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TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ MINH MINH – 351 Hoàng Hữu Nam, P.Tân Phú, Q.9 – ĐT : 08 2243 1375
English Pronunciation
Plural nouns with their final –s or –es sound
In American English, the sound of "s" depends on which sound comes before it.
1. If the noun ends in an unvoiced consonant sound: /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, /th/-(thin), pronounce "s" as /s/.
2. When it ends in a voiced consonant sound, /b/, /d/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /ng/, /r/ or with a vowel sound, /a/,
/e/, /i/, /o/, /u/, pronounce "s" as /z/.
3. If it ends with /s/, /z/, /sh/, /ch/-chair, /zh/-the second "g" in garage, /dz/-(j), pronounce "s" or "-es" as
/iz/.
In other words, if the noun ends with a sound other than the 5 unvoiced consonants, pronounce "s"
with a /z/ (or with an /iz/ as the case may be).
Read these plural nouns and pay attention to its pronunciation:
Group 1 cups - sports - biscuits - snakes - reefs - cats - books
Group 2 knees - wives - ourselves - pubs - loves - boys - days - bees
Group 3 -
houses - buses - passes - washes - dishes - boxes - wages - watches - kisses bushes - dresses
- Which groups do these words go in, how do you pronounce the "- s " ? - ( Write: 1 - 2 - 3 )
. cups
1
. oranges
- wishes
-pears
. pens
- packs
. beds
- faces
3
- knees
2
- socks
- mouths
- roses
- loses
- bikes
- shops
-mountains
- gases
-beaches
- paths
-cornflakes
- clothes
- matches
- sizes
- villages
- lives
- jobs
- dreams
Compiled by Valentino - 2009
- carrots
- caves
- brushes
- glasses
- languages
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TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ MINH MINH – 351 Hoàng Hữu Nam, P.Tân Phú, Q.9 – ĐT : 08 2243 1375
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Simple past of regular verbs and their final -ed sound
There are three ways to pronounce the final -ed of regular verbs in the simple past tense. This
pronunciation is determined by the final sound of the verb in the infinitive: Is it a voiced consonant, an
unvoiced consonant, or a vowel sound?
After unvoiced sounds such as p, k, f, s, ,
and the final -ed is pronounced like t as in
the word cat. Note that the -e remains silent.
IPA* infinitive past tense
p
help
helped
f
stuff
stuffed
laugh
laughed
miss
missed
dice
diced
fix
fixed
look
looked
fish
fished
march
marched
s
k
rage
raged
resume
resumed
n
sign
signed
ŋ
bang
banged
l
peel
peeled
r
honor
honored
breathe
breathed
m
The final -ed is also pronounced like the d in
good after all vowel sounds. Note that the -e
remains silent.
infinitive simple past
stay
stayed
free
freed
lie
lied
hoe
hoed
After voiced sounds such as b, , g, v, z, ,
, m, n, ŋ, l, and r the final -ed sound is
pronounced like d as in good. Note that the -e
remains silent.
sue
sued
ski
skied
snow
snowed
IPA infinitive past tense
try
tried
*IPA refers to the International Phonetic
Alphabet.
b
grab
grabbed
g
hug
hugged
v
save
saved
z
ooze
oozed
please
pleased
For verbs ending in d and t the final -ed is
pronounced Id as in the final two letters of the
word did.
Note that here the -e is not silent and this final ed sound adds another syllable to the end of
the verb.
massage massaged
Compiled by Valentino - 2009
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TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ MINH MINH – 351 Hoàng Hữu Nam, P.Tân Phú, Q.9 – ĐT : 08 2243 1375
infinitive past tense
exit
exited
add
added
taste
tasted
grade
graded
object
objected
decide
decided
We pronounce [ed / ..d] as [t] when precede by voiceless consonants sound such as [ p, k, f, θ, s, ∫,
ʧ ] except /t/, the /e/ is silent (e), it is pronounced only as an extra voiceless sound /t/.
…f – as [t] laughed, coughed, stuffed, sniffed, etc.
…∫ – as [t] wished, washed, rushed, lashed, mashed, etc.
…ʧ – as [t] watched, reached, crunched, wretched, launched, etc.
…s – as [t] missed, kissed, pressed, crossed, tensed, mixed, fixed, dressed, etc.
…p – as [t] dropped, wiped, lisped, shipped, snipped, helped, ripped, jumped
…k – as [t] cooked, looked, shocked, knocked, rocked, liked, packed, parked, sucked, booked,
checked, kicked, asked, walked, & climbed, etc.
We pronounce [ed /..d] – as [ɪd, or ǝd] when precede by /t/ or /d/, it is pronounced as an extra
syllable, such as wanted, needed, decided, founded, planted, handed, repeated, started, visited,
existed, loaded, attended, added, studied, provided, invaded, & avoided, etc.
We pronounce [ed /..d] – as [d] when precede by vowel sounds (if the verb ends in any vowel
sound), or a voiced consonant except /d/, the /e/ is silent (e), it is pronounced only as an extra voiced
sound /d/, such as [b, g, v, z, ʤ, m, n, ŋ, l, r] such as:
… b – as robbed
… m – as slammed, moved
… g – as dragged
… n – as burned, learned
… v – as waved, saved, arrived, solved
… ŋ (ng) – as banged
… z – as used (s = z)
… l – as called, lived
… ʤ – as judged (dg = ʤ), begged, changed
… r – as roared
Compiled by Valentino - 2009
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