PRONUNCIATION PRACTICE
1. Repeat these pairs of verbs and nouns after your English instructor.
VERBS (3rd. person, present, singular) NOUNS (plural)
write - writes live - lives watch - watches cat - cats dog - dogs horse - horses
drink - drinks play - plays wash - washes cup- cups pen - pens bus - buses
work - works open - opens pass - passes cake - cakes key - keys church - churches
2. Listen to the following verbs and nouns. Do they end in the sounds /s/, /z/ or /iz/? Mark with an X in the
corresponding column. Vowels (a, i, o, u, e)
/s/= [p], [t], [k] /z/= [l], [r], [b], [n] ETC (Consonant sounds/Vowel sounds) /iz/= [x], [s], [ch],
[sh] [dz]
/s/1 /z/2 /iz/3 /s/ /z/ /iz/
houses X hates x
pictures x washes x
catches x loves x
calls x badges x
walks x fixes x
forms x closets x
pitches x discs x
helps x cans x
reads x wishes x
books x parks x
boxes X goes x
3. Repeat these sentences after your teacher. Concentrate on the pronunciation of the words in bold.
a. Julia works at Friesens. 1 g. Those cassettes are very expensive. s
b. James lives in London. z h. They are very good managers. z
c. The bus passes at 3 p.m. iz i. I got two faxes from France today. iz
d. James studies photography. z j. Our bosses went out to lunch. iz
e. My brother watches T.V. iz k. African bees are dangerous. z
f. Tom drinks 12 glasses [iz] of water every day. s l. Those are very nice shirts. s
4. Practice these conversations in pairs. Monitor your and your partner's pronunciation.
- Where does James live? - What does Alan play?
- He lives in London. - He plays the saxophone and the flute.
- What does [z] your mother do in the morning? - What does Rosie do on Sunday mornings?
- She watches T.V. - She sleeps late.
- What time does the train pass? - Where are the students?
- It passes at 9. - In the library.
- What does he usually do on Saturday morning? - What are your favorite flowers?
- He washes cars at the gas station. - Roses and tulips.
- What does he eat for breakfast?
- He usually eats cereal.
Pronunciation Activity
Pronunciation of plural S & Third-person singular s
Part I. Listen and practice. Notice the right pronunciation of the plural
s endings.
s=[s] s= [z] s=[iz]
logbooks gloves bandages
hairnets managers injuries
pipes files quantities
trucks evaluations appliances
Part II. Pronounce the plural forms of these nouns. Add them to the right list. (newspapers,
goggles, hoses, keys, addresses, dockets, rollers, cabinets, bags, hats, boots, glasses)
s=[s] s= [z] s=[iz]
Dockets Newspapers Hoses
Cabinets Goggles Addresses
Hats Keyz Glasses
Boots Rollers/bags
Part III. Listen to your teacher pronouncing these third-person singular
verbs and identify the right pronunciation of the /s/ ending. Add them to
the right list. (goes, walks, watches, has, sits, lives, does, says, studies,
travels)
s=[s] s= [z] s=[iz]
Walks Goes Watches
Hats Lives
Sits Does
Says/studies/travels
Part IV. Read the following three sentences and write the correct phonological
symbol under the verb and words.
1. Samuel works [ s ] different shifts [ s ].
2. He is [ z ] a nice boss [ s ].
3. Tom wants (s) cars (z) and bikes (s) in his exhibits (s)
/ / / / [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
