I have five years' experience in this field

[Ferdie11]

Hello teachers,

Can you tell me how we pronounce the word years' in the sentence below.

I have five years' experience in this field.

Thank you.

 

[Barb_D]

yeerz

It rhymes with ears.

 

[Rover_KE]

. . .and 'beers'.

Cheers! :cheers:

Rover

 

[Barb_D]

Golly, I wish I'd thought of that!

 

[Offroad]

I have five years of experience in this field.

Is this sentence OK?

 

[Barb_D]

That's fine.

 

[jreed313]

There is no apostrophe (') in the word years. The apostrophe is used from possessives, not plurals.

 

[Barb_D]

jreed, welcome to the forums. If you're not a teacher, please identify that in your post.

As it is, your comment is incorrect. Yes, the apostrophe is used to form possessives, and yes, it does not forum a plural. But this does act as a possessive here.

Five years' experience
Five years of experience
NOT Five years experience

 

[Ferdie11]

yeerz

It rhymes with ears.

I thought years' was pronounced as yeerzez, like else's in the sentence below?

I cannot look for someone else's help.

 

[bhaisahab]

I thought years' was pronounced as yeerzez, like else's in the sentence below?

I cannot look for someone else's help.

No, it isn't.

 

[Ferdie11]

No, it isn't.

Because the word year does not end with vowel, unlike else?

 

[Barb_D]

Because the noun that is made plural doesn't end with an s/ch/sh/z sound.

Adding an S, 'S, or S' to make these plural, possessive, or plural possessive does not add an extra syllable.
Bird/Birds/Bird's/Birds'
Year/Years/Year's/Years'
Dog/Dogs/Dog's/Dogs'

Adding the S, 'S, ES or ES' to make these plural, possessive, or plural possessive DOES add the extra syllable because it ends in one of those sibilant (if that's the right word) sounds.
Church/Churches/Church's/Churches'
Bush/Bush's/Bushes/Bushes'
Else/Else's (no plural forms)
etc

 

[Ferdie11]

Because the noun that is made plural doesn't end with an s/ch/sh/z sound.

Adding an S, 'S, or S' to make these plural, possessive, or plural possessive does not add an extra syllable.
Bird/Birds/Bird's/Birds'
Year/Years/Year's/Years'
Dog/Dogs/Dog's/Dogs'

Adding the S, 'S, ES or ES' to make these plural, possessive, or plural possessive DOES add the extra syllable because it ends in one of those sibilant (if that's the right word) sounds.
Church/Churches/Church's/Churches'
Bush/Bush's/Bushes/Bushes'
Else/Else's (no plural forms)
etc

Thank you for your help. But can you confirm if my understanding below is correct.

Churches' - pronounced as Churchez'
Bushes' - pronounced as Bushez'
Else's - pronounced as Else'z

 

[5jj]

Thank you for your help. But can you confirm if my understanding below is correct.

Churches' - pronounced as Churchez'
Bushes' - pronounced as Bushez'
Else's - pronounced as Else'z

Yes; the 'ez' is pronounced /Iz/ or /əz/.