6. The Hiss

1. The letter s between vowels sounds like a z:

nose	result	noise
present	partisan	tease
preside	resound	reserve

2. The light "hissy" sound is spelled with either ss or ce. Predictably, ss, like any proper doubled consonant, follows accented short vowels. Soft c is used anywhere else. (A soft c is one that is followed by e, i, or y).

notice	reticent	massive	bicycle
recent	gossip	russet	rejoice
essence	vessel	discuss	pass

3. The plural ending is always spelled with a single letter s unless you can hear a new syllable on the plural word. In that case, use -es:

loss, losses	bank, banks	twitch, twitches	tree, trees
box, boxes	list, lists	judge, judges

No compendium of spelling rules would be complete with the most important rule of all:
WHEN IN DOUBT, ASK (or look it up)

But ask first - it's quicker.