Do you want to work on your pronunciation in English? In this article, we will take a look at British and American pronunciation using specific examples. These descriptions will help you learn the British accent known as Received Pronunciation, as well as the accent from the United States. You will learn the secrets of correct pronunciation of vowels, diphthongs, consonants, and semi-vowels. With this knowledge, British and American pronunciation will no longer be a mystery to you!
Familiarize yourself with the theory of British pronunciation and practice it with the SuperMemo course: Say It Better. British English. You can find interactive exercises for American pronunciation in the course: Say It Better. American English.
Here is the complete guide to both types of English pronunciation.
Use the table of contents to navigate freely through the article.
The descriptions apply to both types of pronunciation unless otherwise indicated.
Vowels
How to pronounce /iː/
The vowel /iː/ is close, front and long, and it is pronounced with spread lips.
To produce /iː/, you need to do three things. First, open your mouth just a little. There should be little space between your parted lips as well as between your upper and lower teeth. Then, move your tongue forward so that its tip touches the back of your lower teeth and its front is high and very close to the palate. Next, put your thumb and index finger on the corners of your mouth and smile so that you can feel that your lips are spread. You can also look in a mirror and smile to see the corners of your mouth moving apart. Say the sound that comes out for a few seconds. It should be [iiii], a very long /iː/. You will need to make the vowel /iː/ suitably long in different words depending on how fast you are speaking. Like all vowels, /iː/ can change its actual length a little depending on the sounds next to it.
The vowel /iː/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: easy, eat, Eve, east, evening
- After a consonant or consonants: seek, leak, peel, cheese, speak, sweet, street
- At the end of a word: be, me, tea, she, free, spree
Chances are that your language contains the sound /iː/ or its shorter version /i/.
You should beware of the following errors:
- Making /iː/ too short so it sounds like /i/.
- Not spreading your lips enough, so your vowel sounds too similar to /ɪ/, particularly if you make it too short.
- Opening your mouth too much so your vowel is too close to /ɛ/.
- Raising your tongue too much at the end so you end up saying [ij].
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How to pronounce /i/
The vowel [i] is short, close, front, and pronounced with spread lips.
To produce [i], you need to do three things. First, open your mouth just a little. There should be little space between your parted lips as well as between your upper and lower teeth. Then, move your tongue forward so that its tip touches the back of your lower teeth and its front is high and very close to the palate. Next, put your thumb and index finger on the corners of your mouth and smile so that you can feel that your lips are spread. You can also look in a mirror and smile to see the corners of your mouth moving apart. Say the sound that comes out for a few seconds. It should be [iiii], a very long /iː/. Now make the sound short and you will produce [i].
The vowel [i] is a variant of another short vowel, /ɪ/, hence the square brackets instead of slashes in transcription. This means that the two pronunciations never occur in the same place in a word.
The vowel /i/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the end of a word: city, every, Germany, happy, lucky, many, puppy, rocky
- At the end of some pronouns when they are not stressed in a sentence: he, she, me, we
- In the middle of some words in an unstressed syllable: everyone, radiator.
Although the sound [i] exists in many languages, here are some errors typical of English language learners:
- Making [i] too long so it sounds like /iː/, e.g. in easy /ˈiːzi/ the first vowel should be long and the second short
- Opening your mouth too wide and saying /e/ or /ɛ/.
Placing your tongue closer to the central position and pronouncing /ɪ/ instead of [i] in the previous examples is not an error as such, but a feature typical of older upper-class speakers from England, what some people call “the Queen’s English”.
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How to pronounce /ɪ/
The short vowel /ɪ/ is generally close and front, though compared to [i], it may be called less tense. If you pronounce [i], your tongue is in the front position, the mouth is open just a little and the lips are spread (you “smile”). Try to begin by saying a long [iii] sound and then only slightly move your tongue towards the central position, open your mouth more and relax the muscles around your lips. This might require some practice. If you overdo the movement of the tongue, jaw and lips, you will end up pronouncing a central vowel such as /ɜː/ or /ə/.
The vowel /ɪ/ can be stressed, but it is often unstressed. In words such as minute /ˈmɪnɪt/, missing /ˈmɪsɪŋ/ or /ˈwɪmɪn/, the first vowel /ɪ/ is stressed and the second unstressed. In words such as city or pretty the unstressed vowel at the end is pronounced [i]. The examples above also show that different letters are used to represent /ɪ/ in spelling: “i”, “e”, “o”, “u” as well as “y” (gym, crypt).
The vowel /ɪ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: ill, in, is, it, if
- Between consonants: hit, lip, miss, pill, three times in Mississippi /ˌmɪsɪˈsɪpi/
Many languages have a vowel very similar to /ɪ/ but spell it differently from English. Possible errors include:
- Pronouncing [i] or /iː/ instead of /ɪ/, e.g. deep instead of dip, bead instead of bid
- Opening the mouth too wide and saying /e/ or /ɛ/ as a result
- Moving the tongue too far back and getting too close to /ə/ or a similar vowel
- Stressing unstressed syllables containing /ɪ/; for instance, speakers of French may overpronounce the -ing suffix in doing, making, bringing.
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How to pronounce /ɛ/
The vowel /ɛ/ is short, mid and front, and pronounced with spread lips. To pronounce /ɛ/, place your tongue in the front position as for /iː/, but open your mouth slightly more than you would for the “relaxed” vowel /ə/. You can start by saying a long [iii] and gradually open your mouth more towards the position for /æ/ as you release the “smile” of spread lips. The target sound /ɛ/ is about half the distance from /iː/ to /æ/. Many European languages contain /ɛ/ or a very similar vowel, so perhaps you will not find it difficult to pronounce. Note that unlike the vowel /ɜː/ (despite similar-looking symbols), /ɛ/ is short and front.
The vowel /ɛ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: Ed, end, empty, epic, exit, any, the names of letters F, L, M, N, S, X
- After a consonant or consonants: let, bed, tend, trend, friend, mess, chess, dress, impress.
- Often before /r/ in various positions: air, airplane, hair, fair, care, spare (American English).
Like most short vowels, /ɛ/ cannot occur at the end of a word. In foreign words containing /ɛ/ or a similar vowel at the end, English speakers often pronounce /eɪ/, as in café. If you are used to British English, note that /ɛr/ is used instead of /eə/, e.g. in air.
The most common errors concerning the pronunciation of /ɛ/ include:
- Pronouncing a close vowel similar to /ɪ/, resulting in e.g. pin instead of pen or rid instead of red
- Pronouncing the open vowel /æ/ instead of /ɛ/, particularly in any, many, also bad instead of bed etc.
- Saying /iː/ instead of /ɛ/ in words with irregular or misleading spelling: the verb read in the simple past and past participle forms, the word lead meaning “the chemical element Pb” and the place names Reading, Greenwich, Leicester all contain /ɛ/, not /iː/.
The aforementioned pronunciation of /ɛ/ and /ɪ/ in the same or a very similar way is a feature of some regional English dialects, but it is not recommended to English language learners.
