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What is the suffix mentioned in this explanation? Is it the "s"? If the "s" in verbs is pronounced as "z" before vowels, for example, "sees", does the same rule apply to nouns? I mean is the "s" pronounced as "z" in plural nouns if it is preceeded by a vowel?

A: The third person singular suffix of regular verbs and

B: The genitive suffix of the singular form of regular nouns and

C. The plural suffix of regular nouns

are pronounced:

/s/ after unvoiced consonants (except /s/, /ʃ/ and /tʃ/ - hits, Pat's, cups

/z/ after voiced consonants (except /z/, /ʒ/ and /dʒ/) and after vowels - hums, Tom's, cans

and

/ɪz/ after /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/ ,/tʃ/,/dʒ/ - washes, Chris's, ditches.

Dan Getz
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Antonia A
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1 Answers1

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Yes. It is referring to the three different endings which are all basically -s, and all have the same range of pronunciations in the same contexts.

Note that the possessive ending is never written '-es', but still generally has the same change in pronunciation, eg witches (plural), witch's (singular possessive), and witches' (plural possessive) are all pronounced identically.

When you say "before vowels", you mean "after vowels".

Colin Fine
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  • So is "s" pronounced as "z" after vowels in plural nouns in the same way it's pronounced as "z" after vowels in third person singular verbs as in "sees"? – Antonia A Aug 20 '21 at 10:23
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    The list of examples which you quote includes nouns and proper nouns as well as verbs. – Kate Bunting Aug 20 '21 at 10:57
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    @AntoniaA: yes. Sees (pl. noun, "bishoprics") and sees (3s verb, "perceives visually") are precise homophones. – Colin Fine Aug 20 '21 at 12:32
  • I am trying to find more examples. Are there not so many words in which the "s" is pronounced as "z" after vowels in plural. I mean as in your example, "sees" pl noun. – Antonia A Aug 21 '21 at 08:05
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    No, it's completely normal to voice the -s after vowels, irrespective of the grammatical function. Shows, cows, buys, stays, queues are all pronounced with /z/ as both nouns and verbs. Note that it's the sound that matters, not the spelling: dates has a vowel letter before the -s, but the sound preceding it is /t/, so the -s is pronounced /s/, as both noun and verb. – Colin Fine Aug 21 '21 at 10:31
  • Thank you very much! – Antonia A Aug 22 '21 at 04:39