GREE-tuhd
/ˈɡɹitəd/
greeted is pronounced GREE-tuhd (/ˈɡɹitəd/). Greeted is the past tense and past participle of greet, meaning to give a polite welcome or recognition to someone. It involves a quick, light articulation of a two-syllable word with emphasis on the first syllable. In natural speech, the final -ed often reduces to a final /t/ or /ɪd/ depending on preceding consonants, yielding smooth, native-like fluency in past-tense usage.
Greeted is the past tense and past participle of greet, meaning to give a polite welcome or recognition to someone. It involves a quick, light articulation of a two-syllable word with emphasis on the first syllable. In natural speech, the final -ed often reduces to a final /t/ or /ɪd/ depending on preceding consonants, yielding smooth, native-like fluency in past-tense usage.
"She greeted the guests warmly at the door."
"The ambassador greeted the crowd with a courteous handshake."
"He greeted me with a smile when I arrived at the meeting."
Pronounce it /ˈɡriːtɪd/ in general American and British English. The primary stress is on the first syllable: GREE-ted. Start with a clear /ɡ/ to close the back of the mouth, then a long /iː/ as in 'green', followed by a light /t/ and a final voiced or unvoiced ending depending on the following environment. In careful speech, the final -ed is /ɪd/ after a /t/ cluster, giving /tɪd/; in faster speech it can reduce to /t/ after /t/ or /d/ contexts. Use a brief, sharp stop before the /d/ to avoid a lag in voicing.
Two common errors are delaying the final /d/ and mispronouncing the /t/ as an alveolar flap. To correct, ensure a crisp /t/ before the final /ɪd/ if you emphasize the past tense; if the final is /t/ or /d/ after a voiceless or voiced coda, keep the tongue tip brief contact with the alveolar ridge and release quickly. Another error is shortening the /iː/ so it sounds like /ɪ/; maintain the long /iː/ quality in the first syllable even at faster speech.
In US/UK/AU, the beginning /ɡriː/ is similar, but rhotic accents in US may anticipate a slightly more supportive vocalic quality; UK and AU can show subtle differences in the diphthongization of /iː/. The /t/ can be released with a stronger alveolar contact in careful UK English, while in US English you might hear a softer stop before the final /d/. AU tends to maintain a clear, clipped /t/ in the /tɪd/ ending, though connected speech often reduces it.
The difficulty lies in the cluster /tɪd/ after /riː/, where the tongue must release a clean stop and then glide into a short schwa-like or /ɪ/ sound before /d/ depending on context; many non-natives merge the two syllables or misplace stress. Maintaining the long /iː/ in fast speech and producing the final /t/ or /d/ without voicing bleed requires precise tongue and breath control. Focus on stopping the air with the tongue tip at the alveolar ridge and releasing quickly for a natural /tɪd/ ending.
Yes—attention to the final -ed timing after /t/ is crucial. In many dialects, the -ed past tense in /t/ clusters remains /ɪd/ but can be reduced to just /t/ in rapid speech. For greeted, ensure your /iː/ in the first syllable remains long and carriers a primary stress, while the /t/ is articulated as a crisp tap or stop, then the final /d/ can be lightly released or fused. This keeps the past-tense sense clear in natural, fluent speech.
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Greeted derives from greet, from Old English grētan, meaning to praise, salute, or welcome. The root grēotan in Proto-Germanic carried the sense of touching or greeting, then broadened to a social act of salutation. Over the centuries, greet retained its social function, while the suffix -ed marks past tense in Modern English, reflecting a standard weak verb pattern in English orthography and pronunciation. The evolution saw the verb extend beyond mere acknowledgment to include formal, ceremonial, and friendly welcomes, with regional pronunciations shaping the vowel quality and the realization of the final -ed. The first known use aligns with early Middle English texts, where greetings were documented as acts of recognition in social and civic contexts, evolving gradually into the common past-tense form we use today.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "greeted" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "greeted"
-ted sounds
-ded sounds
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