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How to pronounce /æ/
The vowel /æ/ is short, open and front, and it requires unrounded lips. In order to pronounce /æ/, place your tongue in the front position, open your mouth comfortably wide and do not round or unnaturally spread your lips. You can start by saying /ɛ/ and gradually open your mouth wider until you reach the vowel /æ/. Make sure you do not raise your tongue, or the vowel will be different. You can compare this vowel to the sound of a crying baby [æææ], but remember not to make it long in actual words.
The vowel /æ/ often occurs in American English pronunciation where British English uses the long vowel /ɑː/, e.g. in pass, class, bath, path, dance, France, chance and the contracted modal verb can’t. Numerous other words contain /æ/ in both British and American English, e.g. gas, mass, cat, mat, rat, Max, Jack, Paris.
The vowel /æ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: apple, ash, atom, Alex, ant
- After one or more consonants: bat, back, sack, spam, crash, pram, track, strap.
Look at the issues that speakers of different languages may have in pronouncing /æ/:
- Like most short vowels, /æ/ is not used at the end of a word, e.g. the words sofa, pasta, panda, Ada all have the unstressed vowel /ə/ at the end.
- If the orthography of your language contains the letter “æ”, note that the English vowel /æ/ may be pronounced differently from the sound you associate with this letter.
- If you relax your lips or tongue, you may pronounce /ʌ/ instead of /æ/, confusing e.g. bad and bud, lack and luck.
- If you raise your tongue too much, you may pronounce /ɛ/ instead of /æ/, making bet and bat sound the same. This is a regional accent feature, but English language learners are advised to pronounce /ɛ/ and /æ/ differently.
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How to pronounce /ə/
The short, mid, central vowel /ə/ is known as “the schwa”. Unlike all the other vowel categories described in this course, so-called “full vowels”, it appears only in unstressed syllables (excluding British English diphthongs). Thus, when you pronounce /ə/ on its own, make sure it is never as strong or loud as vowels in stressed syllables. The pronunciation of /ə/ is simple. You need to relax all the muscles around your lips, place your tongue in a relaxed middle position, and open your mouth about as much as you would for /ɛ/. If you look in a mirror, you should see yourself making a face of someone who doesn’t understand something and doesn’t know what to say. Then say the sound /ə/ without using your face or tongue muscles – remember to make it short.
The vowel /ə/ can be pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: about, among, attack
- After one or more consonants: in the first syllable of confirm, machine, the last two syllables of vegetable, comfortable
- At the end of a word: sofa, pizza, banana.
The biggest problem with the vowel /ə/ is not how to pronounce it but where to use it. English spelling is particularly complex, and /ə/ can be spelled in several different ways, e.g. “a” as in along, Poland, “e” as in enemy, “i” as in family, “o” as in contain, “u” as in suggest. These are but a few basic examples. Most errors result from pronouncing not /ə/ but a stressed vowel instead. Depending on the spelling, speakers may confuse it with /ɛ/, /ʌ/, /æ/, /ɒ/, /ʊ/ or any similar vowel in their language.
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How to pronounce /ʌ/
The vowel /ʌ/ is short, between mid and open, and central. Like other central vowels, it requires the lips to be neutral, i.e. neither spread nor rounded. To pronounce /ʌ/, first relax all the muscles around your lips, place your tongue in a relaxed middle position, and open your mouth wider than you would for /ɛ/ but not as wide as for /æ/. Your lips should remain relaxed as you do so. Say the sound /ʌ/.The description above resembles the one for the “schwa” sound /ə/, but there are two differences between these two vowels: /ʌ/ is more open than /ə/, and /ʌ/ is a full vowel occurring in stressed syllables while /ə/ is never stressed.
The vowel /ʌ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: up, us, under, uncle, ugly
- After one or more consonants: bun, tough, bust, crust, trust
- Sometimes in a syllable which does not receive the main stress: at the beginning of undo, unsee, undergo, understand (the main stress is on the last syllable).
Look at the issues that speakers of different languages may have in pronouncing /ʌ/:
- Confusing /ʌ/ with the front vowel /æ/ can make the pairs luck and lack, but and bat sound the same. This problem is related to pronouncing the front vowel [a], which exists in some languages.
- Raising your tongue can result in a vowel similar to /ə/ or the British /ɜː/, e.g. pronouncing fun and fern the same.
- Retracting and lowering your tongue can result in a vowel similar to /ɑː/, thus e.g. cut and cart can sound almost the same.
- Like most short vowels, /ʌ/ should not be used at the end of a word.
Some British dialects do not have /ʌ/ at all, using the vowel /ʊ/ instead. This regional feature is not recommended to English language learners.
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How to pronounce /ɜː/ (British English)
The vowel /ɜː/ is long, mid and central. It is actually pronounced in almost the same place as the schwa sound /ə/. However, there are two major differences between these vowels: /ɜː/ is a long vowel and it is usually stressed, while /ə/ is never stressed or long. The pronunciation of /ɜː/ is quite simple. You need to relax all the muscles around your lips, place your tongue in a relaxed middle position, and open your mouth about as much as you would for /ɛ/. If you look in a mirror, you should see yourself making a face of someone who doesn’t understand something and doesn’t know what to say. Then say the sound /ɜː/ without using your face or tongue muscles – remember to make it long. The long sound [ɜɜɜ] that you have just made is a common sound of hesitation for English speakers.
The vowel /ɜː/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: err, earn, urn, earth, early
- After one or more consonants: fern, learn, fertile, stern, turtle, work
- At the end of a word: fur, her, sir, prefer.
The most common errors include:
- Confusing /ɜː/ with a front rounded vowel [ø] which is often spelled “ö” and can be found in several languages, e.g. French, German, Swedish, Finnish and Hungarian
- Saying /ɛr/ as in very instead of /ɜː/, particularly where the letters used in the spelling are “er” or “ear” (Bert, serve, earn, learn)
- Misinterpreting irregular spelling: /ɜː/ can be spelt in several ways, including “er” (Bert, serve), “ear” (earn, learn), “ir” (first, firm), “or” (word, world), “ur” (curb, lurk), also “olo” (colonel).
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How to pronounce /ɝ + ɚ/ (American English)
The vowel /ɝ/ is mid and central. It is actually pronounced in almost the same place as the schwa sound /ə/. However, there are two major differences between these vowels: /ɝ/ is a longer vowel and it is usually stressed, while /ə/ is never stressed or long. The pronunciation of /ɝ/ is quite simple. You need to relax all the muscles around your lips, place your tongue in a relaxed middle position, and open your mouth about as much as you would for /ɛ/. If you look in a mirror, you should see yourself making a face of someone who doesn’t understand something and doesn’t know what to say. Then say the sound without using your face or tongue muscles and move the tip of your tongue up towards the palate as you would for /r/.
Now do the same but make the sound shorter and less loud – you should pronounce /ə/ immediately followed by /r/, which is also treated as one sound category, /ɚ/. Similar to the schwa sound /ə/, its “sister” vowel /ɚ/ is never stressed.
