Is there any difference in pronunciation between ..

[peteryoung]

asked the man and ask the man?

It's really hard for me to differentiate between their respective pronunciations. Sometimes I thought I heard 'ask de man' in the first case. More often, though, I cannot readily tell which is being said. I think native speakers must have a way of telling which is being pronounced, as the adding of 'ed' marks an important grammatical meaning. So, would anyone please help me with this? I'd be extremely grateful. Thanks.

[A.Russell]

Often you can tell by the contect in which they are used. In this case the correct meaning should be fairly easy to ascertain since the tense is different.

[Casiopea]

In addition to context, there's phonology and phonetics,

-ed is pronounced as [t] in asked the man: [aeskt] the man. It's pronounced as [t], a voiceless sound, because the sound the comes before, notably [k], is also voicesless. The last three consonants, [skt], all share voicelessness.

Now, if your first language doesn't have syllable-final voiceless stops (e.g., [t], [k]) or syllabels that end in three consonants (e.g., [skt], then that might be one reason you're having difficulty picking up [t] in [aeskt].

Now, if it's not your ears, but rather native speaker pronunciation that's the problem, there are a few additional pronunciations for asked:

(1) asked, [aeskd]
=> in this case a native speaker pronounces final -ed as [d], a voiced sound. What happens here is the speaker finds that having three consonants at the end is either too difficult to say or it's just too inefficient, so s/he makes the string easier by making the last sound in the -sked string voiced, thereby making the string easier to pronounce: /aeskt/ => [askd]

(2) asked, [aekst] (sounds like axed)
=> in this case, the native speaker makes the string easier to pronounce by switching /s/ and /k/ around: sk => ks

===
asked the man => ask [d]e man

In this case, final [d] and initial 'th' produce ask[d]e man. What happens here is 'th' becomes [d], sharing place of articulation with final [d]. The reason, with consonant clusters, especially across word or syllable boundaries, it's easier to pronounce similar sounds than it is to pronounce different sounds, like [d] then stop and make a new sound 'th'.

Hope that helps out a bit.

[peteryoung]

It really helps. I find it easier now for me to tell with your explanation in mind. A million thanks, Casiopea! ^_^

[Szymon]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

Now, if it's not your ears, but rather native speaker pronunciation that's the problem, there are a few additional pronunciations for asked:

(1) ...
(2) asked, [aekst] (sounds like axed)
=> in this case, the native speaker makes the string easier to pronounce by switching /s/ and /k/ around: sk => ks

What do you mean by a different pronunciation for `asked` in case of `axed`?
Do you mean that normal `asked` could be pronounced as `axed`?
What would it mean then? And how could I guess that smn meant `asked` by sayin `axed`? Or maybe it`s me who misunderstood you, Casiopea?

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by Szymon

What do you mean by a different pronunciation for `asked` in case of `axed`?

Some native speakers pronounce asked as [aekst]. The reason being, the final consonant cluster [skt] of [aeskt] asked is difficult to say, so speakers metathesize, or switch the consonants around so they're easier to produce. In the case of asked => [aekst], speakers switch /sk/ to /ks/, giving [aekst], which sounds like 'axed'.

Originally Posted by Szymon

Do you mean that normal `asked` could be pronounced as `axed`?

Yes, that's correct. 'asked' is pronounced as [aekst] axed by some native speakers.

Originally Posted by Szymon

And how could I guess that smn meant `asked` by sayin `axed`?

Meaning is the key. Note, axed means to use an axe; e.g., I axed the tree. (I cut it down), whereas asked means to get information; e.g., I [aekst] the tree a question. Also, 'asked' and 'axed' are transitive verbs; 'axed' takes one object, but asked takes two objects:

axe something
ask somebody something

asked
I [aekst] the tree a question.

axed
I [aekst] the tree. (I cut it down)

It's not always that clear, though. Dialect variations coupled with omitted words can result in ambiguity, even comic relief:

Pat: I [aekst] the [tri:] (what they were doing)?
Max: Huhn?
Pat: I said, I asked the three what they were doing.
Max. Oh. I thought you said you asked the tree what it was doing.
Sam: Haha. I thought Pat said, I axed the tree!

[Szymon]

WOW This is amazing, really, thanks for explanation

[Casiopea]

You're welcome, Szymon