Pronunciation · lesson 7 of 24 · free

-s endings: s, z or iz — English pronunciation practice

The -s at the end of plurals (cats, dogs, buses) and verbs (he walks, she plays) has three sounds. It depends on the last sound of the word before it — not on the spelling.

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How to say it

Listen to the sound before -s — “quiet sound → s, voiced sound → z, hissing sound → iz (an extra beat)”

  1. After a quiet sound (p, t, k, f): say s — cats, books, cups.
  2. After a voiced sound (b, g, l, m, n, r, v or a vowel): say z — dogs, pens, trees.
  3. After s, z, sh, ch or j sounds: add an extra beat iz — buses, watches, pages.

Use it for: Plurals and he/she/it verbs in every sentence: two dogs, she watches, my friends.

Worked example: How does the -s ending of “buses” sound? → “iz” (an extra beat)

  1. “bus” ends with an s sound, which hisses.
  2. So we add an extra beat: bus-iz. “buses” has 2 syllables.

Check: bus-es = 2 beats ✓

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🖨️ Plural S Pronunciation Worksheet

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