Pronunciation of the morpheme “-s”

The **morpheme “-s”** is a sound (/s/, /z/ or /ɪz/) that is added at the end of some words. There are three different morphemes that add “s”: plural, third person singular of verbs and genitive (possessive apostrophe). The three morphemes share pronunciation rules, and plural and third person share spelling rules.

## The plural morpheme

Examples:

* Written as “s” and pronounced as /s/: groups, lots, proofs, weeks
* Written as “s” and pronounced as /z/: dogs, friends, jobs, shoes
* Written as “s” and pronounced as /ɪz/: horses, judges, prizes
* Written as “es” and pronounced as /z/: , companies, potatoes, tornadoes
* Written as “es” and pronounced as /ɪz/: churches, classes, wishes

## The third person singular morpheme

Examples:

* Written as “s” and pronounced as /s/: gets, laughs, helps, thinks
* Written as “s” and pronounced as /z/: brings, plays, seems, tells
* Written as “s” and pronounced as /ɪz/: changes, increases, closes
* Written as “es” and pronounced as /z/: studies, tries, vetoes
* Written as “es” and pronounced as /ɪz/: focuses, pushes, reaches

## The genitive morpheme

Examples:

* Written as “’s” and pronounced as /s/: cat’s, Elizabeth’s, Joseph’s, Mike’s
* Written as “’s” and pronounced as /z/: Barbara’s, dog’s, John’s, Mary’s
* Written as “’s” and pronounced as /ɪz/: Boris’s, Marge’s, Rose’s, virus’s
* Written as “’” and not pronounced (plurals): cats’, dogs’
* Written as “’” and not pronounced (classical and biblical names): Augustus’, Jesus’, Moses’

## Classification of sounds

**IPA consonants**

For the “-s” morpheme, sounds must be classified in voiced, unvoiced and sibilant

### Voiced sounds

#### Description

First let’s identify some “voiced” sounds. Put your fingers on your throat and say the words *dog*, *cow*, *open* and *agree*. You should feel some vibration in your throat at the end of these words.

#### Enumeration

Voiced sounds can be described or memorized. For some people memorization is easier than description or deduction.

The voiced sounds in English are all vowels and /b/, /d/, /ð/, /dʒ/, /g/, /j/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /r/, /v/, /w/, /z/ and /ʒ/.

### Unvoiced

#### Description

Now some “unvoiced” sounds. Say *book, night, push* and *reduce*. You should feel no vibration in your throat at the end of these words.

#### Enumeration

Voiceless sounds can be described or memorized. For some people memorization is easier than description or deduction.

The voiceless sounds in English are /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /ʃ/, /t/, /tʃ/ and /θ/.

### Sibilants

Sibilants are consonants that have a hissing sound.

English sibilants are /s/, /z/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/ and /ʒ/.

## Pronunciation of the morpheme “-s”

The ending sound of the base word determines the pronunciation of the morpheme “-s”.

* /s/ for non-sibilant voiceless consonants /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, and /θ/.

laughs, Mike’s, helps, gets, Elizabeth’s
* /z/ for vowels and non-sibilant voiced consonants /b/, /d/, /ð/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /r/, and /v/.

areas, Barbara’s, companies, employees, laws, plays, shoes, shows, vetoes
jobs, friends, breathes, dogs, tells, seems, Ann’s, brings, Oscar’s, loves
* /ɪz/ for sibilants: /s/, /z/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /ʃ/ and /ʒ/.

buses, advises, churches, Marge’s, pushes, garages
## See also

* Pronunciation and decoding exercises: \s\ vs \z\