Pronunciation of -s, -es, -'sending
Let's Learn!
There are four purposes for adding -s, -es, or -'s to a word:•To create a plural noun (hats)•To conjugate a verb (rains)•To show possession (coach's, coaches')•

To create a contraction (coach's meaning coach is or coach has)

Note that 's can signal noun possession and the contracted form of the words is and has inspoken English. Sentence context must be used to recognize whether coach's means that thecoach owns something or that it is a contraction of coach is or coach has. The pronunciation is thesame whether the apostrophe is signaling a single owner (coach's) or many owners (coaches').
Pronunciation of -s, -es, 's endings
No matter the purpose or spelling of the -s, -es, 's ending, the pronunciation guidelines are thesame. In English, the -s, -es, 's ending has three possible pronunciations:•/s/ 's sound': hats /hæts/•/z/ 'z sound': loves /lʌvz/•/ɪz/ 'short i'+'z sound': misses /'mɪ sɪz/

1. -s, -es, 's ending pronounced as /ɪz/Pronounce the -s, -es, 's ending as /ɪz/ when the final sound before the addition of the -s, -es, 's
ending is any of the following.
•/s/ 's sound': misses•/z/ 'z sound': causes•/ʧ/ 'ch sound': watches•/ʤ/ 'j sound': changes•/ʃ/ 'sh sound': wishes•/ʒ/ 'zh sound': garages

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Pronunciation of -s, -es, -'s
ending
2. -s, -es, 's ending pronounced as /s/When the final sound of the word is an unvoiced sound (except the sounds listed for pattern #1), the-s, -es, 's ending is pronounced as /s/. An unvoiced sound does not use the vocal cords during its
production.
•/p/ 'p sound': stops•/k/ 'k sound': looks•/t/ 't sound': cats•/θ/ 'unvoiced th': Earth's•/f/ 'f sound': laughs•/c/ 'c sound': relics

3. -s, -es, 's ending pronounced as /z/
When the final sound of the word is a voiced sound (except the sounds listed for pattern #1), the -s,-es, 's ending is pronounced as /z/. A voiced sound uses the vocal cords during its production.
Since all vowel sounds are voiced, there are far more voiced sounds in English than unvoiced
sounds. Besides the sounds listed for pattern #1, English has 10 other voiced consonant sounds
that occur at the end of a word:•/b/ 'b sound': describes•/g/ 'g sound': begs•

/d/ 'd sound': words•/ð/ 'voiced th': bathes•/v/ 'v sound': loves•/l/ 'l sound': calls•/r/ 'r sound': cures•/m/ 'm sound': dreams•/n/ 'n sound': rains•/ŋ/ 'ng sound': belongs
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Pronunciation of -s, -es, -'s
endingExample -s, -es, 's use in context
The -s, -es, 's in the word dogs is pronounced identically in all four sentences below. The context ofthe sentence is necessary to comprehend the meaning of the -s, -es, 's.
•The dogs were barking all night long. (plural)•The dogs' collars should be replaced. (plural possessive)•The dog's sleeping in the bed again. (dog is)•The dog's been good and deserves a treat. (dog has)

Let's Try!
Write the words in the right column.

/s//z//ɪz/

Fixes, governments, lessons, reaches, works, tries, machines, kisses, tourists, weapons, beaches,students, moths, clothes, languages, sheets, drives, traffic's, churches, remembers, expects, twigs,rises, pets, things, houses, information's, senses, snaps, lapses

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