The vowel /ɝ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: err, earn, urn, earth, early
- After one or more consonants: fern, learn, fertile, stern, turtle, work
- At the end of a word: fur, her, sir, prefer.
The vowel /ɚ/ often occurs at the end of a word: dinner, winner, doctor, actor, though it can be heard elsewhere too, e.g. in the first syllable of pertain or the last syllable of standard.
Likely errors:
- Confusing /ɝ/ and /ɚ/ with /ɛr/, resulting in air instead of err or fair instead of fir or fur
- Misinterpreting irregular spelling: /ɝ/ can be spelled in several ways, including “er” (Bert, serve), “ear” (earn, learn), “ir” (first, firm), “or” (word, world), “ur” (curb, lurk), also “olo” (colonel); /ɚ/ can be spelled “er” (winner), “or” (actor) etc.
Many Americans pronounce /ɔːr/ instead of /ɝ/ in word, world, work.
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How to pronounce /uː/
The vowel /uː/ is long, close, back and rounded. In order to pronounce it, open your mouth just a little, as you would for /iː/, move your tongue to the back position, as for /ɔː/ or /ɒ/, and round your lips, though not as much as for whistling. You can practice by saying the sound [iii] and moving your tongue to the back as you round your lips. If you have done so correctly, your sound is the more conservative version of the vowel /uː/. However, for several decades more and more native speakers of Standard British English have been using a more central /uː/, transcribed [uː]. If you want to pronounce it, practise moving your tongue and lips between the front [iii] and the back [uuu] and roughly halfway between these two sounds stop and round your lips. Remember that /uː/ is long, unlike the short and less rounded vowel /ʊ/.Many languages have a long or short vowel which is very close to the English /uː/.
You may find that you do not need much practice before you arrive at an acceptable pronunciation of /uː/.
The vowel /uː/ is pronounced in the following places:
- After /j/ at the beginning of a word: use, youth, useful, union, unite, the pronoun you when stressed, the name of the letter U
- After one or more consonants: spoon, truth, Lucas, chewing, hoover
- After a consonant and /j/ in British English, but not in Standard American English: tune, student, duty, duke, news
- At the end of a word: boo, Sue, shoe, crew, true, through, queue.
Some common errors concerning the pronunciation of /uː/ include:
- Making the vowel short or confusing it with /ʊ/, resulting in e.g. pull instead of pool
- Pronouncing a front rounded vowel /y/ or its long version /yː/, which exists in French, German and many other languages, instead of a back vowel, e.g. the French word tu instead of the English too.
Note that British English and some regional varieties of American English have /j/ before /uː/ in e.g. tuna, stupid, duke, new; however, this is not the case in Standard American English.
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How to pronounce /ʊ/
The short vowel /ʊ/ is generally close, back and rounded, though not as much as /uː/. When you pronounce /uː/, the tongue is in the back position, the mouth is almost closed, and the lips are rounded. Try to begin by saying a long [uuu] sound and then move your tongue a little towards the central position, open your mouth more and relax the muscles around your lips to make them less rounded. This might require some practice. The target sound should be neither /uː/ nor /ə/ but one roughly halfway between these two. Remember to make it short.
The vowel /ʊ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- After a consonant: book, cook, look, wood, put, push, wolf, woman, sugar
- In the stressed versions of these modal verbs: could, should, would
- In a syllable which does not receive main stress, e.g. in the compound words living room, bedroom, bathroom, where the stress is on the first syllable (the word room is otherwise pronounced /ruːm/ when stressed). Other examples of this kind include phrasal verbs in which the verb contains /ʊ/: put on, pull off. Note that in phrasal verbs the main stress is on the adverb/preposition, not the verb.
The vowel /ʊ/ does not occur at the beginning or at the end of a word.
The most common errors include:
- Pronouncing the close, back and rounded vowel /uː/ or short [u] instead of /ʊ/; in this way look sounds like Luke, wood and would like wooed
- Moving the tongue forward and lower and relaxing the lips, which results in /ə/
- Misinterpreting the spelling which represents the vowel /ʊ/. We can see that /ʊ/ can be spelled “u”, “o”, “oo” or “ou” (put, wolf, look, could). Thus, learners may pronounce /uː/, /ɔː/, /ʌ/ and other vowels instead of /ʊ/, e.g. /ʌ/ in bush, butcher.
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How to pronounce /ɔː/
The long vowel /ɔː/ is mid, back and rounded. There are two ways in which you can arrive at a correct pronunciation of /ɔː/. If you know how to pronounce /uː/ and /ɑː/, say the vowel [uuu] and gradually open your mouth more until you reach [ɑɑɑ] and then go back. About one third of the distance from [uuu] to [ɑɑɑ], you will pronounce [ɔɔɔ]. You can also relax the tongue and lips and say the central vowel /ə/, and then move your tongue to the back position as you make your lips rounded (but not as much as for /uː/). Remember that /ɔː/ is long, which makes it different from the back vowel /ʊ/ and the British English vowel /ɒ/. If you speak e.g. German or one of the Scandinavian languages, you may realize that your first language pronunciation contains a vowel very similar to /ɔː/.
The vowel /ɔː/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: all, oar, awful, awesome, order
- After one or more consonants: ball, port, sport, taught, form
- At the end of a word: more, bore, core, tore, floor, folklore, jaw, Shaw.
The following errors may occur:
- Pronouncing a more open vowel between /ɔ/ and /ɑ/ which exists in many languages
- Pronouncing a more closed vowel similar to /uː/ or /ʊ/, resulting in pull or pool instead of Paul
- Confusing /ɔː/ with a diphthong, e.g. /əʊ/ in words like broad
- Misinterpreting the spelling “au” as /aʊ/: audio, August, autumn, because, taught should be pronounced with /ɔː/, not /aʊ/.
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How to pronounce /ɑː/
The long vowel /ɑː/ is open, back and rounded. However, it is not as rounded as the other back vowels, particularly /uː/. In order to pronounce /ɑː/, move your tongue to the back position as for /uː/ and a little in front of the position for /ɔː/. Then open your mouth comfortably wide. If your language (e.g. Spanish or Italian) has a front open /a/, first say a long [aaa] and then move your tongue towards the back as you change the lip position from slightly spread to slightly rounded. If you speak one of the Scandinavian languages or Finnish, your first language pronunciation probably has a vowel very close to the English /ɑː/. Remember that /ɑː/ should be long and must not be confused with either the short central vowel /ʌ/ or the less open back vowel /ɔː/.
The vowel /ɑː/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: arm, arch, art, artist
- After one or more consonants: bark, dark, charm, card, father, start
- At the end of a word – /ɑː/ without /r/: bar, car, far, jar, star.
British English often uses the long vowel /ɑː/ where American English pronunciation contains the vowel /æ/, e.g. in pass, class, bath, path, dance, France, chance and the contracted modal verb can’t.
