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-S ending words

Plural and third-person -s is s after voiceless sounds (cats), z after voiced sounds (dogs), and iz after sibilants like s, z, sh, ch and j (buses). Only the third adds a syllable. Most learners default to s everywhere, which sounds noticeably foreign on words like dogs.


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The words

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Nation, education, question: the -tion ending and where the stress always falls. Hear the rule.
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Decision, mission, television: -sion is sometimes ZH, sometimes SH. Learn which is which.
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Though, through, tough, cough, bough: one spelling, seven sounds. English at its worst.
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Separate the adjective, separate the verb: -ate changes vowel by word class. Hear both forms.
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Comfortable, incredible, vegetable: both endings reduce to the same weak sound. Hear it.
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Walked, played, wanted: -ed has three sounds, T, D and ID. Learn which verb takes which.
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Keep practising

Browse every practice list or the word index, hear two accents back to back on Compare, or test your ear with the listening quiz.

To read the rules behind these words, see the pronunciation guides — including silent letters, word stress and American vs British. Or hear each accent on its own page: American, British, Australian.