Decoding the letter S

The letter S, lowercase s (pronounced /s/) has four pronunciations: /s/ as in say or mouse, /z/ as in cousin or choose, /ʃ/ as in sugar or extension and /ʒ/ as in pleasure or vision.

As /s/ or /z/
See main article Pronunciation and decoding exercises: /s/ vs /z/.

See also Pronunciation of the morpheme “-s”.

As /s/

 * initial /s/:
 * same - say - scar - school - sea - sing - sit - sky - sleep - smile - soap - some - song - speak - stay - stop - study - sun - swim


 * final /s/:
 * bus - gas - this - yes
 * as morpheme “-s” for words ending in /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, and /θ/:


 * plurals: chiefs - ducks - cups - students - months
 * third person singular: laughs - thinks - helps - gets
 * possessives: staff's - Mike's - troop's - Egypt's - Edith's
 * with "se": dense - goose - house - loose - mouse - promise - release - tense


 * in mid-position:
 * awesome - basic - nuisance
 * awesome - basic - nuisance


 * homophones: C - sea - see; cell - sell; cent - scent - sent; cite - site - sight; scene - seen;

As /z/

 * with final /z/:
 * as - does - has - his - is - was
 * morpheme “-s”
 * plurals: bugs - churches - dens - keys - phones - shoes - toys
 * third person singular: comes - drives - gives - knows - tells
 * possessives: Alice's - Bob's - Carol's - Dave's - Ethiopia's - Finland's - Germany's
 * with "se": advise - browse - cheese - choose - lose - please - these - use - wise


 * in mid-position:
 * busy - cousin - desert - easy - houses - music - poison - present - president - prison - reason - visit


 * homophones: nose - knows; size - sighs
 * homophones: nose - knows; size - sighs

As /ʃ/

 * controversial - dimension - fuchsia /ˈfjuːʃə/ - sugar - sure

See also: Decoding exercises: "sion"

As /ʒ/
See IPA phoneme /ʒ/ and Decoding exercises: "sion".

Silent S

 * aisle - debris - island
 * Arkansas /ˈɑːrkənˌsɔː/- Illinois /ˌɪləˈnɔɪ/

S in combinations

 * "ps": as /s/
 * psalm - psychology


 * "sc"
 * as /s/: discipline - fascinate - scene - scent - science - scissors
 * as /ʃ/: conscience - crescendo - fascism
 * as /sk/: scale - discover - describe - discussion - score - screen


 * "sh": as /ʃ/
 * cash - crash - dish - fashion - flash - push - she - shine - shoe - shop - should - wash
 * Exceptions, when "s" and "h" are in different syllables
 * /sh/: disheartening - mishandle - mishap - mishear
 * silent "h": dishonest - dishonor - dishonour


 * "ss": see Decoding exercises: "ss"