Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[nawee]

Hello,

When "s" follows "m" and "n", is it pronounced "-ms" or "-mz"?

Thank you,

Nawee

[Mister Micawber]

.
/z/-- as are /nz/, /lz/, /rz/, voiced consonants and vowel sounds.


Oops-- not always, of course. I was thinking of the possessive, plural and 3rd person singular simple present -s. There are plenty of other situations where it is pronounced /s/, as in seamstress and hamster.
.
_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[Lorikeet]

Note, in "seamstress" and "hamster" there is a syllable break between the "m" and the "s". If it's the same syllable, it's a "z" sound. Tom's, hams, sums, etc. (The final "z" sounds fades into an "s" sound, at least in American English, unless it's followed by a vowel sound, in which case the "z" sound is strong.)

[nawee]

Thank you very much, Mister Micawber and Lorikeet.

Can you also recommend me where I can find these pronunciation rules?

Thank you,

Nawee