A new modified trapezoidal modulating signal for a pulse width modulation (PWM) inverter suitable for a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive is proposed in this paper. A new modulating signal for the PMSM drive is determined by the characteristic torque ripple of the motor with various electro-motive force (EMF). The proposed modulating signal is able to decrease the torque ripple even if the motor has sinusoidal EMF or non-sinusoidal EMF. By using the proposed modulating signal, the system reduced the torque ripple as well as achieved the effective utilization of the DC supply voltage for the inverter. Many improvements are accomplished by the PWM strategy adapting the modified trapezoidal modulating signal without a change in hardware.