Typical errors include:
- Confusing /ɑː/ with the short central vowel /ʌ/, resulting in buck instead of bark or luck instead of lark
- Pronouncing the short front vowel /æ/ or adjacent non-native English /a/
- Making it a nasal vowel (as in French) by raising the back of the tongue, e.g. before /n/ in dance, chance.
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How to pronounce /ɒ/
The vowel /ɒ/ is short, open, back and rounded. There are two ways of arriving at its correct pronunciation. To try the first one, open your mouth quite wide, move your tongue to the back position and pronounce /ɑː/. Then, move your tongue a little further back, round your lips (though not as much as you would for /uː/) and say a short sound – this should be /ɒ/. To try the other one, place your tongue at the back, open your mouth in the mid position, round your lips and as you say /ɔː/, open your mouth more without changing the position of the tongue or relaxing your lips too much – you should now be able to say /ɒ/. Many languages in Europe have a short vowel which is similar to /ɒ/ but it may be less open.
It is important to remember that /ɒ/ does not exist in American English, where /ɑː/ and in some words /ɔː/ are used instead. English language learners who often listen to American English pronunciation in films, songs etc. may need some practice before their pronunciation of /ɒ/ becomes consistent.
The vowel /ɒ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: ox, often, option, orange, also on, off, of when stressed
- After one or more consonants: wash, job, lot, rock, spot, stock, body, proper.
Just like most short vowels, /ɒ/ cannot occur at the end of a word.
Some common errors concerning the pronunciation of /ɒ/ include:
- Confusing /ɒ/ with the mid central vowel /ʌ/, resulting in e.g. luck instead of lock or gut instead of got
- Pronouncing long /ɑː/ in body, dog etc. as in American English
- Confusing /ɒ/ with the less open long vowel /ɔː/, resulting in e.g. court/caught instead of cot.
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Diphthongs
How to pronounce /aɪ/
The diphthong /aɪ/ begins with an open, nearly front vowel /a/ and finishes near the closed front position with the vowel /ɪ/. To pronounce the first vowel, place your tongue in the relaxed middle position, open your mouth wider than for the mid vowel /ə/ sound and say /ʌ/. Then move your tongue slightly forwards, open your mouth a little more, and the sound you make should be /a/. You may realize that a very similar vowel exists in your first language. Now say the vowel /ɪ/, which is between close and mid and between front and central. Say these vowels in isolation first: [a, ɪ, a, ɪ]. Then say /a/ and continue as you move to the closer, more front position and spread your lips a little. English diphthongs should not be pronounced too quickly: the part close to /a/ should last a little longer than the final /ɪ/ part.
The diphthong /aɪ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: I, ice, ivy, island, idea
- After one or more consonants: like, ride, time, bright, fright, spider
- At the end of a word: buy, guy, tie, fly, try, dry, spy, why, the names of the letters I and Y
- Before /ə/ in British English or /ɚ/ in American English: fire, hire, wire, tired
- Optionally /aɪ/ or /ɪ/ in the first syllable of either, neither, direct, director.
Some common errors include:
- Making the vowel at the beginning too front, that is /æ/ instead of /a/
- Making the vowel at the end too front and close, that is [i], or saying the approximant /j/
- Confusing /aɪ/ and /eɪ/ in some related words, e.g. in the pairs lie and lay, rise and raise the first word has /aɪ/ and the second one /eɪ/
- Confusing /aɪ/ and /ɪ/ in some words which are spelled the same, e.g. the verb wind contains /aɪ/ and the noun wind /ɪ/.
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How to pronounce /eɪ/
The diphthong /eɪ/ begins with a mid front vowel /e/ and finishes near the closed front position with the vowel /ɪ/. To pronounce the first vowel, place your tongue in the front position, open your mouth slightly less wide than for the mid vowel /ɛ/ sound and say /e/. Saying the more open vowel /ɛ/ is not really a mistake in this case. Your lips should be spread for /e/ as well as /ɛ/. Now say the vowel /ɪ/, which is between close and mid and between front and central. Say these vowels in isolation first: [e, ɪ, e, ɪ]. Then say /e/ and continue as you move to the closer position and keep your lips spread, though not as much as for [i]. English diphthongs should not be pronounced too quickly: the part close to /e/ should last a little longer than the final /ɪ/ part.
The diphthong /eɪ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: ace, aid, age, ape, April, the name of the letter A
- After one or more consonants: lake, rain, take, pray, brake, afraid, straight
- At the end of a word: bay, day, hay, lay, pay, tray, spray
- Before /ə/ in British English or /ɚ/ in American English: player, slayer
- Instead of short /e/ or /ɛ/ in many words borrowed from French: café, fiancé, chalet, ballet, beret, bouquet.
Some common errors include:
- Turning the diphthong into a single vowel /ɛ/ or /e/ (this often occurs among speakers of French)
- Making the vowel at the end too front and close, that is [i], or saying the approximant /j/
- Confusing /eɪ/ and /aɪ/ in some related words (lay and lie) or words spelled similar (rate and rite, raid and ride)
- Confusing /eɪ/ with other vowels in words spelled with “a”, e.g. Amy, acorn, atheist, atypical, April have /eɪ/ at the beginning, not /æ/ or /ɑː/.
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How to pronounce /ɔɪ/
The diphthong /ɔɪ/ begins with a mid, back and rounded vowel /ɔ/ and finishes near the closed front position with the vowel /ɪ/. To pronounce the first vowel, place your tongue in the back position, open your mouth about as wide as for the mid vowel /ə/, round your lips and say the long vowel /ɔː/. Alternatively, start with close, back, rounded /uː/ and open your mouth wider until you arrive at the mid position and thus pronounce /ɔː/. Make the vowel a little shorter (/ɔ/). Now say the vowel /ɪ/, which is between close and mid and between front and central and requires spread lips, though not as much as for [i]. Say these vowels in isolation first: [ɔ, ɪ, ɔ, ɪ]. Then say /ɔ/ and continue as you move to the closer, more front position and change the lip position from rounded to slightly spread. You can look in a mirror and see your lips changing their shape from rounded to spread. English diphthongs should not be pronounced too quickly: the part close to /ɔ/ should last a little longer than the final /ɪ/ part.
The diphthong /ɔɪ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: oi!, oil, oyster
- After one or more consonants: boil, coil, choice, royal, toilet
- At the end of a word: boy, buoy, Roy, soy, toy, destroy, Illinois (no /s/ at the end)
- Before /ə/ in British English or /ɚ/ in American English: coyer, destroyer, employer.
Some common errors in the pronunciation of /ɔɪ/ include:
- Confusing /ɔɪ/ and /aɪ/ in pairs like boy and buy/bye, Roy and rye, toy and tie
- Making the vowel at the end too front and close, that is [i], or saying the approximant /j/.
Speakers of some English dialects pronounce /ɔɪ/ and /aɪ/ in a very similar way, but English language learners are advised to pronounce these two diphthongs differently.
