The regular plural, the possessive case, and the 3rd person singular inflectional –s morphemes
The regular plural inflection, the third-person singular Present Simple Tense inflection, and the possessive
inflection all share the same set of pronunciation rules:
-
If the noun (or verb) ends inor , the suffix {S} is realized as 
-
If the noun (or verb) ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant (i.e. ), the
suffix {S} is realized as 
-
If the noun (or verb) ends in a voiceless consonant (i.e. the suffix {S} is pronounced as


Regular Plural





boys
pubs
bags
beds
homes
gloves



 

3rd Person Sg.
Present Simple tense
sees 
runs 
Possessive
Ray's 
Marvin's
Tom’s




groups 
boats 
lakes 
gulfs
months

buses 
roses 
beaches 
dishes
garages
bridges
makesuses
hits 

catches
Blake's 
Pete’s
Philip's
Rose's 
boss’s
Hamish's
The -s genitive is pronounced in singular only. After the plural ending the genitive inflection is written as an
apostrophe (').
With regular plural nouns there is no difference in pronunciation between the singular possessive and the
plural possessive modifier, i.e. the girl's books sounds like the girls' books, the neighbour's house sounds
like the neighbours' house.
Exceptions:
a) A number of nouns ending in the voiceless fricative  in the singular are pronounced with the
voiced fricative in the plural followed by the –s suffix which agrees in voicing and is realized as
/z/:
path 
paths 
bath 
baths 
mouth /maʊθ /
mouths/maʊðz/ 
compare:
oaths or truths  or 
cloths ɒɒ
deaths 
breaths
months ʌ
growths
myths







b) Nouns with spellings ending in –f or –fe (pronounced as /f/) in the singular spelt with –ves in the
plural (pronounced as /vz/):
calf-calves kɑːf, kɑːvz
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elf-elves
half-halves
knife-knives
leaf-leaves
life-lives
loaf-loaves
self-selves
shelf-shelves
thief-thieves
wolf-wolves
compare:
dwarf-dwarfs/dwarves 
hoof-hoofs/hooves
scarf-scarfs/scarves
roof-roofs 
handkerchiefsæ

Exercise 1:
Transcribe the following nouns phonemically. Write down their plural forms, and transcribe them:
house
church
price
dove
chief
niece
lamb
judge
boy
lake
thing
rate
prize
orange
wife
youth
wreath
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Exercise 2:
Transcribe the following genitive forms:
wife's
youth's
witch's
Selfridge's
George's
Charles’s
Smith’s
Bush’s
St.James’s
Samuel’s
waitress’s
dentist’s
Exercise 3:
Transcribe the 3rd person singular Present Simple forms of the following verbs:
kiss
pause
employ
try
study
cut
laugh
PRONUNCIATION RULES FOR THE –ed INFLECTIONAL SUFFIX
The –ed ending for Past Simple and Past Participle forms of regular verbs is pronounced as follows:
a) , after the sounds:
start-started  or  
guide-guided
point-pointed 
affect-affected 



b) , after voiceless consonants other than :
stop-stopped ɒ 

pack-packedæ
watch-watchedɒ

miss-missed
laugh-laughed


push-pushed
look-looked 


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c) , after vowels and voiced consonants other than :


rob-robbed ɒ


play-played 
forge-forged


serve-served
kill-killed 


bathe-bathed 
buzz-buzedʌ

sabotage-sabotaged æ
warm-warmed 

ban-banned æ
long-longedɒ
Exercise 4:
Transcribe the following verbs and then transcribe their past tense/past participle forms:
attach
talk
bridge
land
refer
waste
dance
bang
loathe
mix
crash
breathe
occur
touch
bond
shout
prefer
ache
4
PRONUNCIATION RULES FOR THE –ing INFLECTIONAL SUFFIX
The –ing suffix for gerund and present participle forms of verbs is always pronounced as 

singing 


ringing 
playing 


saying
Exercise 5:
Transcribe the –ing form of the following verbs:
obey
apply
try

blur
PRONUNCIATION RULES FOR THE ARTICLES
The definite article the:
strong form:
The strong form is used for emphasis: e.g. You mean the Ernest Hemingway?
weak forms:before consonants: e.g. the firstthe last the way 
the hat æthe yard



before vowels, e.g. the end the other ʌ

The indefinite article a/an:
strong forms: before consonants, e.g. a boy 
æbefore vowels, e.g. an appleææ
The strong forms æare used mainly for contrast, e.g. ‘This is a solution, but not the only one.’ ‘This
is an ideal, but not the ideal’.
weak forms before consonants, e.g. a boy , a cat
before vowels, e.g. an appleæ an egg
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