Why “S” Sometimes Sounds Like “Z”

Have you ever said a word with an “s” and wondered why it came out sounding like a “z”? You’re not alone! One of my clients recently told me they had trouble with this exact thing. But when I listened, their speech sounded just fine. That’s because these little sound changes can be so sneaky—even we don’t notice when they happen!

Let’s break down when the “s” is supposed to sound like /s/ (like in “sun”) and when it changes to /z/ (like in “zip”).

🔊 When “S” Sounds Like /s/

You’ll hear a clear /s/ sound when:

• It’s at the start of a word:
  stop, so, sloppy, sun

• There are two s’s together:
  pass, mess, loss

• It comes after a quiet (unvoiced) sound like f, k, p, or t:
  laughs, surfs, talks, taps, pots

• It comes after the “ay” sound:
  case, chase, base

• It’s part of certain prefixes, like mis- or dis-:
  mismanage, disagree

🔊 When “S” Sounds Like /z/

The “s” becomes /z/ in these cases:

• It’s a single s in short words:
  is, has, these, those

• It comes after a louder (voiced) sound like b, d, g, l, m, n, r, v, z:
  stabs, jogs, stars, stoves, loves

• It adds an extra syllable after certain sounds like j, sh, ch, s, c, x:
  faxes, stages, catches, faces
  (This sounds like “-ez” at the end.)

🧠 When Verbs Change the Sound

Some words change their /s/ to /z/ when you switch from a noun to a verb. Check these out:

• use (a use vs. to use)

• refuse (the refuse vs. to refuse)

• close (close friend vs. to close the door)

• house (a house vs. to house someone)

• excuse, abuse, misuse, diffuse, ruse

These sound changes happen because our mouths and vocal cords like to take the easy path—especially when we talk fast!

✨ Why This Matters

Learning when to say /s/ and when to say /z/ helps you speak more clearly and sound more natural in American English. Once you know the rules, it gets much easier to notice and correct these small but important differences.

📞 Need Help with Your Pronunciation?

I can help you master these sounds and feel more confident when you speak! Reach out to me if you’d like support with pronunciation or American English.

#pronunciation #americanenglish #accents #clearspeech