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How to pronounce /aʊ/
The diphthong /aʊ/ begins with an open, nearly front vowel /a/ and finishes near the closed back position with the rounded vowel /ʊ/. To pronounce the first vowel, place your tongue in the relaxed middle position, open your mouth wider than for the mid vowel /ə/ sound and say /ʌ/. Then move your tongue slightly forwards, open your mouth a little more, and the sound you make should be /a/. You may realise that a very similar vowel exists in your first language. Now say the rounded vowel /ʊ/, which is between close and mid and between back and central. Say these vowels in isolation first: [a, ʊ, a, ʊ]. Then say /a/ and continue as you move to the closer, more back position and round your lips, though not as much as for /uː/. English diphthongs should not be pronounced too quickly: the part close to /a/ should last a little longer than the final /ʊ/ part.
The diphthong /aʊ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word, though not often: out, owl, outgoing
- After one or more consonants: down, gown, brown, cloud, ground, around, boundary
- At the end of a word: bow, cow, how, now, allow
- Before /ə/ in British English or /ɚ/ in American English: power, flower, flour, tower, coward.
Some common errors include:
- Making the vowel at the end too back, close and rounded, that is [u], or saying the approximant /w/
- Confusing /aʊ/ and /oʊ/ in some words which are spelled the same, e.g. the noun sow ‘female pig’ contains /aʊ/ and the verb sow ‘put seeds in the ground’ /əʊ/
- Misinterpreting irregular spelling, particularly “au” and “ou”, resulting in /aʊ/ instead of the correct vowel /ɔː/ in words like author, audience, August.
There is much regional variation in the pronunciation of /aʊ/: when listening to native English speakers, you may hear the open front /æ/, the open back /ɑ/ or the mid central /ə/ instead of /a/.
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How to pronounce /əʊ/ (British English)
The diphthong /əʊ/ begins with the mid central vowel /ə/ and finishes near the closed back position with the rounded vowel /ʊ/. To pronounce the first vowel, place your tongue in the relaxed middle position and open your mouth as for /ɜː/ to make the /ə/ sound. Now say the rounded vowel /ʊ/, which is between close and mid and between back and central. Say these vowels in isolation first: [ə, ʊ, ə, ʊ]. Then say /ə/ and continue as you move to the closer, more back position and round your lips, though not as much as for /uː/. English diphthongs should not be pronounced too quickly: the part close to /ə/ should last a little longer than the final /ʊ/ part.
At this point, you may be wondering why in some other units of this course it is clearly said that /ə/ cannot be used in a stressed syllable. The fact is that the use of the symbols /əʊ/ is a conventional way of referring to a few variants of the diphthong:
- The schwa symbol in /əʊ/ is accurate in words where the diphthong appears in an unstressed syllable, e.g. at the beginning of okay, cooperate, phrases like oh no!, no way!
- In stressed syllables, /əʊ/ begins with a stronger sound [ɜ], which is a shorter version of the vowel /ɜː/, e.g. at the beginning of own, oak, in the middle of coach, spoke and at the end of so, low, grow
- Before the consonant /l/ in stressed syllables, /əʊ/ begins with an open back rounded vowel [ɒ], e.g. in old, cold, roll, soul.
Some common errors include:
- Pronouncing a back monophthong vowel, that is short /ɒ/ or long /ɔː/, instead of /əʊ/, resulting in cot or caught instead of coat
- Making the vowel at the end too back, close and rounded, that is [u], or saying the approximant /w/
- Misinterpreting irregular spelling, e.g. the letters “oa” in road, boat, coat are pronounced /əʊ/, in Samoa /əʊə/, and in broad, boar /ɔː/.
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How to pronounce /ɪə/ (British English)
The diphthong /ɪə/ begins with a close front vowel /ɪ/ and finishes in the mid central position with the vowel /ə/. To pronounce the first vowel, place your tongue close to the front position, open your mouth slightly wider than for the close vowel /iː/ or [i] sound and say /ɪ/. Your lips should be spread. Remember that /ɪ/ is more relaxed than /iː/ or [i], that is less close, less front and with less spread lips. Now relax the tongue and lips, open your mouth wider and say the mid central vowel schwa /ə/. Say these vowels in isolation first: [ɪ, ə, ɪ, ə]. Then say /ɪ/ and continue as you move to the mid central position and gradually relax your lip muscles. English diphthongs should not be pronounced too quickly: the part close to /ɪ/ should last a little longer than the final /ə/ part.
The schwa /ə/ on its own cannot be stressed, and in /ɪə/ it is the /ɪ/ part that is pronounced more strongly while /ə/ remains weaker even in a stressed syllable.
The diphthong /ɪə/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: ear, era, eerie, eyrie
- After one or more consonants: experience, Algeria, material, serious
- At the end of a word: hear, here, mere, beer, year, career, atmosphere.
Some common errors include:
- Turning the diphthong into a single vowel /iː/, e.g. pronouncing real like reel, weird like weed
- Confusing /ɪə/ with /eə/ in related words, e.g. here, near have /ɪə/ while where, there have /eə/
- Confusing /ɪə/ with /eə/ in words which are similarly spelt: in each of the pairs beer and bear, peer and pear, hear and hair, we’re and where the first word contains /ɪə/ and the second word /eə/
- Pronouncing the American /ɪr/ before a silent letter “r”: here, year, engineer.
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How to pronounce /eə/ (British English)
The diphthong /eə/ begins with a mid front vowel /e/ and finishes in the mid central position with the vowel /ə/. To pronounce the first vowel, place your tongue in the front position, open your mouth slightly less wide than for the mid vowel /ɛ/ sound and say /e/. Your lips should be spread. Saying the more open vowel /ɛ/ is not really a mistake either. Now relax the tongue and lips, and say the mid central vowel schwa /ə/. Say these vowels in isolation first: [e, ə, e, ə]. Then say /e/ and continue as you move to the central position and gradually relax your lip muscles. English diphthongs should not be pronounced too quickly: the part close to /e/ should last a little longer than the final /ə/ part.
The schwa /ə/ on its own cannot be stressed, and in /eə/ it is the /e/ part that is pronounced more strongly, while /ə/ remains weaker even in a stressed syllable.
The diphthong /eə/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: air, heir, area, aeroplane
- After one or more consonants: vary, Mary, malaria, scary, barely, parent
- At the end of a word: care, share, where, there, affair, compare.
Some common errors include:
- Turning the diphthong into a single short vowel /ɛ/ or /æ/, e.g. pronouncing Mary like marry or merry, vary like very, hairy like Harry
- Confusing /eə/ with /ɜː/, e.g. pronouncing err instead of air, her instead of hair
- Pronouncing the American /ɛr/ before a silent letter “r”: care, bear, there
- Pronouncing area /əˈriːjə/; the correct pronunciation is /ˈeəriə/.
The diphthong /eə/ is well-known for being present in many homophones, that is words which are spelt differently but pronounced identically. These pairs and sets of words are pronounced the same: air, ere and heir; bare and bear; hair and hare; mare and mayor; pair, pare and pear, there, their and they’re.
