Pronunciation rules for the consonant letter s

The consonant s/ss has four main pronunciations in words, namely /s/, /z/, /sh/ and /zh/, sometimes it is not pronounced, as shown in Table 5-8.

Table 5-8 Pronunciation rules for the consonant letter s
Consonants Pronunciation Example Words Example Word Pronunciation Own Example Words
s/ss /s/ stu·pid /’stū-pǐd/
class /klǎs/
/z/ nose /nōz/
has /hǎz/
mu·sic /’mū-zǐk/
dogs /dǒgz/
/sh/ su·gar /’shǒo-gər/
ten sion /’těn-shən/
en sure /ǐn-‘shǒor/
pre sure /’prě-shər/
/zh/ u·su·al /ū-zhoo-əl/
tel·e·vi·sion /’tě-lə-,vǐ-zhən/
please ure /’plě-zhər/

The four pronunciations of the consonant s can be divided into two groups for discussion: /s/ and /z/ are the first group; /sh/ and /zh/ are the second group.

The first group, the pronunciation of the consonant s is /s/ and /z/. The main pronunciation of the consonant letter s is /s/ and /z/, and when it is pronounced /s/ and when it is pronounced /z/, the rules are more complicated, and sometimes there are exceptions.
First of all, the pronunciation of s in many words is /s/, and its pronunciation rules can be mainly divided into three situations: first,