2 syllables: ceas, es. Stress on ceas.
SEE-siz
/ˈsisɪz/
ceases is pronounced SEE-siz (/ˈsisɪz/). It has two syllables (ceas-es), with the stress on "ceas". Ceases is the third-person singular present tense of cease, meaning to stop or come to an end. In usage, it refers to a termination of action, behavior, or condition, often after some prior ongoing process. The word carries a formal or technical tone, and appears in both everyday and specialized contexts.
Ceases is the third-person singular present tense of cease, meaning to stop or come to an end. In usage, it refers to a termination of action, behavior, or condition, often after some prior ongoing process. The word carries a formal or technical tone, and appears in both everyday and specialized contexts.
- Vowel quality before the final /z/: avoid reducing /iː/ to a shorter or lax vowel; keep the long /iː/ sound before /z/. - Final consonant voicing: ensure the /z/ remains voiced (not /s/) in connected speech. - Syllable timing: do not compress /ɪz/ into /z/ or drop it; sustain the /ɪ/ briefly to signal the suffix.
"The factory ceases production at midnight for safety inspection."
"When the rain finally ceased, we went outside to assess the damage."
"The loud objections ceased once the speaker presented credible data."
Pronounce it as /siːzɪz/ when you include the third-person singular form in verb usage, with primary stress on the first syllable: /ˈsiːzɪz/ in careful speech. In fast speech, you may hear a reduced second syllable /zɪz/. Start with the long /iː/ vowel in “see,” then the /z/ voiced consonant, and finally a light /ɪz/ suffix. Mouth position: lips spread for /iː/, teeth lightly contacting lower lip for /z/, and a quick tongue position shift for the final /z/. IPA: US/UK/AU share /siːzɪz/; ensure the primary stress is on the first syllable.
Common mistakes include mispronouncing the vowel as a short /ɪ/ in the first syllable (sips/stops) and dropping the final /z/ or turning it into /s/ as in /siːs/. Some speakers may devoice the final /z/ to /s/ in careful speech; avoid that by keeping the voice on /z/ and adding the faint following /ɪz/ if the sentence requires slow articulation. Focus on maintaining the /iː/ quality before the /z/ and finishing with a crisp, voiced /z/.
In US, UK, and AU accents, the core /siːzɪz/ sequence remains, but vowel length can feel slightly more tense in careful UK speech. Rhotic influence is minimal on the vowel, but UK speakers may exhibit a slightly crisper final /z/. Non-rhotic UK varieties tend to de-emphasize the r, which doesn’t affect this word. Australian English typically maintains the same vowel quality, with clear /iː/ and a strong /z/ voice onset, similar to US. The primary difference is in prosody and the degree of vowel tenseness, not the segmental phonemes themselves.
The challenge lies in sustaining the long /iː/ vowel before the voiced fricative /z/ and producing the final /z/ with precise voicing. Some speakers amalgamate /siːz/ with a quick /ɪz/ suffix in fluent speech, reducing the second vowel; others over-articulate, making it /siːzɪz/ too syllabic. The word also requires a light but audible release of the final /z/ sound, avoiding a trailing /s/ or a glottal stop. Being mindful of voicing and timing helps.
The keyword is the final -es suffix in the third-person singular form. While “cease” ends with a long /iːz/, the -es in “ceases” preserves that /z/ voice into the following weak ending. You should avoid turning the ending into a simple /s/ or a schwa; keep the /ɪz/ transition clear, especially in careful speech. Phrase-level practice helps: “The activity ceases, the process ceases.”
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- US: maintain a clear /iː/ followed by a voiced /z/; avoid over-aspiration. - UK: slightly crisper final /z/ with less vowel reduction; keep /iː/ long but natural. - AU: strong, clean /iː/ with a clearly voiced /z/, similar to US; keep the vowel tension moderate. IPA references: /siːzɪz/.
Ceases comes from the verb cease, which originates in Middle English ceasen, from Old French cesser, from Latin cessare meaning to delay, stop, or be at rest. The root cess- is linked to Latin caedere (to cut) in some historical accounts, but more accurately reflects cessation or stopping. The earliest English attestations surfaced in the 13th century, with forms like ceased and ceasing appearing in legal and religious texts to denote stopping actions. Over time, ceases established its standard third-person singular -es ending in the 16th-17th centuries, aligning with the broader English pattern for present-tense forms. The semantic field has remained stable: to terminate an action, to come to an end, or to bring something to a halt. In modern usage, ceases often appears in formal, scientific, or policy contexts (e.g., cease operations, ceasefire), distinguishing it from more colloquial synonyms like stops or ends. The word’s evolution mirrors legal and administrative language, where precision about cessation is crucial. The phonology of ceases follows standard English spelling-to-sound conventions: ceas- corresponds to /siːz/ when in base form cease, with the -es final suffix altering the pronunciation slightly in different inflections but typically maintaining the /siːz/ vowel quality in many dialects. First known use references are primarily in Middle English and Early Modern English documents, with a strong connection to law, governance, and religious contexts where cessation of activity was a common theme.
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Words that rhyme with "ceases"
-ees sounds
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