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How to pronounce /ʊə/ (British English)
The diphthong /ʊə/ begins near the close back position with the rounded vowel /ʊ/, and finishes with the mid central vowel schwa /ə/. To pronounce the first vowel, place your tongue in the position between close and mid and between back and central, and open your mouth a little wider than for /uː/. Remember that your lips should also be less rounded than for /uː/. Now open your mouth a little wider (as for /ɜː/), place your tongue in the relaxed middle position, relax your lips completely and say /ə/. Say these vowels in isolation first: [ʊ, ə, ʊ, ə]. Then say /ʊ/ and continue as you move to the mid central position and relax your lips. English diphthongs should not be pronounced too quickly: the part close to /ʊ/ should last a little longer than the final /ə/ part.
The schwa /ə/ on its own cannot be stressed, and in /ʊə/ it is the /ʊ/ part that is pronounced more strongly, while /ə/ remains weaker even in a stressed syllable.
The diphthong /ʊə/ has become quite rare in modern-day British English pronunciation:
- After the approximant /j/ the diphthong /ʊə/ is still used: curious, Europe, neuron, security
- In a few words it appears after another consonant: mature, rural
- In these words, most Standard English speakers pronounce the mid back rounded vowel /ɔː/ and /ʊə/ is typical of older upper-class speakers (what some people associate with ‘the Queen’s English’): cure, sure, moor, poor, tour, you’re, jury.
Some common errors include:
- Pronouncing /ʊ/ or /uː/ instead of conservative /ʊə/ or modern /ɔː/, particularly where the sound is spelt “ou”, e.g. saying two/too instead of tour or two wrists instead of tourists
- Pronouncing the American /ʊr/ before a silent letter “r”, e.g. mature, secure.
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How to pronounce /oʊ/ (American English)
The diphthong /oʊ/ begins with a rounded mid back vowel which is near the mid back /ɔː/, and finishes near the closed back position with the rounded vowel /ʊ/. To pronounce the first sound, open your mouth to the mid position as for /ə/, move your tongue to the back and pronounce /ɔː/. If you make the sound shorter, you will pronounce /o/, the first part of the diphthong. Now say the vowel /ʊ/, which is between close and mid and between back and central, and is also rounded. Say these vowels in isolation first: [o, ʊ, o, ʊ]. Then say /o/, and continue as you move to the closer, back position and keep your lips rounded, though not as much as for /uː/. English diphthongs should not be pronounced too quickly: the part close to /o/ should last a little longer than the final /ʊ/ part.
The diphthong /oʊ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: own, oak, old, open
- After one or more consonants: coach, spoke, cold, donut
- At the end of a word: so, no, grow, flow
- In an unstressed syllable: in the first syllable of words (okay, cooperate) and phrases (oh no!, no way!)
- Before the vowel /ɚ/: lower, blower, slower.
Some common errors include:
- Pronouncing a back monophthong vowel, that is long /ɔː/ or a similar short vowel that exists in the speaker’s first language, instead of /oʊ/, resulting in caught instead of coat; this error is common among native speakers of Spanish, French and Italian
- Making the vowel at the end too back, close and rounded, that is [u], or saying the approximant /w/
- Misinterpreting irregular spelling, e.g. the letters “oa” in road, boat, coat are pronounced /oʊ/, in Samoa /oʊə/, and in broad, boar /ɔː/.
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Consonants
How to pronounce /p/
The sound /p/ is a voiceless bilabial (‘two-lip’) stop. In order to pronounce /p/, you need to lower your jaw a little so that your tongue does not touch your upper teeth or the palate, and there is some space between your upper and lower teeth. The only closure is between your lips, so your mouth should be closed in the beginning. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded. Instead of breathing out through your nose, push air against your lips and open them suddenly and you will make the sound /p/. This is a voiceless sound – when you release the pressure of air, do not make your vocal cords vibrate.
At the beginning of a stressed syllable or at the beginning of a word, /p/ is pronounced with more force than usual. This is called aspiration. Hold a small piece of paper a few inches away from your mouth and say /p/ strongly enough to make the paper move a little. If it does, you have produced [ph], the aspirated version of /p/. The paper should not move when you say an unaspirated /p/.
The consonant /p/ is pronounced in the following places:
- Aspirated [ph] at the beginning of a word: pin, pan, pit, pot
- Between a consonant and a vowel at the beginning of a word, where it is not aspirated: spin, span, spit, spot
- Between vowels: happy, nappy, floppy, hoping
- At the end of a word or before a word-final consonant: lap, deep, stop, maps, chips, kept.
Only the first line above contains words that have an aspirated [ph].
Likely errors
- Blowing the air after opening the lips, making the sound a sequence of [pff] or a sound similar to a Greek or Spanish consonant instead of an English one
- Using your voice (vocal cords), thus saying /b/ instead of /p/
- Pronouncing /p/ in words where the letter “p” is silent: psychic, psychology, psychiatry begin with /s/, pterodactyl begins with /t/, as English does not allow /ps/ or /pt/ at the beginning of a syllable.
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How to pronounce /b/
The sound /b/ is a voiced bilabial stop. In order to pronounce /b/, you need to lower your jaw a little so that your tongue does not touch your upper teeth or the palate, and there is some space between your upper and lower teeth. The only closure is between your lips, so your mouth should be closed in the beginning. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded. Instead of breathing out through your nose, push air against your lips and open them suddenly. You will make the sound /b/. It is a voiced sound – when you release the pressure of air, make your vocal cords vibrate.
At the beginning of a stressed syllable or at the beginning of a word, /p/ is aspirated, that is pronounced with more force than usual. By contrast, /b/ does not have this feature. If you hold a piece of paper a few inches away from your mouth and say pan, it should move a little. If you say ban, you should apply less force and not make the paper move.
The consonant /b/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: bad, bat, ball, better, begin, bike, Barbara, bring, bright, bliss
- After a vowel: abbey, about, above, object, obey, Sebastian
- At the end of a word, where it is devoiced but weaker than /p/: cab, lab, grab, snob, cub, robe, shrub.
Like other voiced consonants, /b/ makes the vowel or diphthong before it a little longer. When /b/ is devoiced before a pause, this slight difference in vowel sound length is important in distinguishing pairs like cab and cap, robe and rope.
Likely errors
- Blowing the air after opening the lips, making the sound a sequence of [bvv] or a sound similar to a Spanish consonant instead of an English one, so that best sounds similar to vest
- Pronouncing a strong voiceless /p/ at the end of a word, e.g. rip instead of rib
- Pronouncing /b/ in words where the letter “b” is silent: lamb, limb, doubt, debt, bomb, dumb, plumber.
