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    ʒ

    The /ʒ/ sound: s as in usually

    • Consonant
    • Voiced
    • Polish

    Hear it

    in usually

    Lips
    Pushed forward, rounded
    Tongue
    Front of the tongue just behind the ridge
    Voice
    On: feel your throat buzz
    Air
    Squeezed through a narrow gap

    The sound on its own: recording by Peter Isotalo, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Credits

    How to make /ʒ/

    1. 1

      Same position as /ʃ/ 'sh'.

    2. 2

      Switch your voice on, a soft buzzing 'zh'.

    3. 3

      It is rare and almost always mid-word: usually, television, pleasure.

    Sounds like
    the s in 'vision', a voiced sh

    How /ʒ/ is spelled

    • s + ion
    • s + ure
    • g + e
    • z + ure

    The usual mistake

    Replacing it with /z/ or /dʒ/ so 'pleasure' sounds like 'pledger'. It never starts native English words except loanwords like 'genre'.

    Words to practise

    Say it and get scored

    Read usually, television, pleasure, decision, genre aloud. Free, no account.

    Check my /ʒ/

    Questions

    How do you pronounce the /ʒ/ sound?
    Same position as /ʃ/ 'sh'. Switch your voice on, a soft buzzing 'zh'. It is rare and almost always mid-word: usually, television, pleasure.
    What is the most common mistake with /ʒ/?
    Replacing it with /z/ or /dʒ/ so 'pleasure' sounds like 'pledger'. It never starts native English words except loanwords like 'genre'.
    Which spellings make the /ʒ/ sound?
    Common spellings include “s(ion)”, “s(ure)”, “g(e)”, “z(ure)”, as in usually /ˈjuːʒuəli/, television /ˈtelɪvɪʒən/, pleasure /ˈpleʒə/.
    Does /ʒ/ matter for IELTS?
    It is a polish-level sound: errors are audible but rarely stop a listener understanding you. IELTS scores intelligibility, not perfection; prioritise the contrasts that change word meaning.