The Most Common English Pronunciation Mistake French Speakers Make and how to correct it

I was in a class this week, and my student was telling me something about his boss. He said: “He want that I recruit two new technician for the project.” 🚨Triple red light!

I said: “STOP!” 🛑 The correct sentence is: He wants me to recruit two new technicians for the project. First mistake is the He wants me to recruit and not He wants that I recruit. This is the causative form and not the subject for today.

The more important for me is the forgotten S, or in this case Ss (there were TWO of them missing from the sentence). Because it happens all the time with French students, whatever their level (but there is a logical reason for this and it’s quite easy to resolve) .

So let's talk about that S. Where it goes, why it disappears, and how to get it back. 😉

🎧 What Your Listeners Are Actually Hearing

When the S disappears consistently from your speech, something happens in the listener's mind. They can't always name it. They might not even consciously notice it. But they sense that something is not quite right .

And in a professional context (a meeting, a presentation, a job interview) that impression is important.

It can create a subliminal feeling of:

• Imprecision, as if the speaker isn't quite in control of their language

• A lower level of English than the speaker actually has

• Less confidence and authority than the content deserves

❌ This is what I see again and again in my classes. A student with excellent vocabulary, good grammar, and real things to say, quietly weakening that impression with one tiny, almost invisible sound.

The positive point is that this is fixable. But, once you hear it, you can't unhear it ( the lack of an S I mean 😃) So you need to act. Right now !

🧠 Why This Happens. And Why It's Not Your Fault

This is not a question of effort or attention. It is a question of how your mother tongue has trained your brain.

In French, final consonants are largely silent. In Portuguese, word endings are softened or swallowed entirely. So your brain, brilliantly efficient as it is, has spent a lifetime learning to filter out final sounds as meaningless.

You are not forgetting the S.

You never learned to notice it in the first place.

This is what is called mother tongue interference, and it happens without us realizing it. Your ear just doesn’t register the S as significant, because in your language, it isn't. Your mouth follows your ear. 👂👄

The good news is that, once you understand this, you can start to change it. You need to do this consciously and deliberately. And you can rectify it faster than you think.

⚠️ Where the S Is Non-Negotiable

Let's be specific, because this is where you start to notice it.

The S is not optional in English. It carries grammatical meaning, and when it disappears, so does part of your message.

Here are the four places where it’s most important:

1️⃣ Third person singular

This is the most common and the most noticed.

• ❌ "He work in Paris." ✅ "He works in Paris."

• ❌ "She think it's a good idea." ✅ "She thinks it's a good idea."

Same word. Same meaning. Completely different impression.

2️⃣ Plurals

• ❌ "My colleague agree with me." ✅ "My colleagues agree with me."

• ❌ "The result show that..." ✅ "The results show that..."

In professional contexts especially, precision with plurals signals education and attention to detail.

3️⃣ Possessives

• ❌ "My boss opinion" ✅ "My boss's opinion"

• ❌ "The company strategy" ✅ "The company's strategy"

4️⃣ Contractions

Contractions like it's, that's, there's, what's disappear entirely for many learners, replaced by simply it, that, there, what. The speech immediately sounds more hesitant and less natural.

✅ Simple Fixes That Actually Work

The goal here is not perfection. It is to notice it first, then make it a habit. Here's how to build it:

1. Exaggerate it first

Consciously exaggerate the S until your brain starts to register it as real. It will feel unnatural and a bit ridiculous. That feeling is necessary. You are creating a new connection in your brain, and it takes deliberate effort at first.

2. Record yourself

Read a short paragraph aloud and listen back, specifically looking for S endings. Most learners are generally surprised by what they hear. Or rather, by what they don't hear. Your ear is your best teacher here, but only if you give it something to work with.

3. Focus on one thing at a time

Don't try to fix everything at once. Pick just the third person singular for one week. Say it in every sentence where it appears. Focusing on one thing works better than trying to notice everything at once.

4. Slow reading aloud

Take any short text (an article, an email, a news headline) and read it out loud at half speed, accentuating deliberately every final sound. Your mouth needs to build a new habit. Speed comes later. Precision comes first.

✨ A Final Thought

Language learning tends to focus on the big things; grammar, vocabulary, fluency. We celebrate the moments when we find the right word or construct a complex sentence.😃

But sometimes it's the smallest sounds that make the biggest difference.

The S isn’t exciting. Practising it doesn't feel like progress. But your listeners hear it. Or rather, they notice when it isn't there.

One tiny sound makes an enormous difference.

And the beautiful thing is that, unlike grammar rules or vocabulary lists, this is something you can start fixing today. Right now. In your next sentence.

👉 Want to sound more natural and confident in English, not just more correct?

I'm Liz Aldam, an English teacher with more than twenty years of experience, working with adult learners online from France. The details make all the difference — and I know exactly which ones to work on.

📲 Click the WhatsApp icon below and contact me. 😉

Liz Aldam – English Language Specialist

Phone: +33 6 16 90 60 38

Whatsapp: +55 (12) 98294-1433

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