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How to pronounce /t/
The consonant /t/ is a voiceless alveolar stop. In order to pronounce /t/, you need to lower your jaw a little, and leave some space between your upper and lower teeth. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded. Now raise your tongue and touch your alveolar ridge so as to block the passage of air completely. Instead of breathing out through your nose, push air against your tongue and quickly move the tongue away from the alveolar ridge. It is a voiceless consonant – when you release the pressure of air, do not make your vocal cords vibrate.
At the beginning of a stressed syllable or at the beginning of a word, /t/ is aspirated (transcribed as [th]), that is pronounced with more force than usual. When you say top, where /t/ is the only consonant at the beginning of the syllable, you should make it stronger than in stop or pot.
The consonant /t/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word, where it is aspirated [th]: tea, too, tell, teach, turkey
- After a vowel or consonant: atom, item, steam, stay, actor
- In the cluster /tr/, where it sounds somewhat similar to /tʃ/: tree, tray, trip, street, pantry
- At the end of a word: cat, let, sweet, boat, about.
In some words, American speakers of English replace /t/ with another sound, the voiced alveolar flap [ɾ]. It is produced by quickly tapping the alveolar ridge with the tip of the tongue and is the same sound that is represented by the letter “r” in some languages, for example Spanish or Portuguese, as well as dialects of Scottish and Irish English. English speakers use [ɾ] in the middle of words between a stressed vowel and an unstressed vowel, for instance the schwa /ə/ or rhotic schwa /ɚ/ latter, butter, whatever, city. Sometimes the vowel sound after the flap can also be stressed, e.g. in get out the flap occurs before the diphthong /aʊ/.
In some words, many British speakers of English replace /t/ with another sound, the glottal stop [ʔ]. It is produced by stopping the flow of air in the vocal folds, which is the place used when clearing one’s throat or coughing, and then releasing the air. Speakers use [ʔ] in the middle of words like button, mutton, little, bottle, notebook and at the end of what, cat, particularly when followed by a word beginning with an unstressed vowel. You do not have to be able to pronounce [ʔ] in order to be understood; however, it is worth knowing where it can occur so you can understand other speakers better.
The following errors may occur:
- Not aspirating /t/ where necessary
- Confusing the flap [ɾ] with /d/, e.g. pronouncing writer like rider
- Pronouncing /tr/ and /tʃ/ identically, so that trip sounds like chip, truck like Chuck
- Pronouncing /t/ in words with a silent letter “t”: listen, castle, whistle, ballet, duvet.
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How to pronounce /d/
The consonant /d/ is a voiced alveolar stop. In order to pronounce /d/, you need to lower your jaw a little, and leave some space between your upper and lower teeth. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded. Now raise your tongue and touch your alveolar ridge so as to block the passage of air completely. Instead of breathing out through your nose, push air against your tongue and quickly move the tongue away from the alveolar ridge. It is a voiced consonant – when you release the pressure of air, make your vocal cords vibrate.
At the beginning of a stressed syllable or at the beginning of a word, /t/ is aspirated, that is pronounced with more force than usual. By contrast, /d/ does not have this feature. If you say time and dime, you should make the /t/ stronger than /d/.
The consonant /d/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: day, do, does, dear, dog, dim, darling, Denmark
- After a vowel: adore, Adam, edit, idol, model
- In the cluster /dr/, where it sounds somewhat similar to /dʒ/: dry, drive, drain, drawing
- At the end of a word, where it is devoiced but weaker than /t/: did, mad, bad, bread; first voiced and then devoiced in dad, did, Donald.
Like other voiced consonants, /d/ makes the vowel or diphthong before it a little longer. When /d/ is devoiced before a pause, this slight difference in vowel sound length is important in distinguishing pairs like bed and bet, broad and brought.
he following errors may occur:
- Pronouncing a strong voiceless /t/ at the end of a word, e.g. write instead of ride, bat instead of bad
- Pronouncing /d/ in words where the letter “d” is silent: handsome, sandwich, the first “d” in Wednesday
- Pronouncing /dr/ and /dʒ/ identically, e.g. drain and Jane, drug and jug.
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How to pronounce /k/
The consonant /k/ is a voiceless velar stop. In order to pronounce /k/, you need to lower your jaw a little, and leave some space between your upper and lower teeth. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded. Now raise the middle of your tongue and touch your soft palate (velum) so as to block the passage of air completely. Instead of breathing out through your nose, push air against your tongue and quickly move the tongue away from the soft palate. It is a voiceless consonant – when you release the pressure of air, do not make your vocal cords vibrate.
At the beginning of a stressed syllable or at the beginning of a word, /k/ is aspirated (transcribed as [kh]), that is pronounced with more force than usual. When you say cool, where /k/ is the only consonant at the beginning of the syllable, you should make it stronger than in school or Luke. Note also that /g/ is not aspirated, so in the pair cold and gold the /k/ sounds stronger than /g/.
he consonant /k/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word, where it is aspirated [kh]: key, case, cat, call, California
- After a vowel or consonant: scream, sky, actor, octopus, occur
- At the end of a word: bake, make, back, look, task.
The following errors may occur:
- Not aspirating /k/ where necessary
- Misinterpreting the pronunciation of the letters “ch”: words like ache, choir, psychiatry have /k/, not /tʃ/
- Pronouncing /k/ in words with a silent letter “k”: words like knee, know, knowledge, knife begin with /n/.
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How to pronounce /g/
The consonant /g/ is a voiced velar stop. In order to pronounce /g/, you need to lower your jaw a little, and leave some space between your upper and lower teeth. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded. Now raise the middle of your tongue and touch your soft palate (velum) so as to block the passage of air completely. Instead of breathing out through your nose, push air against your tongue and quickly move the tongue away from the soft palate. It is a voiced consonant – when you release the pressure of air, make your vocal cords vibrate.
At the beginning of a stressed syllable or at the beginning of a word, /k/ is aspirated, that is pronounced with more force than usual. By contrast, /g/ does not have this feature. If you say coat and goat, you should make the /k/ stronger than the /g/.
The consonant /g/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: go, girl, ghost, guest, give, get
- After a vowel or consonant: ago, again, eager, anger, England
- At the end of a word, where it is devoiced but weaker than /k/: bag, tag, log, vague, league; first voiced and then devoiced in gag, gig.
Like other voiced consonants, /g/ makes the vowel or diphthong before it a little longer. When /g/ is devoiced before a pause, this slight difference in vowel sound length is important in distinguishing pairs like bag and back, log and lock.
The following errors may occur:
- Pronouncing a strong voiceless /k/ at the end of a word, e.g. lack instead of lag
- Misinterpreting the pronunciation of the letter “g”: words like gill, gift, Gilbert have /g/, not /dʒ/
- Pronouncing /g/ in words with a silent letter “g”: gnat, gnaw, sign, align, long, strong.
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How to pronounce /f/
The consonant /f/ is a voiceless labio-dental fricative. In order to pronounce /f/, you need to lower your jaw a little, and leave some space between your upper and lower teeth. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded and the tongue should be lying low, away from the upper teeth, alveolar ridge or palate. Move your jaw back a little and touch your front upper teeth with the middle of your lower lip. Breathe out and make the continuous sound [fff]. Now make it a short /f/. It is a voiceless consonant – when you breathe out, do not make your vocal cords vibrate.
