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English Highway Podcast Pronunciation: /s/ vs. /z/ (#0281) Practice the /s/ and /z/ sounds at the end of words.

Announcer: Youre about to listen to an audio lesson from OpenEnglish.com.Practice the /s/ and /z/ sounds at the end of words.

Welcome to another audio lesson. Im your head coach, Andres Moreno, and I hope youre ready because today Im full of energy. Lets have a great lesson!Practice the /s/ and /z/ sounds at the end of words.

Today, we will learn the s and the z sound. So repeat after me:

sss

zzz

Thats it. The following words will have an s sound at the end. So listen and repeat after me:

plates

sheets

Stretch that s sound:

sheets

Good. Heres another one:

guests

Thats it. Thats a hard one. Lets try it again. Repeat after me:

guests

Thats it. Hear that s sound at the end. Heres another one. Repeat after me:

blankets

And again:

blankets

You got it. As you can see, when the final sound of a word before the s is a t as in plates, sheets, guests, and blankets, the s actually sounds like an s. So repeat after me:

plates

An original Open English production in association with Cl@se. Copyright FoxyP2 Inc. and Rainbow Heights International LLC

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You can clearly hear that s sound at the end. The reason this happens is that the t causes your voice to stop, plate, plates.Practice the /s/ and /z/ sounds at the end of words.

There are some other sounds that also make your voice stop. For example, the p sound as in cup, cups.

As the k sound in think, thinks. The f as in giraffe. You would say, giraffes.

And the t of course, as in plates.

The rule is that if you have a sound that stops your voice at the end of a word, the s actually sounds like an s.Practice the /s/ and /z/ sounds at the end of words.

Now, listen to some other words that end in sounds that dont stop your voice. For example, room, thing, spoon, dog, and bed.

If there isnt a sound that stops your voice like a p a t or a k at the end of a word, the s actually sounds like a z. Listen closely, rooms, things. Repeat after me:

room

rooms

As you can see, although rooms ends in an s, the sound is a z.

rooms

Repeat after me again:

rooms

The same thing happened with the word, thing. Repeat after me:

things

And again:

things

Heres another example, bed. When you add an s, it sounds:

beds

Repeat after me, come on:

beds

Thats it, last example. The word, dog. When you add an s, it sounds:

dogs


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Repeat after me:

dogsPractice the /s/ and /z/ sounds at the end of words.

Great job. Now lets compare some words that have sounds at the end that stop your voice and others that dont stop your voice. So repeat after me:

rooms

You can hear the z sound at the end. But if we say roots, you dont. You hear the s. Repeat after me:

roots

It has a t sound before the s:

roots

The t stops your voice, and then you can actually pronounce the s. Thats what happens. Lets look at another example. Repeat after me:

things

You can clearly hear that z sound. Now repeat after me again:

thinks

Theres your s sound. The k at the end of think stopped your voice, and the s sound came out. Once again:

thinks

Heres another example. Repeat after me:

beds

Theres your z sound. Now repeat after me again:

bets

Theres your t sound at the end:

bet

And then with an s, it becomes:

bets

Thats it, last example:

dogs


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Good job. Now repeat after me again:

dots

As you can see, dogs has a z sound and dots has an s sound. The key again is that when you have a stop sound at the end of a word like a t a k or a p, as in roots, cups and thinks, the s comes out. When you dont, it sounds like a z, rooms, things beds. Lets practice with some sentences. Repeat after me:

He thinks the rooms have two beds.

Thats it. Repeat after me:

thinks

Theres a k sound at the end so the s comes out:

thinks

Repeat after me once again:

rooms

You can hear that z sound. Heres another example:

beds

The z sound again so lets say the whole sentence. Repeat after me:

He thinks the rooms have two beds.

You got it. Lets keep practicing. Heres another example. Repeat after me:

The tree roots are things under the ground.

roots

things

Now the sentence once again. Repeat after me:


Last time, come on. You can do it:

roots

things



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Thats it. We have one last example. Give it your best, and repeat after me:

The dogs all have black dots.

And again:


dogs

dots

Last time:


Way to go. Heres another useful tip before we close this session. If a word ends in an s like kiss, we add an es to make it plural. But the key is that that final s still sounds like a z. Lets try it. Repeat after me:

kiss

kisses

Could you feel that z sound at the end of kisses? Repeat after me:

kisses

Last time:

kissesPractice the /s/ and /z/ sounds at the end of words.

Way to go, you did great! Your English is improving with every new lesson. Every day you're learning new words, expressions and improving your verbal communication skills. You should feel proud of yourself, keep it up and remember, practice makes perfect!Practice the /s/ and /z/ sounds at the end of words.

For additional practice, turn on your computer and go to OpenEnglish.com. At OpenEnglish, youll find hundreds of interactive lessons and videos to help you perfect your English.Accelerate your English today. See you soon.Practice the /s/ and /z/ sounds at the end of words.


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Additional practice: The s versus z sounds

Words:platessheetsguestsblanketscupsthinksgiraffesroomsthingsbedsdogsrootsbetsdotskisses

Sentences:He thinks the rooms have two beds.The tree roots are things under the ground.The dogs all have black dots.


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