Podcast: Pronunciation Tips – Verbs in the Past Tense I

Hello, boys and girls! Today I’m here to give you a few extra tips on English Pronunciation. But first of all, we need to think about something: Have you ever talked to a foreigner that spoke Portuguese? Or have you ever listened to someone that spoke Portuguese as a second language? If you have, you may have noticed an accent. So, we can usually tell if someone speaks Portuguese as a second language, no matter whether they speak it with a strong or a slight accent. How many times have you heard “gringo”, “caipirinha”, “samba”, “oi, tudo bem?”?

Well, that’s my point today. We are Brazilian learners of English. Obviously, native speakers of English can tell right away that we’re not North Americans, Australians, British… Basically, it’s easy for native speakers of English to notice that we do speak English with an accent. And guess what? That’s not a problem! Most native speakers like to listen to us; they think we “talk cute”! Well, having an accent is inevitable, then! But there are ways to make it a little slighter. Remember that everyone understands what we say, but there are a few tips that make us sound “more natural”. So, if you want to sound a little more “native-like”, listen to my advice here!

When talking in the past, pay special attention to the pronunciation of the verbs. And guys, the best way to understand pronunciation is by noticing how people talk. Don’t get too attached to the rules. Listen to people talking and try to copy them! However it’s worth taking a look at the rules:

Verbs that finish with p – k – s – ch – sh – f – x normally have a /t/ sound in the end. Listen:

stopped

helped

missed

looked

worked

watched

pushed

crashed

mixed

fixed

laughed (f)

buffed

Now listen to how they sound in an actual phrase:

We stopped to get some gas.

My family helped me a lot back then.

I missed him so much when he was out of town.

When she looked at me I smiled.

She worked in that company for many years.

We watched the movie you told us about!

He pushed his little sister and she fell on the floor.

Their car crashed on a street lamp.

She mixed the tomatoes with the onions.

They fixed everything they had to.

Nobody laughed at his joke!

She applied the wax to the floor, and then buffed it.

Try to practice, listen to people talking and make your own examples. That’s a good way to improve your pronunciation!

See you in our next Podcast with Pronunciation Tips – Verbs in the Past Tense II!

Bye for now!