/z/ as in "zoo"

/z/ is a voiced alveolar fricative of General American English, as in "zoo" and "nose." To produce it, tongue near the ridge, vibrate your vocal cords. Phoneme provides native-speaker audio and minimal-pair contrasts so learners can hear and practice this consonant.

How to make /z/

voiced alveolar fricative — tongue near the ridge, vibrate your vocal cords.

Sounds that learners confuse with /z/

• /z/ vs /s/ — /s/ as in "sun"

Minimal pairs for /z/

/z/ vs /s/

/z/	/s/
zip	sip
buzz	bus
prize	price
zoo	sue
zeal	seal
zap	sap
rise	rice
laze	lace