Nunzioaccent coach
consonant · the sound library

“z” as in zoo

Written /z/ in the phonetic alphabet — but you will never need that in the app.

One of the 40 sounds Nunzio listens for. When you read a sentence aloud, the app scores every single sound in it on your phone — this page is what he knows about this one: what tends to come out in its place, and what to do about it.

What tends to come out instead

“z” slipping into “s” (as in sun)

Turn your voice on — keep the same tongue position but let your vocal cords buzz.

“Where is the bee?! The mouth is perfect but the motor is off! Put a hand on the throat and feel it buzz — zzz!”Nunzio, when he hears it

At the end of a word, “z” slipping into “s” (as in sun)

Keep the vocal-cord buzz going all the way through the final consonant instead of fading to a whisper.

“The bee falls asleep at the end of the word! Keep it buzzing to the last breath — zzz, all the way home!”Nunzio, when he hears it

Where it lives in real words

is has his was busy easy

In the app, this sound is put under pressure in Everyday English — whole sentences built so it cannot hide.

Compared head to head

The classic mix-ups involving this sound, one page per pair: zoo vs this, zoo vs vision, zoo vs sun.

It also likes to turn up uninvited

People often say “z” when a word actually wants “th” as in this, “zh” as in vision, “s” as in sun — each of those pages shows the way back.

Reading about a sound is one thing. Hearing which ones you miss is another.

Nunzio records you reading a sentence, scores every sound in it on your phone — nothing is uploaded — and tells you the one thing worth fixing. Nunzio — Accent Coach is coming to the App Store and Google Play.