Pronouncing Plurals, Third-Person Verbs, Possessives, and Contractions

When you are writing English, the letter s at the end of words serve many different purposes, The letter s is used to form plurals nouns (hats, dogs), third- person present tense regular verbs (he likes; she eats); possessive nouns (my friend's house; the dog's collar); and contractions (it's late; he's here). As you can see, s is a very versatile letter in English. Ir is important to learn its many defferent sounds!

    When you are speaking English, the -s ending can have three differnt pronounciations. It can sound like [s], as in hats [hæts]; [z], as in tells [tɛlz]; or like a new syllable, [ɪz]; jor like a new syllable, [ɪz], as in roses [rʊozɪz].

Possible Pronunciation Problems

EXAMPLES
	Once again, the tendency to drop final consonants results in omissions or incorrect pronounciation of -s at the end of words. This will make you difficult to understand and confuse your listeners.
	Plural nouns will sound like singular nouns;	Two books will sound like two book
	Third-person present tense verbs will be incorrect:	He eats will sound like he eat. She sings will sound like she sing
	Possessives and contractions will be omitted:	Bob's house will sound like Bob house. He's right will sound like he right
	You will not be dsaying your target word:	My eyes will sound like my ice. Sue sings will sound like Sue sinks.
	You are probably wondering if there any rules to help you correctly pronounce -s in all these defferent situation The answer is YES! in this lesson,you will learn how to pronounce s when it forms plurals. third-person present tense verbs, possessives, and contractions, Study the rules and listen to the MP3 carefully. You will soon notice a big improvement in your pronounciation!

-s PRONOUNCED [s]

The -s forming the plural always sounds like [s] when the last sound in the singular noun is voiceless

EXAMPLES   hats [hæts]  lips [lɪps]  sticks [stɪks]

The -s forming the third-person present always sounds like [s] when the last sound in the base form of the verb is voiceless.

EXAMPLES   he likes [laɪks]  she talks [tɔks]  it floats [floʊts]

The -s forming the possessive always sounds like [s] when the last sound in the noun is voiceless.

EXAMPLES   Pat's [pæts] car  the book's [bʊks] binding

The -s forming contractions always sounds like [s] when the last sound in the word being contracted is voiceless.

EXAMPLES   It's s [ɪts] true  That's [ðæts] my house.

🎧 Listen and repeat the phrases. The final -s will sound like [s]. (Do NOT add a new syllable to any word!).

Plural Noun Phrases	Third-Person Verb Phrases	Possessive/Contraction Phrases
Bake the cakes	He smokes too much.	the cat's milk.
Wash the plates	She sleeps late.	Ralph's friend.
Stack the cups	It tastes good.	the plant's leaf.
Clean the pots	My mother makes tea.	Let's eat now.
Darn the socks	The dog eats.	What's wrong?
Feed the cats	He jumps high.	It's time to go.

-s PRONOUNCED [z]

The -s forming the plural always sounds like [z] when the last sound in the singular noun is voiced.

EXAMPLES   floors [flɔrz]  bags [bæɡz]  cars [kɑrz]

The -s forming the third-person present always sounds like [z] when the last sound in the base form of the verb is voiced.

EXAMPLES   He swims [swɪmz]  The bird flie s [flaɪz].  She sings [sɪŋz]

The -s forming the possessive always sounds like [z] when the last sound in the noun is voiced.

EXAMPLES   Tim's [tɪmz] house  My friend's [frεndz] cat

The -s forming contractions always sounds like [z] when the last sound in the word being contracted is voiceled.

EXAMPLES   She's [ʃiz] my sister.  He's [hiz] leaving.

🎧 Listen and repeat the phrases. Remember, the -s ending must sound like [z].

Plural Noun Phrases	Third-Person Verb Phrases	Possessive/Contraction Phrases
Close your ayes	He saves money.	Sue's pencil.
Kill the fleas	The man lives here.	The baby's milk.
Sing the songs	Dad reads books.	our teacher's desk.
lost 30 pounds	The boy listens.	my friend's house.
Open the letters	It smells good.	Here's a pencil
Buy some shoes	She sees me.	There's a note.

-s PRONOUNCED [ɪz]

The -s or es forming the plural always sound like the new syllable [ɨz] when the last sound in the sngular noun is [s], [z], [ʃ], [ʃt], [ʒ], or [dʒ].

EXAMPLES   wishres [ˈwɪʃ·ɪz]  churches [tʃɝtʃɪz]  places [pleɪsɨz]

The -s or es forming the plural always sounds like the new syllable [ɪz] when the last sound in the base form of the verb is [s], [z], [ʃ],[tʃ], [ʒ] or [dʒ],.

EXAMPLES   He watches [wɑʃɪz]  The bee buzzes [bʌzɪz]. 

The -s or -es forming the possessive always sounds like the new syllable [ɪz] when the last sound in the noun is [s], [z], [ ʃ], [tʃ], [ʒ. or [dʒ].

EXAMPLES   the rose's [rɑʊzɪz] stem  the church's [tʃɝːtʃɪz] altar

🎧 Listen and repeat the phrases. NOW you should pronounce -s or es like the new syllable [ɪz].

Plural Noun Phrases	Third-Person Verb Phrases	Possessive/Contraction Phrases
two new dresses	He wishes.	the church's steeple.
Trim the hedges	She watches him.	the witch's broom.
Buy the watches	He judges the contest.	Mr. Jones's pen.
Win the prizes	Mother washes clothes.	the mouse's cheese.
in the cages	The bee buzzes.	the bus's tires