Is there a difference in the pronunciation of C and Z?

[RoseMary]

?

i know in great britain you say z = zed. but i mean the US Z and C.

edit: i mean the letter, when you say the alphabet.






(sorry if this is a stupid question but english is my second language :shame

 

[k2sealer]

C is pronouced in the US like "see". And Z is like zee.

 

[caitlin1214]

It depends on the word.


In a word like cease, the c is pronounced 'see'

In a word like collaboration, the c is pronounced 'kuh'

 

[k2sealer]

?

i know in great britain you say z = zed. but i mean the US Z and C.






(sorry if this is a stupid question but english is my second language :shame

Are you asking for when you are just saying the letter? Or when the letters are used in a word?

I probably should have asked this before.

 

[RoseMary]

C is pronouced in the US like "see". And Z is like zee.

zee, like what word for example?

It depends on the word.


In a word like cease, the c is pronounced 'see'

In a word like collaboration, the c is pronounced 'kuh'

i meant the cease example.

 

[RoseMary]

Are you asking for when you are just saying the letter? Or when the letters are used in a word?

I probably should have asked this before.

ah, sorry, you're right. i meant only the letter, when you say the alphabet. i should've said it first.

 

[k2sealer]

Z would be like the z in New Zealand. - That is when you are just saying the letter and not using it in a word.

 

[RoseMary]

okay, let's take cease and new zealand as the examples. what exactly is the difference? when i say it, it sounds the same, lol.

 

[annanas]

the z in zee is prounounced the same as the z in zed if you know what that sounds like. it's softer than the german z, and quite similar to the french z i guess.

 

[RoseMary]

yep, okay but what's the difference to the c then?

 

[annanas]

c can make an s sound or a k sound depending on the word. when you say the letter c it sounds like see. and in front of an h it makes yet another sound, but a lot of european languages have the ch sound so you probably know what that sounds like.

 

[RoseMary]

grrr, i think i should express myself better, lol.

i meant the c = see compared to the z = new zealand.

 

[Swanky]

in the alphabet letter sound:
c sounds like see
z sounds like z in zebra or buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[annanas]

grrr, i think i should express myself better, lol.

i meant the c = see compared to the z = new zealand.

the z in new zealand is the same z as in the beginning of zed, zee or zit. the z at the beginning of a word pretty much always makes the same sound, i can't think of one where it doesn't. that's not to say such a word doesn't exist though, the english language is a bit when it comes to phonetics.

 

[lilian]

Rosemary, you can use this dictionary: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/
to figure it out.

Type in each word, then click the red speaker icon next to the result, and a window will pop-up with the right pronunciation. Then you can actually hear the difference.