English Pronunciation · Consonants

The /ʒ/ Sound: Measure, Vision, Beige

The rarest English consonant – and one German speakers already know from Garage and Journalist. Learn when the spelling gives /ʒ/, /ʃ/ or /dʒ/.

Der Laut /ʒ/ wie in „Garage“: Wann er im Englischen vorkommt – und wann nicht.

measure /ʒ/≠pressure /ʃ/

How to make /ʒ/
4 spelling patterns
/ʒ/ vs /ʃ/ vs /dʒ/
21-word sorter
6-question quiz

1 How to Say /ʒ/

/ʒ/ is the voiced partner of /ʃ/ (sh). Same tongue and lip position – tongue raised behind the ridge, lips slightly rounded – but add your voice: a buzzing “zh”.

/ʃ/ – voiceless

pressure, mission, sure

/ʒ/ – voiced

measure, vision, usual, beige

/dʒ/ – with a d

page, village, job, general

/ʒ/ is the rarest English consonant. It mostly appears in the middle of words; at the start or end it is found only in French loanwords (genre, beige, rouge).

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2 Words Ending in -sure (and -sual)

s after a vowel + -ure → /ʒə/. ss → /ʃə/.

measure/ˈmeʒə/

pleasure/ˈpleʒə/

treasure/ˈtreʒə/

closure/ˈkləʊʒə/

leisure/ˈleʒə/ (British)

usual · casual · visual/ʒuəl/

But: pressure /ˈpreʃə/ · assure /əˈʃʊə/ · sure /ʃʊə/ (or /ʃɔː/) – /ʃ/.

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3 Words Ending in -sion

Spelling	Sound	Examples
vowel + sion	/ʒn/	vision, decision, television, revision, collision, conclusion, confusion, occasion, fusion, explosion
ssion	/ʃn/	mission, discussion, passion, session
n / l / r + sion	/ʃn/	tension, pension, expulsion, version (British)

The real rule: it’s not about stress – it’s about what comes before the s. A vowel gives /ʒ/; a double s or a consonant gives /ʃ/.

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4 French Loanwords

-age → /ɑːʒ/

massage, mirage, sabotage, collage, montage, camouflage · garage /ˈɡærɑːʒ/ or /ˈɡærɪdʒ/ in British English.

g(e) → /ʒ/

genre /ˈʒɒnrə/, beige, rouge, regime, prestige, déjà vu.

Careful: these are exceptions. Most English -age words have /ɪdʒ/ (village, message, cabbage, manage), and most g + e words have /dʒ/ (gentle, general, page).

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