1.2.5: Simple Present-Pronunciation and Spelling

Pronunciation and Spelling: Adding -s and -es

We add -s and -es for two reasons:

1. The word is a noun, and we are making it plural.

Examples

table → tables

chair → chairs

2. The word is a verb, and it agrees with the subject (he, she, or it–3rd person singular)

Examples

I wait → she waits

they cook → he cooks

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Pronunciation

In English the same letters can have different sounds. For example, the letter “c” can sound like /k/ in cat, but it can also sound like /s/ in ice.

For words that end in -s or -es, there are three different sounds: /s/, /z/, and /ɪz/. We can predict how the -s or -es ending will sound by the last sound of the word before we add the -s or -es ending.

Remember

When you see the two slashes / / it means that we are talking about sound. For example, the word laugh is shown as /læf/. This symbol / / shows the sounds of the word and not the spelling.

If the word ends with these sounds:	This is the sound made by adding -s or -es:	Examples
/f/ /k/ /p/ /θ/ or /t/	→ /s/	laughs, drinks, sleeps, births, writes, gets
/b/ /d/ /g/ /l/ /m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /r/ /v/ /ð/ and all vowel sounds	→ /z/	grabs, rides, hugs, comes, runs, sings, lives, sees, goes, plays, buys, studies
/ʤ/ /z/ /ks/ /s/ /tʃ/ or /ʃ/	→ /ɪz/	changes, quizzes, fixes, kisses, uses, teaches, pushes

/θ/=th as in bath /ð/=th as in that /ʤ/=j as in judge /tʃ/=ch as in church /ʃ/=sh as in wash

Activity 1: Pronunciation

Directions: Look at the words and sentences below. Follow the rules above and choose the final sound of the word.

Target Word	Ending Sound (Circle your choice)
1. teaches	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
2. teachers	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
3. asks	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
4. kicks	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
5. does	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
6. reads	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
7. watches	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
8. begins	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
9. pushes	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
10. listens	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
11. She works at a hospital.	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
12. He lives with his sister.	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
13. He puts the book on the table.	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
14. She goes to school four nights a week.	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
15. He cooks for her in the evening.	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
16. We need boxes to move house.	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
17. The mom buys groceries after class.	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
18. The mom buys groceries after class.	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
19. I sweep up the leaves on the sidewalk.	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
20. The boys play soccer in the park.	/s/ /z/ /ɪz/

Activity 2: Listening

Directions: Listen to the teacher say a list of words and then sentences. You will hear each word or sentence two times. Decide if the ending sound is /s/, /z/, or /ɪz/ and choose (by circling or otherwise marking) your choice.

1. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
2. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
3. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
4. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
5. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
6. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
7. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
8. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
9. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
10. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
11. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
12. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
13. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
14. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
15. /s/ /z/ /ɪz/

Activity 3: Listening & Speaking

Part 1 Directions: Identify which of the three ending sounds (/s/, /z/, or /ɪz/) is at the end of each of the target words. Write the sound symbol on the line.

Remember

Two slashes // mean sound. Use the two lines // in your answer.

/s/ /z/ /ɪz/

1. changes ________
2. crabs ________
3. dishes ________
4. touches ________
5. helps ________
6. books ________
7. pencils ________
8. sleeps ________
9. mixes ________
10. kisses ________
11. The students eat breakfast. ________
12. My sister walks her dog. ________
13. The dogs eat peanut butter. ________
14. The student catches the bus. ________
15. I have three cats. ________
16. Most teachers have pets. ________
17. She writes a book. ________
18. Natasha buys food. ________
19. Yuri wakes up on time. ________
20. She sees her daughter. ________

Part 2 Directions: With a partner, say the word or sentence. Your partner will point to the sound they hear.

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Spelling

Rule 1:

If a word ends in /s/, /z/, /ch/, /sh/ or /x/ sound → add -es

Only add -es for the he/she/it form of the verb (third person singular).

Examples

watch → watches

wash → washes

kiss → kisses

I pass out papers. → She passes out papers.

I wash the dishes. → He washes the dishes.

Activity 4: Fill-in-the-Blank

Directions: Write the correct form of the verb in parentheses on the lines.

Remember

Add -es if the verb ends in /s/, /z/, /ch/, /sh/ or /x/ sounds.

