English Pronunciation, Lesson 25 - S and Z Sounds (2024)

EnglishPronunciation, Lesson 25

The S and Zsounds are often studied as a pair because they sound verysimilar, and both sounds are made in the samepart of the mouth. There are some differences. The Ssound is voiceless,and the Z sound isvoiced. What does all of this mean? Read on to find out.

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How to pronounce the S and Z sounds

The voiceless (unvoiced)Ssound(IPAsymbol: s)can be found in English words such as said, sad, sit, box, bus, cats, face, and circle.

The voiced Zsound(IPAsymbol: z)can be found in English words such as zip, exist, buzz, boys, his, was, and is.

Bothof these sounds are produced in the front part of your mouth.When you make these sounds, your lips will be slightly open. Your teethshould lightly touch in the front or be very close together. The frontof your tongue will touch the back of your lower teeth. The back ofyour tongue touches the roofof your mouth on the sides.

When making the S and Zsounds,air is pushed down the center of yourtongue and betweenthe tip of your tongue and your top teeth. The movement of the airmakes the S and Z sounds.

The S sound is a hissingsound like a snake.

The Z sound is like thesound of buzzing bees.

In this video, Rachel from Rachel's English will show you how to position your mouth to makeeach of these sounds.

Voiced and voiceless sounds

In the English language, we use many voiced sounds.That meansthat the vocal cordsvibrate when you say that sound. The Z sound is a voicedsound because the vocal cords vibrate when you make the sound.

The S soundis a voiceless or unvoiced sound because the vocalcords do not vibrate when you make the sound. Instead, weuse air to make the sound.

Spellings

Thereare five common spellings of the S sound: s/ss, ce, ci, sc, and x.

Thereare three common spellings of the Z sound: z/zz, s, x.Let's look at a few rules for some of the common spellings.

• s spelling (sit,wise, dogs, cats)

  The s spelling is sometimes pronounced as an S sound (sit, cats) andsometimes as a Z sound (wise, dogs)

  It is more likely to be pronounced as a Z sound if it comesbetween two vowel sounds: wise,visit, busy.

  Thereare not many rules to help us know which sound is used, so it is veryimportant to learn the correct pronunciation of each new word.

  See Also

  Pronunciation of S in EnglishVocabulary: plural noun endings

• sc spelling(science, descend, score)

  Thesc spelling can be pronounced as an Ssound alone or as an S+ K sound.It is more likely to be pronounced as an S sound when itcomes in themiddle of a word, but not all words follow the rule.

  S sound = muscle, descend, science

  S + K sound = scream, score, scare

• xspelling(fox, exist)

  The x spelling can be pronounced in two different ways:

  K + S sound = fix,fox, next

  G + Z sound = example, exist

  *Note: "Exit" can be pronounced as an K + S sound or G + Z sound. Either way is accepted.

  Learn or review the K and G sounds here: English Pronunciation Lesson 26 - K and G Sounds.

It can be hard to know how to pronounce new words. You canuse a dictionaryor online pronunciation guide to help you learn the correctpronunciation of new vocabulary words.

Let's practice

Practice thevoiceless S sound

Practice the voiceless Ssound by saying these words:

• say
• sad
• so
• sits
• sound
• sister
• its
• cats
• cross
• miss
• boss
• this
• lips
• misty
• face
• practice
• bounce
• mouse
• house
• mice
• box
• fox
• science
• city
• circle
• fence
• scare(s + k sound)
• score(s + k sound)
• Saturday
• Sunday

Now practice thevoiced Z soundNow,let's practice the voicedZ sound. Remember, your vocal cords should vibrate whenyou make this sound because it is a voiced sound.

• zip
• zoo
• zap
• zebra
• quiz
• buzz
• freeze
• dozen
• is
• was
• his
• hers
• nose
• noise
• noises
• rose
• roses
• bags
• frogs
• boys
• girls
• friends
• lies
• busy
• noisy
• nosy
• exist
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
  

Finally,practice the sounds side-by-side

Challenge words!

The S soundsare in blue.The Zsounds are in green.

• sizes
• sounds
• science
• business
• freezers
• zippers
• scientists
• noisiest
• because
• anxiety
• quizzes
• descend
• oxygen
• license

Now say these sentences out loud.

The S soundsare in blue.The Zsounds are in green:

1) IsSallyhissister?

2) Samwasmyson.

3) Thesevendogsand catsstayinside the house.

4) He wassosadlastSunday.

5) Thesunissohigh in thesky.

6) Sixboys and girls saton the fenceoutsidethestore.

7) Thesciencequizwaseasy.

8) Pleasesitbesideyour friends.

9) Isthishousehers?

10)CHALLENGE:

Thesevenstudentstook the firsttestfor theirdriver'slicenseson the lastThursdayin December.

Remember to practice these two sounds together, so you canlearn their differences! Practice them slowly to hear how they sound.

Let's move on...

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