TOPIC 1: FINAL -S/-ES: USE, PRONUNCIATION, AND SPELLING

Use
(a) Noun + -s: Friends are important. A final -s or -es is added to a noun to make the
Noun + -es: I like my classes. noun plural.
Friend and class = singular noun
Friends and classes = plural noun
(b) Verb + -s: Mary works at the bank. A final -s or -es is added to a simple present verb
Verb + -es: John watches birds. when the subject is a singular noun (e.g., Mary, my
father, the machine) or third person singular
pronoun (he, she, it).
Mary works = singular
She works = singular
The students work = plural
They work = plural
Pronunciation
(c) seats  seat/s/ Final -s is pronounced /s/ after voiceless sounds, as
ropes  rope/s/ in (c).
backs  back/s/
(d) seeds  seed/z/ Final -s is pronounced /z/ after voiced sounds, as in
robes  robe/z/ (c).
bags  bag/z/
sees  see/z/
(e) dishes  dish/ɪz/ Final -s and -es are pronounced /ɪz/ (or
catches  catch/ɪz/ /əz/ for American English) after sibilants: /s/, /z/, /ʃ/,
kisses  kiss/ɪz/ /tʃ/, /dʒ/, and /ʒ/.
mixes  mix/ɪz/ The /ɪz/ ending adds a syllable.
prizes  prize/ɪz/ All of the words in (e) are pronounced with two
edges  edge/ɪz/ syllables. COMPARE: All of the words in (c) and (d)
are pronounced with one syllable.
Spelling
(f) sing  sings For most words (whether a verb or a noun), simply
song  songs add a final -s to spell the word correctly.
(g) wash  washes Final -es is added to words that end in
watch  watches -sh, -ch, -s, -z, and -x.
class  classes
buzz  buzzes
box  boxes
(h) toy  toys For words that end in -y:
buy  buys In (h): If -y is preceded by a vowel, only -s is
(i) baby  babies added.
cry  cries In (i): If -y is preceded by a consonant, the -y is
changed to -i and -es is added.

Exercise 1: Add -s or -es where necessary. Do not change or omit any other words. All of the
sentences are simple present. Write down the pronunciation of the final -s/-es.

1. Erica miss her mother and father.

2. My parent visit many countries when they travel in Europe.

3. Robert sing when he take a shower.

 4. Chicken, duck, and turkey lay egg.

5. Anna wear glove on her hand when she work in her garden.

6. She scratch her chin when it itch.

Exercise 2: Look at the words that end in -s. Are they singular or plural? Are they nouns or verbs?

Singular Plural Noun Verb

1. A new car costs a lot of money.
2. New cars cost a lot of money.
3. My neighbor makes a lot of noise.
4. My neighbors makes a lot of noise.
5. Bill drinks tea for breakfast.
6. Cold drinks taste good on a hot day.

Exercise 3: Practice saying them aloud. Write the pronunciation of final -s/-es after each word.

1. rides _____ 4. rugs _____ 7. wishes _____

2. writes _____ 5. sleeps _____ 8. pages _____
3. robs _____ 6. locks _____ 9. months _____

Exercise 4: Add -s or -es to the given words to make them plural. Practice saying them aloud. Write
the pronunciation for each ending.

1. floor_____ _____ 7. season_____ _____

2. tax_____ _____ 8. develop_____ _____
3. talk_____ _____ 9. touch_____ _____
4. bush_____ _____ 10. cough_____ _____
5. hat_____ _____ 11. method_____ _____
6. rise_____ _____ 12. language_____ _____

Exercise 5: Complete the sentences using the words below. Practice pronouncing final -s/-es by
reading the sentences aloud.

cats cafeteria hours shapes sentences serves sneezes

practices sizes encourages coughs teacher sandwiches sleep

1. _______________ _______________ eighteen _______________ a day.

2. People come in many _______________ and _______________.
3. Maria _______________ pronunciation by reading _______________ aloud.
4. The _______________ _______________ good _______________.
5. Our _______________ _______________ us to speak English outside of class.
6. When Jack has a cold, he _______________ and _______________.

Exercise 6: Each item contains a subject and a verb. Make two sentences for each item. The first
sentence uses a plural subject, whereas the second sentence uses a singular subject and begins
with A/An.

Example: alarm clock / ring

 Alarm clocks ring.
 An alarm clock rings.
 1. opera singer / sing
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

2. teacher / teach
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

3. butterfly / fly
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

4. ball / bounce
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

5. door / open and close

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

6. mosquito bite / itch

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

7. hungry baby / cry

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

8. student / ask questions

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

9. snake / hiss
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

10. dog / say “arf-arf” in English

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

REVIEW: Add final -s/-es and write their pronunciation.

1. ability __________ _____ 12. calm __________ _____

2. accident __________ _____ 13. capacity __________ _____
3. action __________ _____ 14. ceremony __________ _____
4. address __________ _____ 15. cheque __________ _____
5. animal __________ _____ 16. dance __________ _____
6. baby __________ _____ 17. develop __________ _____
7. bag __________ _____ 18. disaster __________ _____
8. bank __________ _____ 19. dozen __________ _____
9. bandage __________ _____ 20. duty __________ _____
10. buyer __________ _____ 21. effect __________ _____
11. cabinet __________ _____ 22. elevator __________ _____
23. exaggerate __________ _____ 24. expense __________ _____
25. exploit __________ _____ 63. notice __________ _____
26. facility __________ _____ 64. novelty __________ _____
27. festival __________ _____ 65. nurse __________ _____
28. finish __________ _____ 66. obey __________ _____
29. forget __________ _____ 67. offend __________ _____
30. function __________ _____ 68. orange __________ _____
31. garage __________ _____ 69. origin __________ _____
32. gift __________ _____ 70. overcome __________ _____
33. glass __________ _____ 71. parcel __________ _____
34. grade __________ _____ 72. poet __________ _____
35. grocery __________ _____ 73. poison __________ _____
36. habit __________ _____ 74. possession __________ _____
37. hero __________ _____ 75. proposal __________ _____
38. holiday __________ _____ 76. quote __________ _____
39. host __________ _____ 77. race __________ _____
40. hurry __________ _____ 78. refusal __________ _____
41. imply __________ _____ 79. restriction __________ _____
42. industry __________ _____ 80. royalty __________ _____
43. interview __________ _____ 81. sauce __________ _____
44. island __________ _____ 82. serve __________ _____
45. iron __________ _____ 83. shift __________ _____
46. job __________ _____ 84. society __________ _____
47. judge __________ _____ 85. substitute __________ _____
48. junior __________ _____ 86. tablet __________ _____
49. keyboard __________ _____ 87. tendency __________ _____
50. knock __________ _____ 88. tire __________ _____
51. language __________ _____ 89. trace __________ _____
52. lid __________ _____ 90. transport __________ _____
53. loss __________ _____ 91. union __________ _____
54. loan __________ _____ 92. use __________ _____
55. lorry __________ _____ 93. valuable __________ _____
56. material __________ _____ 94. virus __________ _____
57. medicine __________ _____ 95. wage __________ _____
58. message __________ _____ 96. week __________ _____
59. mobile __________ _____ 97. withdraw __________ _____
60. month __________ _____ 98. wish __________ _____
61. necessary __________ _____ 99. youth __________ _____
62. niece __________ _____ 100. zero __________ _____

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