How to Pronounce /t/ and /ts/ endings (cat vs cats)

Indexed: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Is it cat or cats? Shirt or shirt? Can you hear the difference? Don't worry. By the end of today's English pronunciation lesson, you will. In this English pronunciation lesson, you will learn how to pronounce the endings t and t in English. You will learn how to say singular and plural nouns like these ones correctly in British English, as well as hear the difference between the two as well. You're also going to practice some consonant clusters such as and the end of words. Hello, my name is Emma and welcome to my channel, Pronunciation with Emma, where I teach British English pronunciation and accents to English learners across the world. I'm a Cambridge Selta qualified English teacher. I have a background in linguistics as well as a master's degree in teaching English. I've also been teaching English for 16 years now. So, if you're not sure where to start with British English pronunciation, then why not download my free pronunciation pack.

[00:01:03]It includes my best English pronunciation lessons as well as a story for you to listen and improve your English pronunciation. The link to download your free pronunciation pack is below in the description. Right, so let's get started with the sounds themselves. We're going to start with the T sound. So depending on your native language, you may actually be pronouncing this as more of a dental sound. What I mean by that is you're touching the tip of your tongue against the back of your teeth and you may be saying something more like t. For example, t to when actually the sound in English is a little further back. So instead of using the tip of your tongue here, you're going to use a little bit further up here, which is called the blade of the tongue. Now, you're not going to touch your teeth when you do the T in English. Instead, what you're going to do is put that blade here a little bit further back. So, you'll feel that your mouth, you got your teeth, then it goes up. And you'll feel here that there are some ridges and then you have the pallet up at the top. That blade here is going to come up just before it starts to go up and back. So, your tongue is going to come up very, very softly. You're not going to press hard like t, but t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t t. Notice in English that there's a lot of air when we do the T sound. T.

[00:02:31]So let's compare the two sounds in the word to to.

[00:02:40]Notice that the English way has a lot more air. It's softer and it's a little bit further back in the mouth. So take a word like cat. We're not going to say cat. Cat. We're not going to touch our teeth. We're going to lightly touch up at the top. Cat. Cat. Cat. Now, the second one we have t.

[00:03:02]Now, this I want you to imagine you're almost like beatboxing. T. You're releasing that t into a longer s sound.

[00:03:10]So, it's the same position that we looked at. very very soft up at the top here. But then slowly transi transition transition it learn to say that word into a s for example cats. Cats. So you're not saying cat. That's very short. Cats.

[00:03:33]Cats. So you hear the difference. Cat.

[00:03:37]Cat. Cats. Cats. Now, this is why it's quite confusing for some English learners because they'll say, "hm, Emma, they sound pretty much the same." Well, if you really pay attention to the length and that s sound at the end, then you will hear the plural form. Cat.

[00:03:57]Cats. Cat. Cats. It's very clear that there is more s there is more sound given with cats when it's the plural.

[00:04:07]Now, let's practice together. Listen and repeat. If you need more practice and more time, then you can always rewind the video or you can pause. Cat.

[00:04:17]Cats. The cat is asleep on the sofa. Our street has lots of cats.

[00:04:24]Hat. Hats.

[00:04:27]Your hat looks great today. Those hats are on sale. Bat. Bats.

[00:04:35]A bat flew out of the cave. Bats sleep during the day. Notice we're connecting.

[00:04:43]Bats sleep during the day. Rat. Rats. I saw a rat near the bins. Rats can get into tiny spaces. Mat. Mats. Wipe your feet on the mat. The gym has new mats.

[00:05:01]Seat. Seats. Is this seat free? We booked three seats. Coat. Coats. Hang your coat by the door. Their coats are too big. Boat. Boats. The boat rocked in the waves. The fishing boats leave early. Light. Lights. The light is too bright. City lights look beautiful at night. Shirt. Shirts. He spilled coffee on his shirt. I packed two extra shirts.

[00:05:40]Plant plants or plant plants.

[00:05:46]This plant needs more water. This plant needs more water. She grows plants on her balcony. She grows plants on her balcony. Point. Points. You missed the main point. He scored 10 points. Chart.

[00:06:06]Charts. The chart shows prices rising.

[00:06:10]These charts are easier to read. Test.

[00:06:14]Tests. I studied hard for this test. The final tests start next week. Guest.

