... Pronunciation of Third Person Singular Note: The letters between the slash marks / / refer to sounds, not to spelling. 1. The -(e)s of the simple present tense is pronounced ... The -(e)s of the simple present tense is pronounced as /s/ after a voiceless sound, except /s/, /sh/, and /ch/. The voiceless sounds are sounds that are produced with no vibration of the vocal ... -es is pronounced as a separate syllable: /ɪz/. Therefore, if a verb ends in one of these sounds, the present tense will have one more syllable than the simple form. Examples: fix (1 syllable)-->fixes...