Free practice · for my video

The tricky letters: C, G, S and ED.

You watched my A to Z masterclass. It is nearly 4 hours long! So this page practises one important part: the letters C, G and S, and the ED ending. These letters change their sound, so they cause lots of mistakes. It takes about 10 minutes.

The video: “English Pronunciation A–Z: EVERY Way to Pronounce Every Letter”. Watch it on YouTube ↗

What you learned

These are the sounds of C, G, S and ED, in the order of the video, with words to practise.

1
Letter C /k/
- cat
- cup
- come
Before A, O and U, the letter C says /k/.
2
Letter C /s/
- city
- nice
- face
Before E, I and Y, the letter C usually says /s/.
3
Letter G /g/
- go
- get
- big
The hard G. The back of your tongue goes up.
4
Letter G /dʒ/
- page
- orange
- large
Before E, the letter G often says /dʒ/, like J. But not always: get has a hard G.
5
Letter S /s/
- sun
- see
- bus
The usual S sound. Like a snake: sss.
6
Letter S /z/
- is
- has
- nose
Very often, S says /z/: in is, has, and between two vowels. Use your voice, like a bee: zzz.
7
Letter S /ʃ/
- sugar
- sure
Only a few words. S says /ʃ/, like SH.
8
Letter S /ʒ/
- vision
- usually
S can also say /ʒ/. Like /ʃ/, but with your voice.
9
ED endings /t/
- walked
- stopped
- watched
- cooked
After a sound with no voice (like /k/, /p/, /tʃ/), ED says /t/. No extra syllable!
10
ED endings /d/
- played
- lived
- opened
- loved
After a sound with voice (a vowel, /v/, /n/…), ED says /d/. No extra syllable!
11
ED endings /ɪd/
- wanted
- needed
- started
- visited
Only after T or D, ED is an extra syllable: /ɪd/.

Does ED make a new syllable? Only after T or D. Walked has one syllable: “walkt”. Wanted has two: “want-id”.

The vowel letters have many sounds too. Practise them on my pages for the letter A and the letter E.

Practice 1 of 3

Same sound?

Press ▶ and listen to me. Look at the coloured letters. Which word has the same sound? Choose one.

1 nice
2 cup
3 orange
4 big
5 has
6 bus
7 sure
8 stopped
9 loved
10 needed

Practice 2 of 3

Which word has a different sound?

Listen to the C, G, S or ED. Two words have the same sound. One word is different. Press ▶ to hear a word. Then tap the different word.

Practice 3 of 3

Say it and compare

Press ▶ and listen to me. Then press Record and say it. Then listen to me and to you. Do you sound the same?

1 C = /s/

It’s nice to meet you.
2 G: /dʒ/ and /g/

A large latte to go, please.

to go = to take away, not to drink in the café
3 S: /z/ and /s/

Your nose is red from the sun.
4 S: /ʒ/ and /s/

I usually take the bus.
5 ED = /t/

I walked in the woods on Saturday.
6 ED = /ɪd/

I visited a friend on Saturday.

Your score

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Answer the questions above. Your score is here.

Keep going with me

Every week I send one new word, in my voice. It is free and short.

Words to practise next

Hear me say these tricky words, normally and slowly.

← All my free practice pages