Hello again in this lesson I'm going to continue talking about the S and Z sounds.
But we'll focus on them here as word endings.
This topic is closely related to the the endings that you saw in the last section.
Again you'll find that there are three possible pronunciations for the s ending and the rules for pronouncing
each are very similar to the in the ending pronunciation rules s endings are extremely common in English
and omitting them or pronouncing them incorrectly will make your English seem very low level.
Part of improving your spoken English is making sure to use basic everyday grammar correctly.
You don't need to spend lots of time on advanced grammar concepts in English but there are some key
basics you need to master.
Now not all grammar mistakes have the same weight but correctly using E-D and s endings would be considered
basic knowledge of English to native speakers so omitting them is a critical error since it sends the
message that your English is at a beginning level.
Even if you're an advanced speaker
now let's take a quick look at all the reasons to add s to words in English before moving on to the
pronunciation part.
We add s to words for several different reasons.
First to make words plural.
Take the word year we make it plural by adding S..
Years.
Book books.
We also use s in the third person singular which just means that he she it forms for present tense verbs
for example.
I say but she says We look it looks we use s a lot in contractions with is and has she is because she's
what is what.
And finally we use s for the possessive in English.
Karen's phone or mom's coat.
So you can see that we put s at the ends of words for many basic grammatical functions in English.
In this next activity I'm going to tell you a cute story.
I want you to follow along with me.
Pay particular attention to the ass endings.
Now I want you to go away and stop the video after you've heard it once and listen again until you have
a good feeling for how to pronounce each of the s endings.
So here's the story it's called museum hires puppy to protect its valuable artwork from bugs.
We're in love with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts newest hire me Riley a 12 week old Wymer runner Riley's
job is to sniff out bugs and other critters that could potentially damage valuable artwork in the museum.
The museum's deputy director Katy Getchell told the Boston Globe that insects are an ongoing concern
for museums.
It's really a trial pilot project.
We don't know if he's going to be good at it said Getchell but it seems like a great idea to try.
No technology is as powerful at detecting sense as the nostrils of dogs which have long been trained
to sniff out explosives missing people bed bugs and cancer among other things.
If Riley is successful at his job.
Museum officials would attempt to share what they learned with other museums and organizations that
need to protect textiles Getchell said.
Now if you need to stop here and go back and listen again and again until your ear is picked up the
true pronunciation of these words with the S.
Andy did you notice that almost all of the s ending words were pronounced with a z sound.
That's the most common way to pronounce an s ending in English.
So just like the endings the pronunciation of the s or e s ending is dictated by the last sound of the
word before adding the answer.
E s to it.
And here is rule number one for determining the pronunciation of an answer.
E-S ending.
If the word ends in a voice sound pronounce the E S as a Z since z is also a voice sound and if you
remember voice sounds have movement and sound coming from your vocal chords which you can feel right
here in the hollow of your neck.
You place your hand here you can feel the vibration
Let's go ahead and take those s ending words from the story and look at them a little more carefully.
Now the word bug ends in the good Aji sound and that's a voice sound.
So when we add an ask to that in this case making it plural that s will sound like a Z because g is
also a voice sound.
Bound by an in the next example Rylie the name of the dog ends in a vowel sound.
Vowels are always voiced and in this case Riley's is possessive.
So go ahead and add a Z A voiced z sound to the end of the vowel Riley's r next voiced word was museum
that ends in an M and is also voice sound.
So at 8 to make it plural.
Museums official also ends in a voice sound.
L.
So again we're going to add easy to make it plural.
Official.
The largest number of endings in English are voiced so you will most often pronounce the s or e s as
the sound making sure that the e is silent.
If there is one the following sounds are all voiced sounds that will require that Z Z ending BA de guerre
la ma na in RA and all vowel sounds so let's take a look at some of those top 500 most common words
that end with a voice sound an English job.
When we make it plural adding the S to it will sound like.
Words ending and the kid becomes kids hand hands and then N-G drug drugs and then our people people's
school schools and there is more.
The ones ending in am home becomes homes program programs and reason reasons million millions Engy ending
thing becomes.
Things are ending number numbers leader leaders the ending kills Gilmer's leave leaves and all of those
different vowel endings.
Here are a few examples no nos.
Try tri's issue issues.
City cities and again the star ones are the most common ending's you're likely to encounter and am an
R in all vowel endings.
So if you would like to focus on something specific in your practice.
Focus on words ending in those letters more than anything else.
OK this is a good place to take a break but please stay tuned for the next lesson.
When I teach you when to use the other two pronunciations for the ending Don't forget to complete the
workbook assignments before moving on and make sure you're singing every day to improve your overall
English pronunciation.
Thanks for watching and I'll see you again soon.