PRONOUNCING S ENDINGS

WE USE S (OR ES) IN FOUR

DIFFERENT WAYS:
In plural nouns: Why have you got three phones
on your desk?
In verbs: She phones him every day.
In possessives: Have you got Marias phone
number?
In contractions of is and has: The phones
ringing. The films started.

When we add an s (or es) to a word, the number of

syllables in the word sometimes stays the same.
day-days
But sometimes we add an extra syllable to the
pronunciation
match matches

The rule is that we add an extra syllable if the last

sound in the word is one of these: [s, z, , , t, d]
If the last sound is a vowel, or any other consonant,
the number of syllables stays the same.
NB! We dont contract is or has after [s, z, , , t, d]
The foods good. The service is good.
The games started. The match has started.

IT CAN BE PRONOUNCED IN THREE

DIFFERENT WAYS:
/s/ if the preceding sound is voiceless.
/z/ if the preceding sound is voiced.
/iz/ nouns ending in [s], [z], [ ], [t ],[d ] form the
plural by adding es which is pronounced [iz].
class classes
bush- bushes
garage- garages
bridge- bridges
bench- benches

/S/ PRONUNCIATION
When the word to which we add -(e)s/s ends in
one of the following voiceless consonants sounds,
[p, t, k, f, ], they are pronounced [-s].
E.g.
stop - stops [stps]
paint - paints [pents]
cake - cakes [keks]
laugh - laughs [lfs]
myth - myths [ms] Beth Beths [bes]
Pete Petes [pi:ts]
Philip Philips [ 'flps]

[-Z ] PRONUNCIATION
When the word to which we are adding -(e)s/s ends
in one of the voiced consonants sounds, [b, d, g, v,
, m, n, , l, r] or any of the vowel sounds, they
are pronounced [-z ]. Examples:
bed - beds [bedz]
dog - dogs [ dgz ]
save - saves [seivz]
bathe - bathes [bez]
feel - feels [[flz]
sing - sings [sz]

[-IZ] PRONUNCIATION
When the word to which we add -(e)s/s ends in
one of the following sounds, [s, z, , , t, d]
(sibilant sounds), they are pronounced [-iz].
Examples:
house - houses ['ha zz]
rose roses/ Roses ['ro zz]
wash - washes [wiz]
watch - watches [wtiz]
Orange [rnd]

PRONOUNCING PAST TENSE

ENDINGS

THEPAST SIMPLE TENSEANDPAST

PARTICIPLEOF ALL REGULAR VERBS
END IN-ED.
To make the past tense of a regular verb, you add
the ending ed
Look-looked; explain explained
Or just d if there is already a letter e at the end
of the infnitve
Live-lived

Normally, the number of syllables stays the same.

HOW DO WE PRONOUNCE THE

-ED?
In 3 ways
/Id/

/t/

/d/

If the base verb ends in

one of thesesounds:

example
base verb*:

example
with -ed:

pronounce
the -ed:

extra
syllable?

unvoiced

/t/

want

wanted

/Id/

yes

voiced

/d/

end

ended

unvoiced

/p/

hope

hoped

/t/

no

/f/

laugh

laughed

/s/

fax

faxed

/S/

wash

washed

/tS/

watch

watched

/k/

like

liked

allother
sounds,
for
example...

play

played

allow

allowed

beg

begged

voiced

/d/

EXCEPTIONS!!!
The following -ed words usedas adjectivesare
pronounced with /Id/:
aged, blessed, crooked, dogged, learned, naked,
ragged, wicked, wretched
So we say:
an aged man /Id/
a blessed nuisance /Id/
a dogged persistence /Id/
a learned professor - the professor, who was truly
learned /Id/
a wretched beggar - the beggar was wretched /Id/

BUT
But when used as real verbs (past simple and
past participle), the normal rules apply and we
say:
he aged quickly /d/
he blessed me /t/
they dogged him /d/
he has learned well /d/ or /t/

WRITE THE PHONETIC SYMBOL FOR

EACH
-ED VERB ENDING
started, needed, reached, regarded, decided, locked,
realized,permitted, discovered, painted,
examined, closed, renovated, looked, glanced

LETS TRY TO READ THIS!