/z/

Position your tongue exactly as you would for /s/: place the tip close to the alveolar ridge (the bony area just behind your upper front teeth), leaving a narrow groove down the center of your tongue. The sides of your tongue touch your upper side teeth, channeling air through that central groove. Now push air through steadily.

Here's the key difference: turn on your voice. Your vocal cords should vibrate continuously while you make this sound. The result is a buzzing friction, like a bee: "zzzzzz."

These two sounds are a voiced-voiceless pair. The mouth position is identical - the only difference is that /s/ is "quiet" (no vocal cord vibration) while /z/ is "voiced" (vocal cords buzz).

Try switching between them: "sssss... zzzzz... sssss... zzzzz." You should feel the vibration turn on and off in your throat while your tongue stays in the same position.

This distinction matters in word pairs like "sip" vs "zip," "bus" vs "buzz," and "price" vs "prize." Notice that vowels are naturally longer before /z/ than before /s/.

Use the "throat test" to check your voicing. Place your fingers lightly on your throat and sustain the sound. For /z/, you should feel a strong, continuous buzz. If your throat is silent, you're making /s/ instead.

Many words spelled with "s" are actually pronounced with /z/. When -s or -es follows a voiced sound, it becomes /z/: "dogs" /dɔɡz/, "runs" /rʌnz/, "easy" /ˈizi/.

Beginning: zoo, zero, zone, zip

Middle: easy, lazy, busy, amazing

End: buzz, jazz, is, was, his, please