SpeakMetry
    Start free

    /s/ vs /z/: price vs prize

    The voiceless /s/ and voiced /z/ separate ice/eyes, peace/peas and advice/advise, and /z/ carries English grammar: most plural -s and third-person -s endings are actually /z/.

    • High impact
    • 8 pairs
    • Three voices

    1 / 10

    Which word do you hear?

    See the difference

    Same tongue position, different engine: /z/ buzzes like a bee. Touch your throat; it must vibrate on 'prize', 'plays', 'dogs'. Devoicing final /z/ blurs your grammar as well as your sounds.

    s

    as in price

    Lips
    Relaxed
    Tongue
    Tip on the ridge behind the top teeth
    Voice
    Off: only air
    Air
    Squeezed through a narrow gap
    Learn s

    z

    as in prize

    Lips
    Relaxed
    Tongue
    Tip on the ridge behind the top teeth
    Voice
    On: feel your throat buzz
    Air
    Squeezed through a narrow gap
    Learn z

    All 8 pairs

    In a sentence

    Hardest for speakers of

    Questions

    What is the difference between price and prize?
    price /praɪs/ uses the /s/ sound while prize /praɪz/ uses /z/. Same tongue position, different engine: /z/ buzzes like a bee. Touch your throat; it must vibrate on 'prize', 'plays', 'dogs'. Devoicing final /z/ blurs your grammar as well as your sounds.
    Which learners find the /s/ vs /z/ contrast hardest?
    It is most challenging for Mandarin, Cantonese, German, Turkish, Vietnamese, Thai speakers, whose first languages don't separate these two sounds.