1. (watch) I ________ TV in the morning, but she ________ TV at night.
2. (wash) They ________ dishes together after dinner. He ________ dishes on weekends.
3. (fix) My father and I ________ cars together. My husband ________ the bicycle.
4. (teach) They ________ their daughter Ukrainian. Eva ________ her son Amharic.
5. (brush) I ________ my teeth twice a day. He ________ three times a day.
6. (kiss) She ________ her husband in the morning. I ________ my children before bed.
7. (stretch) I always ________ before exercise. Viktor ________ after exercise.
8. (guess) I never ________ the answer, but Tatiana often ________ the answer.
9. (mix) She ________ Spanish and English. They ________ English and Ukranian.
10. (splash) The kids ________ in the bathtub. My daughter always ________, too.
11. (cash) I ________ my check at the bank. He ________ his check too.
12. (latch) I ________ my screen door. She ________ her screen door.
13. (notice) I always ________ mistakes. She never ________ mistakes when she writes.
14. (touch) He ________ the door. We ________ the window.
15. (brush) They ________ their hair once a day. He ________ his hair three times a day.
16. (pass) She ________ all her classes. They ________ their ESL classes.
17. (ask) I ________ for vegetarian food. Natasha ________ for Ukrainian food.
18. (ask) He ________ a question. We ________ to play a game.
19. (watch) She ________ Jackie Chan movies. They ________ Jet Li movies.
20. (dance) I ________ twice a week. He ________ once a week.

Activity 5: Listening

Directions: Read the story. Then listen to your teacher read the story. Listen for the missing words and write them on the line. Remember that the subject and the verb of a sentence have to agree. If they don’t agree, you should listen again. Some verbs end in -s and some verbs end in -es.

Viktor and Tatiana

Viktor and Tatiana (1)________ married. They (2)________ English at San Jacinto College. They (3)________ from Ukraine. Tatiana sometimes (4)________ angry with Viktor because he doesn’t help around the house. Tatiana (5)________ dinner and Viktor (6)________ TV. Tatiana (7)________ the house, and Viktor (8)________ English.

Then Tatiana remembers that Viktor (9)________ the car while she (10)________ books. In the grocery store, he always (11)________ the shopping cart. He (12)________ for her when she is sick. He also (13)________ the socks when they (14)________ movies at home. On school nights, Viktor (15)________ the dishes after Tatiana cooks. He (16)________ her every day when they leave the house, and he (17)________ her every night before they (18)________ asleep. Then Tatiana isn’t angry anymore.

Rule 2:

If a word ends in a consonant plus -y, change -y to i and add -es. If the word ends in a vowel plus -y, just add -s.

Examples

Consonant + -y

Change -y to i and add -es

cry → cries

study → studies

Vowel + -y

Add -s

pay → pays

buy → buys

Activity 6: Fill-in-the-Blanks

Directions: Write the correct form of the verb on the line in the sentences below.

1. (study) I ________ in the morning, but my brother________ at night.
2. (worry) My husband________ about money. I ________ about him.
3. (cry) The cat ________ when I leave. The babies ________ all the time.
4. (play) She ________ the piano. We ________ the violin.
5. (pay) I ________ for groceries with a credit card. Jeff________ with cash.
6. (stay) Nam often ________ after class for help. Some other students sometimes ________ after class to talk.
7. (stay) When we visit Dallas, she ________ at a hotel. I ___________with my mom.
8. (worry) My husband ________ about school. I ________ about our health.
9. (enjoy) We ________ playing board games. Our children ________ online games.
10. (say) My nieces ________ they are busy Friday, but my sister________ Friday is ok.
11. (try) I ________ to study 3 times a week. She ________ to study every day.
12. (study) We ________ for weekly vocabulary tests. She ________ for grammar.

Activity 7: Listening

Directions: Your instructor will give one paragraph to you and another paragraph to your partner. Listen to your partner read their paragraph and write the word you hear on the line. Then read your paragraph and your partner will write. This will help you practice adding -s and -es to verbs in the he/she/it form. Make sure one partner has a paper that says Student A at the top and the other partner has a paper that says Student B.

Self-Assessment

These were our goals at the beginning of Chapter 3:

At the end of this chapter you will be able to:

• Add -s for the third person singular verb
• Write yes/no questions and short answers
• Write information questions using wh- question words
• Add -s , -es, and -ies to verbs and nouns

Recognize and use

• the simple present in the affirmative and negative
• adverbs of frequency

Directions: Choose yes if you think you achieved the goals or no in the table below if you think you did not achieve the goals. Then, write an example of the goal in the last column.

I can…	I achieved this goal:	My example:
add -s for 3rd person singular	yes no	He walks.
write an affirmative sentence in the simple present	yes no
write a negative sentence in the simple present	yes no
write yes/no questions using the simple present	yes no
answer yes/no questions using short answers	yes no
make information questions using wh- question words	yes no
use adverb of frequency with the simple present	yes no