PRONUNCIATION OF THE

‘S’ ENDING
Rules for the correct pronunciation of the –s ending

-s ending

/s/ /z/ /ɪz/

+ plural nouns
+ third person singular –s,
+ ’s after Possessives and Contractions
 /θ/ (th):
myth /mɪθ/ → myths, month /mʌnθ/ → months,
tablecloth /ˈteɪ.bəl.klɒθ/ → tablecloths,
bath /bɑːθ/ → baths, Earth /ɜːθ/ → Earth's
/k/ (k, ke):
books, cooks, looks, attacks
cakes, lakes, snakes
/f/ (ph, gh, f, fe):
photograph /ˈfəʊ.tə.ɡrɑːf/ → photographs
laugh /lɑːf/ → He laughs.;
Rule 1
If a word ends with any cough /kɒf/ → He coughs.
other voiceless roof → roofs of buildings,
consonant sound /θ, k, giraffe /dʒɪˈrɑːf/ → giraffes
f, p, t/, the final –s is
/p/ (p, pe):
pronounced /s/.
top → tops, stop → stops, step → steps
cope /kəʊp/ → copes (with),
hope /həʊp/ → She hopes that…
/t/ (t, te):
hat → hats, bat → bats
hate /heɪt/ → She hates English.
That’s: That’s Kate’s hat.
 /b/: crabs, rubs
/d/: cards, words, rides, ends
/g/: rugs, bags, begs
If a word ends
/v/: gloves, wives, shelves, drives
with any other
/l/: deals calls, falls, hills
voiced
/r/: wears, cures
consonant sound
Rule 2 /m/: plums, dreams
/b, d, g, v, l, r,
/n/: fans, drains, runs, pens
m, n, ŋ, ð/ or a
/ŋ/: kings, belongs, sings
vowel sound,
/ð/: clothes, bathes, breathes
the final –s is
VOWEL SOUNDS: sees, fleas,
pronounced /z/.
plays, boys, says
 /s/ (s, ss, x, se, ce):
bus → buses, class → classes, kiss → kisses,
relax → relaxes: He relaxes.
fix → fixes: He fixes his car.
case /keɪs/ → cases, house /haʊs/ → houses
place /pleɪs/ → places, dance /dɑːns/ → dances

/ʃ/ (sh):
wash → washes, dish → dishes, rush → rushes

Rule 3 If a word /ʒ/ (ge):

ends with garage /ˈɡær.ɑːʒ/ → garages, massage /məˈsɑːʒ/ →
/s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, massages
dʒ/, the final
/z/ (z, se):
–s is
buzz /bʌz/ → buzzes, cause /kɔːz/ → causes,
pronounced
rose /rəʊz/ → roses
/ɪz/.
/tʃ/ (ch):
watch → watches, church → churches, teach → teaches
/dʒ/ (ge):
college /ˈkɒl.ɪdʒ/ → colleges, orange /ˈɒr.ɪndʒ/ → oranges
change /tʃeɪndʒ/ → changes
George’s: George’s oranges; Alex’s: Alex’s cabbages
 PRONUNCIATION OF
THE -ed ENDING IN PAST SIMPLE
/ɪd/

/ t/

/d/