English Highway Podcast

Pronunciation: /s/ vs. /z/ (#0281)

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

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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.
example, the p sound as in cup, cups.

For

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:

dogs
Practice 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:
The tree roots are things under the ground.
Last time, come on. You can do it:
roots
things
The tree roots are things under the ground.

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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:
The dogs all have black dots.
dogs
dots
Last time:
The dogs all have black dots.
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:
kisses
Practice 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.

An original Open English production in association with Cl@se.

Copyright FoxyP2 Inc. and Rainbow Heights International LLC

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Additional practice: The s versus z sounds

Words:
plates
sheets
guests
blankets
cups
thinks
giraffes
rooms
things
beds
dogs
roots
bets
dots
kisses
Sentences:
He thinks the rooms have two beds.
The tree roots are things under the ground.
The dogs all have black dots.

An original Open English production in association with Cl@se.

Copyright FoxyP2 Inc. and Rainbow Heights International LLC

Page 6 of 6