The !rst form of the ending is listed above as “/əd/ or /ɪd/.”
This is because the exact vowel of the ending might vary a
little. It can sound like /ə/, like /ɪ/, or like a vowel between
the two. The important thing is that an extra, unstressed
syllable is added when we put an -ed ending on regular verbs
that end in /t/ or /d/.
Pronunciation of -s endings
The -s ending can be used in four di"erent ways:
- It can be added to regular nouns to make the plural form.
box"boxes pen"pens book"books
- It can be added to all nouns, both regular and irregular,
to make a possessive form, either singular or plural.
Although the spellings of the singular and plural
possessive forms are di"erent, they both sound the same.
boy"boy’s book elephant"elephant’s trunk
boys"boys’ books elephants"elephants’ trunks
child"child’s toy children"children’s toys
- It can be added to verbs to make the third-person
singular present tense form.
kiss"kisses run"runs walk"walks
- In contractions, it can be a reduced form of is or has.
(Contractions of is and has sound the same.)
he is"he’s it is"it’s he has"he’s it has"it’s
what is"what’s where is"where’s what has"what’s
All of these -s endings follow the same pronunciation rules,
no matter what their meaning is. The -s ending can be
pronounced in three ways:- If the word ends in /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, or /dʒ/ (the
sounds that are similar to /s/, called sibilant sounds),
we add an extra syllable: /əz/ or /ɪz/. - If the word ends in any voiced sound except the ones
listed above, we add a voiced ending: /z/. We add just
one sound, not an extra syllable. - If the word ends in any voiceless sound except the ones
listed above, we add a voiceless ending: /s/. Again, we
add just one sound, not an extra syllable.
Just as with the -ed endings, the vowel in the !rst form of the
-s ending can sound like /ə/, like /ɪ/, or like a vowel between
the two. Here too, the important thing is that an extra,
unstressed syllable is added when we put an -s ending on
words that end in /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /ʧ/, or /ʤ/.65