Most of the time, no vowel is pronounced in 'ed'. You probably already know this, but a 't' is an unvoiced 'd'. In general, if the previous consonant is voiced, the final sound is also voice (d). If the previous sound is unvoiced, the final sound is also unvoiced (t). If the final sound the word is a 't' or 'd', the 'e' is pronounced when the 'ed' is added (otherwise you wouldn't be able to hear it). Some words do this for 'k' or 'ch' sounds as well, but not many. There are more detailed explanations here: http://www.italki.com/discussion/55620 By the way, I cannot imagine 'lived' and 'lived' being pronounced with a 't', because 'v' is voiced. If they were unvoiced, they'd be pronounced like 'luft' (not a word) and 'lift' respectively. That could just be my accent... could someone from another English speaking country please let me know what they think?