English pronunciation guide
How to pronounce -s endings: /s/, /z/ and /ɪz/
English adds -s to plurals (cats), to verbs (she works) and to possessives (Tom’s). Spelled the same, it is said three ways: /s/, /z/ or /ɪz/. The rule is the same as for -ed endings: look at the last sound of the word, not the last letter.
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After voiceless sounds
After /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/ and /θ/. A crisp hiss, no extra syllable.
cats, books, laughs, months
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After voiced sounds
After vowels and voiced consonants such as /b/, /d/, /ɡ/, /v/, /m/, /n/ and /l/. It buzzes.
dogs, plays, lives, rooms
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After hissing and hushing sounds
After /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ and /dʒ/. The only case that adds a syllable.
buses, roses, washes, changes
How to make the sounds
- Find the last sound, not the last letter: laugh ends in /f/, so laughs ends in /s/.
- After /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ or /dʒ/, add a syllable: bus becomes bus-iz, watch becomes watch-iz.
- After a voiceless sound, add a short, crisp /s/: cats, stops, books.
- Everywhere else, add /z/ and let it buzz: dogs, calls, trees. The buzz is what most learners leave out.
Which ending?
Only the words ending in /ɪz/ gain a syllable. Listen for the buzz in the /z/ words.
- cats /kæts/
- dogs /dɑːɡz/
- buses /ˈbʌsɪz/
- plays /pleɪz/
- watches /ˈwɑːtʃɪz/
- months /mʌnθs/
- changes /ˈtʃeɪndʒɪz/
- lives /lɪvz/
Practice with real sentences
Tap Practice to open the sentence in Tono, listen to it, and say it. Scored against the US English model.
- She works on weekends and plays tennis.Practice
- My sister has two cats and three dogs.Practice
- The buses leave every ten minutes.Practice
- He watches the news and reads the papers.Practice
- These shoes cost fifty dollars.Practice
- Tom’s parents live in Chicago.Practice
- The prices change every few months.Practice
- She washes the dishes and makes the beds.Practice
Common mistakes
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/s/ everywhere
The most common -s mistake. Dogs, calls and trees end in a buzzing /z/, not a hiss.
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Dropping the ending
Speakers of Mandarin, Vietnamese and Thai often drop a final -s, so “two book” and “he work” come out. Keep it short, but keep it.
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An extra syllable after every -es
Only after hissing and hushing sounds. Makes, likes and hopes are one syllable each.