How do you pronounce the "ed" in "USED"
So the rules are if the word ends with:
v b g ð z dʒ m n ŋ l ɹ dipthong

It is pronounced as " d"

but in the dictionary, "used" is pronounced as /juːst/, which is a "t'

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/used

Question

How do you pronounce the "ed" in "USED"
So the rules are if the word ends with:
v b g ð z dʒ m n ŋ l ɹ dipthong

It is pronounced as " d"

but in the dictionary, "used" is pronounced as /juːst/, which is a "t'

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/used

Answer

The Cambridge dictionary entry is incomplete because it only addresses "used to."

The basic rule is that after an unvoiced consonant, -ed is pronounced [t] and after a voiced consonant or a vowel, -ed is pronounced as [d].

Thus "used" is normally pronounced [juzd] as in the phrase "I used a hammer."

However, in the expression "used to do," the [zd] sounds before "to" change their pronounciation to [st].  Thus "used to" is not pronounced as [juzdtoʊ] but instead as [justtoʊ] as in the phrase "I used to have a car."  When said normally, [justtoʊ] reduces to [justoʊ].

A similar change occurs for "have to do."  Thus "have" is pronounced [hæv] in "I have a car" and [hæf] in "I have to take the car to work."

Answer

pronounces as something like "use der" as a single sound.

Answers · 2

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