Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing cover image

Why the heck does 'score' mean 20? How we subconsciously know how to pronounce different plurals.

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

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How to Properly Pronounce Words With S or Z

A voiceless singular word stays voiceless when it's pluralized. Words that end with voiced sounds like rib and kid are made plural with a voiced Z sound at the end. People tend to learn oversimplified rules about making plurals with an S sound, and that gets reinforced by seeing an S in the spelling. If you're struggling to learn, remember that the pronunciation is driven by the sound that comes before it.

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