The final ‘s’ sounds in words can be confusing as there are three different ways that we can pronounce ‘s’ endings. Listen to the following three words and listen for the difference:

Cooks Earns Damages

There are slight differences here:

Cooks makes the /s/ sound. Cooks / cooks. Other examples are:

Checks

Graduates

Hates

Earns makes the /z/ sound. Earns / earns. Other examples are:

Boys

Girls

Hours

Messages makes the /iz/ sound. Messages / Messages. Other examples are:

Closes

Damages

Faces

Listen to the following examples of words ending with ‘s’ and Identify the correct sound. We will tell you if you are right or wrong:

wants

things

sandwiches

products

loves

places

paints

lives

phrases

Flickr CC: William Chew