Pronunciation Rules for the -(e)s Endings for Simple

Present Tense and Plural nouns

1. You pronounce the verbs of she, he, and it as /z/* after a voiced sound. The
voiced sounds are the ones that produce vibration of your vocal chords.
These are the majority voiced sounds and some examples:

All vowels Plays, sees, goes

/b/ Robs
/g/ Digs
/l/ Calls
/m/ Rams
/n/ Learns
/r/ Blurs
/ð/ Bathes
/v/ Receives
/ŋ/ Hangs

2. You pronounce the verbs of she, he and it as /s/ after a voiceless sound. The
voiceless sounds are the ones that don’t produce vibration of your vocal chords.
These are the majority of voiceless sounds and some examples:

/f/ Laughs
/k/ Talks
/p/ Stops
/t/ Sits

3. When a word ends in /s, z, ʃ, tʃ/ or /ʒ/ the -es is pronounced as an extra
syllable from the basic form of the verb /ɪz/.
These are some examples:

/s/ Fixes, dances

/z/ Memorizes, exercises
/tʃ/ Watches
/ʤ/ Damages
/ʃ/ Washes
/ʒ/ Encourages

*The letters between the slash marks / / refer to sounds, not to spelling.

Carolina Garro Conversation Club UNED-2013