cared
3. The ed makes the /id/ sound when the last letter in the root word is "d" or "t." Read the examples below:
   • wanted
   • fainted
   • sounded

Watch the video, Nessy Spelling Strategy: ed and Letter T to learn more about the sounds of ed:

Continue on to the Got It? section for some interactive practice!