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Pronouncing 's'

Michal and Tim in the sitting room
Regular plural nouns (e.g. names, parents) and 3rd person present simple verbs (e.g. she sings, he learns, it runs) all end in 's' but there are three different ways of pronouncing this letter.
 


verbs nouns
wishes buses
judgeswatches
closesexperiences


verbsnouns
jumpsparents
bitescuffs
drinks maths


verbsnouns
sings clothes
needs mums
loves names

Voiced and unvoiced sounds

If a sound is voiced it means that there is a vibration in your throat when you say the sound. If place your hand over your throat and say the sound /z/ or /m/, for example, you can feel your throat vibrate or buzz.

When you say an unvoiced sound, on the other hand, like /s/ or /t/, you can't feel any buzz or vibration in your throat.

 

Rules for pronouncing 's'

 
Here are some rules about how you pronounce the final 's':

If the word ends with the sounds

the final s is pronounced


If the word ends with any other voicless consonant, for example:

the final s is pronounced


If the word ends with any other voiced consonant, for example:

the final s is pronounced


Vocabulary:

folks (plural only, informal):
family or parents

place (informal):
house or flat

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