-S endings
Silent final -S
There are VERY FEW silent final -S exceptions—learn these words and names, and pronounce the -S everywhere else.
1:50 of listening & practice
-S is always defined in American English, so the exceptions include a small set of primarily French loan words: debris, chassis, rendezvous, corps, like in Marine corps, bourgeois, faux pas, coups d’etas. US states: Arkansas, Illinois. Des Moines, Des Moines is a city in Iowa(USA), Versailles, the Palace of Versailles is a former royal residence outside of Paris. The name Louis can sound like Lewis, Lewees or Louis.
There are VERY FEW exceptions to this rule, so if you see an -S at the end of an English word, ALWAYS pronounce the -S.