Say worked and check it
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Press record, say "worked" once or twice at normal speed, then stop. You will see which syllables matched and what to change.
Worked syllables
Worked has 1 syllable: WURKT.
- WURKTwɝkt
WURKT, one syllable. The -ed is a crisp t because it follows a k — the same rule as "walked" and "talked". Adding a second syllable is the most common learner error with -ed.
The -ed ending is pronounced as a t, not as a separate syllable, because the sound before it is voiceless.
Sounds to watch
The w sound
Round your lips as if for oo and glide into the next vowel. No teeth contact, or it turns into a v.
The er vowel
American er (as in her) is a single vowel with the tongue bunched back. Keep the r quality through the whole vowel.
Worked in a sentence
- The plan worked better than anyone expected.
- She worked nights for a year to pay off the loan.
Read either sentence into the recorder above. The check judges only the target word, so the rest of the sentence can be rough.
What Speakeroo listens for
These are the pronunciation patterns from Speakeroo’s speech feature catalog that this target tends to expose. The check above reports the ones it hears.
- Final -ed ending unclearUse the correct /t/, /d/ or /ɪd/ ending.
- /v/ and /w/ confusedUse teeth-on-lip contact for /v/ and rounded lips without contact for /w/.
- Final consonant omittedHold the final mouth position briefly without adding another vowel.
- Consonant cluster reducedBuild the cluster one sound at a time without deleting a member.
- Extra vowel after a consonantFinish directly on the consonant instead of adding a vowel.
Questions
How do you pronounce worked?
Worked is pronounced /ˈwɝkt/, or WURKT in plain letters. It has one syllable.
How many syllables are in worked?
One. Worked is a single syllable: WURKT.
How do you use worked in a sentence?
The plan worked better than anyone expected. She worked nights for a year to pay off the loan.
How is the ending of worked pronounced?
The -ed ending is pronounced as a t, not as a separate syllable, because the sound before it is voiceless.
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