3 Sounds of the Plural “s” in English: [s], [z] or [ɪz] | English

Pronunciation Lesson

Just like the -ed ending, there are three ways of saying the
plural “s” ending in English:
 [s]
 [z]
 [ɪz]
Example
When we say the plural of two basic words in English:
 “cats”
 “dogs”
the plural “s” is said in two different ways:
 “cats” [kæts] with an [s].

 “dogs” with a [z].

 “dogs” [dogz]

[s]
Voiceless sounds that cause the plural “s” to be
pronounced as [s] include:
[p], [t], [k], [f]

Example
 weeks [wi:ks]
 bits [bɪts]
 backs [bæks]
 briefs [bri:fs]

[z]
Voiced sounds that cause the plural “s” to be pronounced
as [z] include:
[b], [d], [g], [l], [r], [w], [m], [n], [v], [y]

Example
 webs [webz]
 beds [bedz]
 bags [bægz]
 bells [belz]
 jars [djɑ:z]
 canoes [kənju:z
 straws [strɑ:z]
 limbs [lɪmz]
 fans [fænz]
 doves [dʌvz]
 delays [dəLeiZ]

[ɪz]
The sounds that cause the plural “s” to be pronounced with
an additional syllable [ɪz] include:
[tʃ] [dʒ] [s] [z]

Example
 watches [WO tʃɪz]
 bridges [BRɪ dʒɪz]
 judges [dʒʌ dʒɪz]
 slices [SlAI sɪz]
 blazes [BLEI zɪz]

Note
The sound of the plural [s] can be important to pronounce
accurately if it affects your being clearly understood. This
is especially important when you connect speech—linking
sounds in words together.
Listen and Repeat
Notice how I connect the plural “s” to the word that
follows, and how de-stress the function words, such as
transforming the “of” into [ə], to create linking
and music into speech.

 “The dogs are eating at twelve.”

 “There are bits of cake on the floor.”

 “Judges always wear black in court.”

 “The slices of pizza got cold.”

 “Please put the three bags in the hallway.”

 “The delays at the airport weren’t so bad.”

 “We are big fans of that type of music.”

 “How many weeks until your trip?”

“-ed” Past Tense | English Pronunciation Lesson

You may have noticed that in English, past tense

verbs with an -ed ending are pronounced in three different
ways:
 [t]
 [d] or
 [Id].
For example, if I say the past tense verb “walked“, as in,
“I walked away,” what is the last sound that you hear in the
verb?
 “Walked” [wakt]
1) The -ed verb ending sounds like a [t], “Walked” [wakt],
even though it ends in the letter “d”.
What do you hear when I say:
 “smelled“, as in, “it smelled bad.”
2) The -ed verb ending sounds like a [d]: “smelled” [smeld]
And when I say, “visited”, as in “I visited New York City”,
how did I pronounce that “-ed” ending?
 [Id] [vizitid].
3) The -ed verb ending sounds like [ɪd], [vizitid].
*******
This lesson teaches you the three rules that explain the
differences in past tense verb “-ed” pronunciation.

Why the Sound Changes

Place your fingertips on the front of your neck,

and pronounce the following words. What do you feel on
your fingers when you say the underlined sound?
 vow | fake (vvv | fff)
 zebra | snake (zzz | sss)
–> When we pronounce voiced sounds, our vocal
chords vibrate when we say those sounds. [v] [z]. Did you
feel the vibration?
–> When we pronounce voiceless sounds, our vocal
chords do not vibrate. [f] [s]. No vibration.
This vibration or lack of vibration then carries forward to
the following sound in the word. Therefore, this vibration or
lack of vibration explains why we pronounce the past tense
of verbs in three voiced or voiceless ways: [t], [d] or [Id].

1) [t] final sound

Verbs ending in voiceless sounds [p, k, θ, f, s, ʃ, tʃ] cause

the “-ed” ending to be pronounced as the voiceless [t] (with
no vocal chord vibration).
Listen and Repeat
 [p] “He popped a balloon.” [papt]
 [k] “They talked a lot” [takt]
 [θ] “th”: “She frothed a cup of milk” [frawθt]
 [f] “I laughed at the movie.” [læft]
 [s] “She kissed a frog.” [kIst]
 [ʃ] “sh”: “We brushed it off.” [bruʃt]
 [tʃ] “ch”: “I reached around for it.” [riytʃt]

2) [d] final sound

Verbs ending in the voiced sounds [b, g, ð, v, z, ʒ, dʒ, m,

n, ŋ, r, l] cause the “-ed” ending to be pronounced
as a voiced [d].
Listen and Repeat. Practice the rules

 [b] “It bobbed up and down.”

 [g] “He begged her to stay.”
 [ð] “She breathed loudly.”
 [v] “They loved it.”
 [z] “We raised her expectations.”
 [dʒ] “They bridged the gap.”
 [m] “I claimed it was mine.”
 [n] “They banned new members.”
 [ŋ] “She banged into the chair.”
 [r] “He cleared it up.”
 [l] “I rolled up the paper.”
 3) [əd] or [ɪd] final sound

Verbs ending in the sounds [t] or [d] will cause the “-ed”
ending of a verb to be pronounced as the syllable [əd]
or [ɪd].

Listen and Repeat

 [t] “I visited the Empire State Building.” [vɪzɪtəd]

 [t] “She edited the research paper.” [edɪtɪd]
 [d] “We ended the game early.” [endɪd]
 [d] “He breaded the chicken.” [bredɪd]