One syllable: clings.
klingz
/klɪŋz/
clings is pronounced klingz (/klɪŋz/). It has one syllable (clings), with the stress on "clings". Clings is the third-person singular present tense form of cling, meaning to adhere firmly or to hold onto something emotionally or figuratively. In pronunciation and usage, it typically functions as a simple present verb with a final -s suffix, pronounced as [z] after a voiced consonant or vowel. The word is short, with a single syllable and a final voiced sibilant, making attention to voicing and word boundary important in connected speech.
Clings is the third-person singular present tense form of cling, meaning to adhere firmly or to hold onto something emotionally or figuratively. In pronunciation and usage, it typically functions as a simple present verb with a final -s suffix, pronounced as [z] after a voiced consonant or vowel. The word is short, with a single syllable and a final voiced sibilant, making attention to voicing and word boundary important in connected speech.
- You may drop or weaken the final /z/, saying /klɪŋ/ instead of /klɪŋz/. Fix: practice holding the vocal fold vibration for the /z/ until the air stops; make sure the tip of the tongue lightly taps the alveolar ridge for the /z/. - Another mistake is merging the /ɪ/ with /ŋ/, producing a smeared vowel; practice with syllable isolation: /klɪŋ/ and then gently add /z/ with a separate beat. Use a brief pause before the /z/ to hear the transition clearly. - A third error is softening the /k/ or /l/ into a vague onset; ensure a clear /k/ release into the /l/ by starting with a crisp /k/ and keeping the tongue blade contacting the alveolar ridge for the /l/ before the vowel.
"- The moth clings to the lampshade despite the breeze."
"- She clings to her old beliefs even when presented with new facts."
"- Moss clings to the rocks after the rainstorm."
Pronounce it as /klɪŋz/. Start with a short, clipped /k/ plus /l/ blend, then a short /ɪ/ vowel, followed by the velar nasal /ŋ/ and finish with a voiced sibilant /z/. The stress is on the single syllable, with no secondary stress. In connected speech, the final /z/ can be lightly devoiced at the end of a sentence, but in careful speech keep it clearly voiced. Audio references: compare with /klɪŋz/ in dictionaries.
Two common errors are pronouncing it as /klɪŋ/ (missing the final /z/) and mispronouncing the final /z/ as /s/ or /z/ as a voiceless [s]. To correct: ensure you vocalize a brief, voiced /z/ after the /ŋ/, keeping the tongue high for /ŋ/ and finishing with a light, continuous air stream for the /z/. Practice with minimal pairs like cling /klɪŋ/ vs clings /klɪŋz/ to feel the contrast.
In US/UK/AU, the primary differences are vowel quality /ɪ/ and the realization of the final /z/. US tends to have a slightly tighter /ɪ/ and a more clearly voiced /z/. UK may have a marginally longer vowel duration before the /ŋ/ and a crisper /z/. Australian tends to be similar to US but with a potentially softer /ɪ/ and a broader vowel coloring in neighboring segments. The rhoticity or lack thereof does not affect a one-syllable word like clings, but connected speech can alter vowel length slightly.
The challenge lies in sequencing a short vowel /ɪ/ immediately before the velar nasal /ŋ/ and then adding a voiced /z/ without letting the /ŋ/ sound blur into an /ŋz/ cluster. It’s easy to drop the final /z/ or to voice it inconsistently in fast speech. Focus on a clean alveolar tip for /z/ and a precise velar contact for /ŋ/. Practicing with slow tempo and minimal pairs helps stabilize the transition from /ŋ/ to /z/.
There are no silent letters in clings; the word is a single syllable with a straightforward syllable structure CVN + z. The primary concern is voiceless vs voiced ending; ensuring the /z/ is voiced and not devoiced is key for natural sound. Stress is identity to the word’s monosyllabic nature; there is no stress shift. The focus is on clean articulation of /k/ + /l/ onset, short /ɪ/ vowel, nasal /ŋ/, and final /z/.
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- US: Keep the /ɪ/ a bit closer to the center of the mouth, then release quickly into the velar /ŋ/; allow a short, voiced /z/ to finish with a light bite. - UK: Slightly longer vowel before /ŋ/ and crisper /z/ due to more precise tongue-tip movement; ensure non-rhoticity is irrelevant here but monitor the vowel quality. - AU: May have a slightly broader vowel and a more relaxed jaw; maintain a clean /ŋ/ and a clearly voiced /z/ to avoid a frayed ending. Use IPA: /klɪŋz/ for all three accents, but adjust vowel quality slightly.
Clings derives from the verb cling, which comes from Old English clingan, with the root related to the Proto-Germanic kŋwaną, meaning to cling, adhere, or creep. The form cling itself is found in Old English clingan or clingan, with the third-person singular clings appearing as early as Middle English as a regular assimilation of the suffix -s to a verb stem ending in -ng. The unvoiced/voiced sibilant at the end of cling is preserved in clings, reflecting standard English verb conjugation for third-person singular in present tense. The semantic core has long centered on a forceful attachment—whether physical or emotional—with the figurative sense of cling often intensified by cultural uses (e.g., “cling to safety,” “cling to hope”). Over time, clings maintained a straightforward productivity in English verb formation, and the pronunciation stayed relatively stable: a single syllable with final -s voiced as [z], following an /ɪ/ vowel and /ŋ/ nasal before the final /z/ sound in typical English pronunciation. First attested written forms appear in Middle English texts, aligning with the broader history of cling as a base verb with inflectional suffixes; the precise date of first use varies by corpus, but the modern form clings is well established in Early Modern English dictionaries.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "clings" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "clings"
-ngs sounds
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