| Plural and/or 3rd person present verbs | With “split” vowel spellings/silent final e | ||
| as does is cos has his was | abs ads bags bans begs bells bids bills bins bogs bubs buds bugs bums buns cabs cads cans chills chins chugs chums cogs cons cubs cuds culls dabs dads dags dams dells dens digs dills dins dogs dolls Dons dubs duds dulls fads fans fells fens fibs figs fills fins fogs gags gigs gills gods Goths gulls gums guns hams haves hems hens hills hogs hubs hugs hulls hums jags jams jells jibs jigs jogs jugs kegs kids kills labs lags legs lids lives logs lolls lugs lulls mags mills mods moms mugs mulls mums nabs nags nans nods nuns pads pans pegs pens pigs pills pins pods polls Poms pubs pugs puns rags rams reds ribs rids rigs rims rods rolls rubs rugs rums runs sags sells shams shells shins shuns sills sims sins subs suds sums suns tabs tags tans tells tens thins thuds thugs tills tins togs tolls tubs tugs vans wags webs weds wells wigs wills wins yams yellsrb | chose close fuse hose lose muse nose phase phrase pose prise prose rise rose ruse these those use whose wise | abuse accuse advertise advise agonise (UK) amuse analyse (UK) apologise (UK) arise authorise (UK) baptise (UK) capitalise (UK) categorise (UK) centralise (UK) chastise clockwise colonise (UK) compose comprise compromise computerise (UK) conceptualise (UK) confuse criticise (UK) crystallise (UK) customise (UK) decompose demise depose despise devise diagnose disclose disenfranchise disguise dispose dramatise (UK) economise (UK) emphasise (UK) enclose energise (UK) enterprise enthuse epitomise (UK) equalise (UK) excise excuse exercise exorcise expertise expose familiarise (UK) fantasise (UK) finalise (UK) formalise (UK) franchise galvanise (UK) generalise (UK) harmonise (UK) hospitalise (UK) idolise (UK) immortalise (UK) immunise (UK) impose improvise infuse interpose itemise (UK) jeopardise (UK) juxtapose legalise (UK) legitimise (UK) liberalise (UK) likewise localise (UK) manganese materialise (UK) maximise (UK) memorise (UK) mesmerise (UK) minimise (UK) misuse mobilise (UK) monopolise (UK) neutralise (UK) oppose optimise (UK) organise (UK) otherwise oxidise (UK) paralyse (UK) paraphrase patronise (UK) penalise (UK) perfuse peruse polarise (UK) popularise (UK) predispose primrose privatise (UK) propose publicise (UK) rationalise (UK) realise (UK) recognise (UK) refuse repose revise revitalise (UK) revolutionise (UK) scrutinise (UK) socialise (UK) specialise (UK) standardise (UK) subsidise (UK) suffuse summarise (UK) sunrise superimpose supervise suppose surmise surprise symbolise (UK) sympathise (UK) televise terrorise (UK) theorise (UK) transpose utilise (UK) vandalise (UK) victimise (UK) viscose visualise (UK) US English often spells these with -ize, see list here |
9 responses to “s as in his”
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Hi Alison.
I have come here to ask advice on how to explain why nonplural words such as has, was, is and his end in a ‘z’ sound but are spelt with an s. Is it something to do with the fact that if it was an ‘s’ they would be plural? I read over your blog on plural endings, which was helpful. I also advocate no rules but wanted to point out a pattern (if there is one) to my grade 1 students. Thanks.
Regular plurals written with letter S are pronounced /z/ (the voiced version of /s/) when they occur after a voiced sound, as in “seas”, “buns” and “jobs”, because of coarticulation, so that doesn’t explain why the letter S at the end of words like ‘has’ and ‘is’ is pronounced /z/. I looked up the word “is” on Etymology Online and it says “Until 1500s, pronounced to rhyme with kiss”. So I suggest telling your students “They might have said /s/ not /z/ at the end of all those little words in the Olden Days, but nowadays we say /z/”. This handy Olden Days explanation is actually the correct one for heaps of funny spellings in English. There really was a /w/ sound in ‘two’ like there still is in ‘twins’ and ‘twice’, people really did say the K in “know” and “knit”, and a voiced /h/ sound that has since dropped out of the language in words like “night” and “brought” spelt with a GH. Pronunciation has changed more than spelling over time, and continues to change. Even in my own office, I think “pole” and “poll” are NOT homophones but the younger staff insist they sound identical. There is a Thing called the Salary-Celery merger going on here in Victoria, and kids are starting to pronounce words like “help” more like “halp”, and it shows up in their spelling, you might have seen it if you’re Victorian.
It’s also worth knowing that sometimes voiced and voiceless pairs of sounds share spellings. My office is in North Fitzroy, and the Z in “Fitzroy” is pronounced /s/, as it is in words like “quartz” and “pretzel”, probably because of coarticulation – it follows a voiceless sound (/t/) so it becomes devoiced. The word “of” ends with a /v/ sound, perhaps because the letter V is a relatively new letter in our alphabet (first appearing in the 1300s, and not in common use till the 1600s), and this sound was originally spelt with letter F. In words like “joked” and “shaped” the final sound is /t/ not /d/, because it comes after a voiceless sound. The second sound in words like “spend” and “spoke” is actually closer to a /b/ than a /t/, but once we are literate we “hear” it as a /p/ because our spoken and written vocabulary is tightly woven together and we write it with P.
Hope that’s helpful not just more confusing! All the best, Alison
Thanks Alison! Super helpful I enjoyed reading your whole explanation. I, personally, find it essential knowing why and when to pronounce letters differently, the voiced sound follows by a voiced sound makes sense and it and the reverse with the voiceless (I had recently learnt this with the -ed suffix endings, so it’s easy to transfer this pattern to the S says /z/). Big picture, with the details, is great, thanks! Because I have trouble hearing and producing those tricky S says /z/ changes… I was looking to find out do we say
bears ending with the z sound… The curriculum I’m using (here in Queensland) says it’s /z/ but the curriculum is American and I wasn’t sure because I can pronounce it both ways and it sounds ok to me.
What about claws?
I’m trying to only include lemmas in my lists, not inflected forms. Claws is just a plural of claw. I could add every voiced regular plural to this list, and all the 3rd person s verbs, but the list would get out of hand.
Would plurals not count for putting the “s” rule of /z/? I am teaching my kids on how to do so and also I am getting confused.
Yes, most nouns which end with a voiced sound are made plural by the voiced alveoar fricative /z/ sound, but we spell it ‘s’ because it is a plural. It is pronounced /z/ not /s/ because of coarticulation, the voicing carries on from the final sound of the base word. Hope that makes sense! Alison
suggestion for this list: visor, visage, visible etc. Do they work?
*edit comment
**Difficulties knowing when to pronounce S as /z/
I now know bears (voiced ending) will be pronounced with the S saying /z/
And looking forward to sharing with my kids the Old English ‘two’ and ‘know’ pronunciations, I can see us having loads of fun saying and spelling them in Old English style