Many mistakes in pronunciation stem from the confusion students experience in the pronunciation of the past participle ending. Since there are three possible pronunciations for regular verbs, "d", "t" and "ed" - which one should we use?

One way of explaining this concept uses the vibration, or the lack of it, which we can feel while saying the word. Placing the hand on the throat and saying "groan" shows the student in a physical way that the letter "n" produces vibration. This group of verbs uses the "d" sound. If no vibration is felt, the "t" sound is spoken, as in "stop". The last group is reserved for verbs ending in "t", as in "visit", or "d", as in "end". Such verbs use the "ed" sound.

Further adding to the confusion, many irregular verb forms have homonyms. A brief list of examples of both problem areas follows:

allowed aloud cent scent sent

ate eight chews choose

bare bear groan grown

This list offers the opportunity to greatly increase vocabulary. It also can be used as a review of the parts of speech or verb tense. Expanding the list to include other homonyms (i.e. ~ei ~h ~r ~ fh) can lead into a review of contractions. Grammar points can be used in the writing of example sentences. The applications are numerous. It all depends on the inventiveness of the instructor.