How to Pronounce Plural Nouns: American English

Today I'm going to go over how to pronounce plural nouns. A noun is made plural when an

S or an ES is added to the end of the word. For example, cat, cats. Church, churches. The

The way this ending is pronounced depends on the last sound of the noun in singular form.

In determining how to pronounce the S or ES of a noun, there are three different cases. First,

when the last sound of the noun in singular form is voiced, second, when it is unvoiced,

and third, both voiced and unvoiced, special cases. When the last sound of the noun in

singular form is voiced, then the ''s' is pronounced as a [z], as in, beds, zz, zz,

zz. What would be a voiced sound? First, any vowel or diphthong. So let's take for example

the word 'tree'. This noun ends in the 'ee' as in 'she' vowel sound. It is voiced. So,

the 's' in the word 'trees', zz, zz, is pronounced as a [z]. Zz. Example with a diphthong:

the word 'cafe' ends in the 'ay' as in 'say' diphthong. As a diphthong, it is voiced. Therefore,

the 's' will be pronounced as a [z]. Cafes, zz, zz, zz, cafes. Also, a consonant can be

voiced. But not every voiced consonant is in that category. That is because some are

in the third category for special cases. The ending consonants in this category, where

the plural will be pronounced as a Z, are:

An example, the word 'apple'. 'Apple' ends

in the L consonant sound, which is one of the ending voiced consonant sounds in this

category. Therefore, it will be pronounced as a [z] when it is in plural form. Apples,

zz, zz, apples. When the final sound of the noun in singular form is unvoiced, then the

S will also be unvoiced, pronounced as an [s], ss. For example, the word 'ship'. P is

an unvoiced consonant sound, therefore, ships, ss, ss, ss, the plural will be an unvoiced

sound as well, the S. Ships. The unvoiced consonants in this category, where the 's'

is pronounced as an [s], are:

In the third category, the plural is made not simply by

adding an -S, but by adding an -ES. Therefore it is pronounced with the 'ih' as in 'sit'

vowel followed by the Z consonant sound: -es, -es,-es. There are six ending sounds that make

up this category.

Because this category adds a vowel sound and a consonant sound, the IH and the ZZ sound, words

in this category will have an extra syllable added on when they are made plural. In the

other two categories, we were simply adding one sound, and it did not change the number

of syllables in the word. Let's take an example. The word 'wish'. It ends with sh, which is

one of the sounds in this third category. Therefore, the plural will be spelled with

an -ES, and it will be pronounced 'wishes', zz, with the 'ih' sound followed by the Z

sound. Wishes. So, 'wish', one syllable, 'wishes', two syllables. The extra syllable added by

the plural will always be unstressed. So it will be lower in pitch than the stressed syllable

in the word. Wishes. Now, let's look at some example nouns and determine how the plural

will be pronounced. Age. It ends with the 'dj' sound. This is in the third category.

Therefore it is pronounced 'ages'. Two syllables, with the 'ih' as in 'sit' vowel followed by

the Z consonant sound. Ages. Time. It ends with the mm M consonant sound. It's voiced,

it's not a special case, therefore, the S is pronounced as a [z]. Times, times, zz.

Box. The final sound in this word is the 's' sound. 'S' falls in the third category.

Therefore, we make it plural by adding an 'e' and an 's'. And it is pronounced with

the 'ih' as in 'sit' and the, zz, Z consonant sound. Boxes, boxes. Dog. Dog. It ends with

the G sound. That's a voiced sound. It is not in the third category, therefore, the

's' is pronounces as a [z]. Dogs, dogs. Cat. The final sound here is the T, which is unvoiced.

It is not a special case, so the plural S will be pronounced simply as an [s]. Cats,

cats. I hope this video has made how to pronounce a plural noun more clear. That's it, and thanks

so much for using Rachel's English.