[00:06:23]Guests. Our guest arrived late. We invited six guests. Now let's look at some more difficult ones. Just like guests, what can happen with this consonant cluster at the end is we can actually remove the T in the middle. So instead of saying we invited six guests, which is quite difficult even for native speakers, you can remove the T and just say we invited six guests. We invited six guests. Let's look at some more examples. List lists. Check the list before you leave. I keep separate lists for work and home. More naturally, I keep separate lists for work and home.

[00:07:09]Rest rests. Take a rest if you're tired.

[00:07:13]Short rests help me focus. Short rests help me focus. Post posts. He wrote a post about travel. Her posts always make me laugh. Her posts always make me laugh. And of course, you can say laugh.

[00:07:30]Text texts. Send me a text when you're outside. I got three texts this morning.

[00:07:38]I got three texts this morning. Cost costs. It cost a lot this year. Rising costs worry businesses.

[00:07:49]Rising costs worry businesses.

[00:07:52]Fact. Facts. So with this consonant cluster, you can also remove that t. So instead of saying facts, you can just say facts. That's an interesting fact.

[00:08:05]Stick to the facts.

[00:08:07]Stick to the facts. And yes, that does sound like facts, like a fax machine.

[00:08:11]But by context, people know that you're not talking about fax machine. Acts.

[00:08:18]It was a kind act. The show had three acts.

[00:08:23]The show had three acts. Craft, crafts, or craft, crafts. Pottery is a relaxing craft. Pottery is a relaxing craft. She sells her crafts at the market.

[00:08:38]She sells her crafts at the market.

[00:08:41]Lift. Lifts. Take the lift to the third floor. The building has two lifts. The building has two lifts. gift gifts. He bought her a gift. The gifts were wrapped beautifully.

[00:08:58]The gifts were wrapped beautifully.

[00:09:01]Now, we're going to read a story together where I've included a lot of these words that end in t and t for you to practice more in context. So, listen carefully and repeat. The night market.

[00:09:15]Emma loves the night market. Every Friday she packs up her crafts and gifts and sets up her little stall in the street. She always gets the same spot right next to the lights.

[00:09:31]By 7:00, the guests start to arrive.

[00:09:34]Coats on, hats pulled down, their hands wrapped around some warm drinks. The local cat always weaves between their legs, settling on a mat near the entrance like it owns the place. Emma checks her list, keeps an eye on her costs and chats to anyone who stops.

[00:09:56]One woman picks up a gift for her sister. A man tries on three hats before choosing one. On the small stage near Emma's stand, the acts start at 8. The music drifts across the market and lifts everyone's mood. Emma sends a few texts to friends who said they would come. By the time the lights go down, her table is nearly empty. Now, if you want to practice this story again, you can rewind the video to watch it again. If you want to listen to it more slowly, then you can use the settings down below on the video player here on YouTube and make it slower for you to listen and repeat more easily. Now, before we finish this lesson, we're going to do a little quiz together. I'm going to show you two words. One is the plural, one is the singular, but I'm going to say only one of them. I'd like you to guess which one I am saying. So, this is going to test your listening comprehension. Are you ready? Let's begin. Cats.

[00:11:01]So, did I say cat or cats?

[00:11:05]Cats. It was plural. hat.

[00:11:11]It's the singular boat.

[00:11:16]It's the singular seats.

[00:11:22]It's the plural. Lights.

[00:11:26]Bit trickier. It's the plural. Now, let's take it up a level and make it a bit more difficult for you. Now, let's look at the consonant clusters. Facts.

[00:11:38]That's the plural. So instead of saying facts again, you can cut that T and just say facts. Crafts.

[00:11:47]It's the plural. Crafts. Crafts. Gifts.

[00:11:55]It's the plural. Gifts. Gifts. Listen carefully to this one. Text is the singular. text and the last one cost singular cost. And that's it for the end of the quiz. Let me know down in the comments how you did. There were 10 questions in total. So, tell me what score you got out of 10. And did you find those five difficult ones at the end difficult? Were they actually difficult? Let me know in the comments.

[00:12:30]And that is it for today's British English pronunciation lesson. I hope you've enjoyed this lesson and you've learned something new. Remember, if you want to continue improving your English pronunciation, but you have no idea where to start, then download my free English pronunciation pack. The link to download it is down below in the description, and it is completely free.

[00:12:50]It is there to help you get started. It includes my best English pronunciation lessons that take you from the sounds of English to stress, intonation, and connected speech. There's also a short story where you can listen to my accent and copy it to help you improve your English pronunciation. Remember to download it. The link is below in the description. I hope you've enjoyed this lesson and I will see you in the next one. Bye-bye.