S Sound & Z Sound

The letter “s” can represent several different sounds in English depending on its position in a word, the surrounding letters, and the word’s origin.

1. Voiceless /s/
   This is the most common sound for “s”, similar to a hissing snake. It is voiceless, meaning the vocal cords do not vibrate when producing this sound.
   Examples of /s/:
   At the beginning: sun, sing, sock, sit
   In the middle: sister, basic, fasten
   At the end: cats, lips, maps
   
2. Voiced /z/
   The “s” can also make a /z/ sound, which is voiced (vocal cords vibrate). This occurs more often in the middle or end of words.
   Examples of /z/:
   At the beginning: (rare) - zero, zebra (from foreign origins)
   In the middle: music, easy, present
   At the end: dogs, cars, trees
   
3. /ʃ/ (as in “sh”)
   In some words, especially those borrowed from French, “s” or “ss” can make the /ʃ/ (sh) sound.
   Examples of /ʃ/: sugar, sure, tissue, pressure
   
4. /ʒ/ (as in “zh”)
   Less commonly, “s” can make the /ʒ/ sound, usually in words borrowed from French.
   Examples of /ʒ/: measure, pleasure, treasure, vision
   
5. Silent “S”
   In some cases, the “s” is silent and not pronounced at all.
   Examples of silent “s”: island, aisle, debris
   

The following diagram shows some examples of words that have the s sound and the z sound. Scroll down the page for more examples and songs to help you learn how to pronounce words with s sound and with the z sound.

 

Free worksheets to help students practice sorting words with the /s/ sound and with the /z/ sound.
S Sound & Z Sound Worksheet #1 (with answers)
S Sound & Z Sound Worksheet #2 (with answers)

Explore Our Learning Zones
Select a destination below to jump directly to our interactive digital games or our curated, ready-to-print activity sheets.

Learning Destination	What You'll Find Inside	Best For
The Digital Arcade	Interactive online games with high-clarity voice audio, immediate corrective feedback, and live score tracking.	Independent tablet or computer time, smartboard group lessons.
Printable Worksheet Hub	Clean, beautifully structured matching sheets, trace-and-write builders, and phonics anchor charts.	Fine motor practice, offline homework, physical classroom centers.

Voiced s / When ’s’ sounds like ‘z’

• Show Video Lesson

S and Z: 35 Common Words Where S Needs to Sound Like Z<br?

• Show Video Lesson

General Rule for “S” Pronounced as /z/

1. Between Two Vowels:
   Example: rose, nose, music, present
   
2. When Following a Voiced Consonant or Vowel in Plural/Verb Forms:
   Example: loves, dogs, goes, plays
   
3. Some Fixed Words with Voiced “S” Sounds:
   Example: his, was, these, those
   

Learning the Alphabet Worksheets
A/a	B/b	C/c	D/d
E/e	F/f	G/g	H/h
I/i	J/j	K/k	L/l
M/m	N/n	O/o	P/p
Q/q	R/r	S/s	T/t
U/u	V/v	W/w	X/x
Y/y	Z/z	a-z	A-Z

Learn the sound of the letters

Learning Short Vowels

Short Vowels
Short A	Short E	Short I
Short O	Short U	Short Vowels

Learning Long Vowels

Long Vowels
Long A	Long E	Long I
Long O	Long U	Y (vowel)
Long Vowels	Short & Long Vowels

Compare Short & Long Vowels

Short & Long Vowels
Short & Long A	Short & Long E	Short & Long I
Short & Long O	Short & Long U	Short I & Long E

Learning the Sound of Consonants

Consonant Sounds
B Sound	Hard C	Soft C
D Sound	F Sound	Hard G
Soft G	H Sound	J Sound
K Sound	L Sound	M Sound
N Sound	P Sound	Q Sound
P Sound	S Sound	T Sound
V Sound	W Sound	X Sound
Y Sound	Z Sound	S & Z Sounds

Check out our most popular games!
Fraction Concoction	Fact Family Game	Number Bond Garden
Online Addition Subtraction Game	Penguin Solitaire	Sawayama Solitaire
Ark Solitaire	Eldritch Invasion	Shenzhen Solitaire

Check out more Solitaire games here.

We welcome your feedback, comments and questions about this site or page. Please submit your feedback or enquiries via our Feedback page.