The consonant /f/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: far, for, face, fine, fact, funny, forget
- Often in consonant clusters /fl/ and /fr/: fly, flee, flake, fright, phrase, friend
- After a vowel or consonant: after, afford, effect, often, awful
- In different places in words borrowed from Greek, where it is spelt “ph”: philosophy, pharmacy, physical, physician, photograph, the name of the American city of Philadelphia
- At the end of a word: chief, half, belief, rough, tough.
The following errors may occur:
- Confusing /f/ and /v/ in the pairs of related words, e.g. belief and believe, half and halve, life and live, and the function words off and of, where the first word has /f/ and the second /v/
- Pronouncing /p/ instead of /f/, which occurs among speakers of some southeast Asian languages, e.g. pronouncing coffee like copy
- Misinterpreting the letters “ph” and “gh”: the words physicist, phonetics, enough, cough have /f/.
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How to pronounce /v/
The consonant /v/ is a voiced labio-dental fricative. In order to pronounce /v/, you need to lower your jaw a little, and leave some space between your upper and lower teeth. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded and the tongue should be lying low, away from the upper teeth, alveolar ridge or palate. Move your jaw back a little and touch your front upper teeth with the middle of your lower lip. Breathe out and make the continuous sound [vvv]. Now make it a short /v/. It is a voiced consonant – when you breathe out, make your vocal cords vibrate.
The consonant /v/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: van, vast, verb, valley, very, vacation
- After a vowel or /n/: ever, even, over, cover, provide, evidence, envy, anvil, both spellings of the name Steven/Stephen
- At the end of a word, where it is devoiced but weaker than /f/: of, love, have, brave, save, move, live.
Like other voiced consonants, /v/ makes the vowel or diphthong before it a little longer. When /v/ is devoiced before a pause, this slight difference in vowel sound length is important in distinguishing pairs like save and safe, prove and proof.
The following errors may occur:
- Pronouncing a strong voiceless /f/ at the end of a word, e.g. life instead of the adjective live, off instead of of
- Pronouncing a bilabial fricative sound with rounded lips as for whistling or saying the consonant /b/, resulting in ban instead of van – this tends to occur among speakers of Spanish
- Pronouncing /f/ at the beginning of a word, e.g. fine instead of vine – this tends to occur among speakers of German
- Confusing /v/ and /w/, particularly in words where both of these sounds appear: wave, waive, wives, vowel, vow.
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How to pronounce /θ/
The voiceless dental fricative consonant /θ/ and its voiced counterpart /ð/ seem to be the most famous sounds in the English language, due to the fact that English language learners often struggle with their pronunciation. In fact, learning to pronounce them is not very difficult: it may be a greater challenge for you to unlearn the wrong pronunciation if you have been learning English for years and are used to pronouncing these sounds incorrectly. To arrive at /θ/, say the consonant /f/, in which the front upper teeth touch the lower lip and the tongue is low. Now push your jaw forward, moving your lower lip away from the upper teeth, and raise your tongue until its tip touches the edge of your front upper teeth. You can look in a mirror and see where the tip of your tongue is. Make sure you do not stick your tongue out or you will not pronounce a correct English sound. Like /f/, /θ/ is voiceless and a fricative sound, not a stop.
The consonant /θ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: thin, thick, think, thank, three
- After a vowel or consonant: author, athlete, healthy, monthly, everything
- In different places in words borrowed from Greek: theatre, theory, thesis, method, mathematics
- At the end of a word: bath, earth, both, north, south, mouth.
The following errors may occur:
- Pronouncing /s/, so that thin sounds like sin (particularly in speakers of French, German and American Spanish)
- Pronouncing /t/, so that thin sounds like tin
- Pronouncing /f/, so that thin sounds like fin
- Misinterpreting the letters “th”: thyme, Thomas, Thames, Thailand have /t/, not /θ/.
In some varieties of English, /θ/ is replaced by another sound: for example, many speakers in and around London use /f/ and some people in New York use /t/.
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How to pronounce /ð/
The voiced dental fricative consonant /ð/ often presents a challenge to English language learners. However, learning to pronounce it is not difficult. To arrive at /ð/, say the consonant /v/, in which the front upper teeth touch the lower lip and the tongue is low. Now push your jaw forward, moving your lower lip away from the upper teeth, and raise your tongue until its tip touches the edge of your front upper teeth. You can look in a mirror and see where the tip of your tongue is. Make sure you do not stick your tongue out or you will not pronounce a correct English sound. Like /v/, /ð/ is voiced and a fricative sound, not a stop.
Arabic, Hebrew, Castilian Spanish, Greek, Swedish, Icelandic and some other languages have the consonant /ð/ in their inventory (note that the phonetic symbol is the letter eth, used in e.g. Icelandic), so their speakers should not find it challenging to pronounce.
The consonant /ð/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word, particularly in function (grammatical) words: the, they, this, that, these, those, there, thereby, therefore, thus, then, than, though
- After a vowel: other, another, rather, mother, father, further, bother, weather
- At the end of a word, where it is devoiced but not as strong as /θ/: booth, smooth, with, breathe, wreathe.
In some forms of the same words and related words, the singular noun ends in /θ/ and the plural noun or verb in /ð/. The first word in each of these pairs has /θ/ and the second one /ð/: bath – bathe, breath – breathe, tooth – teethe, wreath – wreathe, bath – baths, mouth – mouths. The consonant /ð/ is actually devoiced at the end of these words, but compared to /θ/, it sounds weaker and makes the vowel sound a little longer.
The rule of changing /θ/ to /ð/ in a plural noun does not always apply, e.g. both forms in the pairs month – months, moth – moths contain a voiceless /θ/.
The following errors may occur:
- Pronouncing /z/, so that then sounds like zen (particularly in speakers of French, German and American Spanish)
- Pronouncing /d/, so that then sounds like den
- Pronouncing /v/, so that than sounds like van.
In some varieties of English, /ð/ is replaced by another sound, e.g. /v/ in dialects spoken in London and /d/ in African American English.
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How to pronounce /s/
The consonant /s/ is a voiceless alveolar fricative. In order to pronounce /s/, you need to lower your jaw a little and leave some space between your upper and lower teeth. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded. Now raise your tongue and touch your alveolar ridge as you would for /t/ except for the very tip of the tongue, which should not block the passage of air completely. Push air against your tongue so it flows between the alveolar ridge and the tip of the tongue and make a hissing sound. It is a voiceless consonant – when you pronounce it, do not make your vocal cords vibrate.
The consonant /s/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: see, say, speak, stop, street, splash, school, city, central
- After a vowel or consonant: ask, person, answer, receive, expert, message, possible
- At the end of a word: bus, class, boss, face, ice, yes, perhaps.
The sound /s/ is one of the few consonants that can form longer consonant clusters which would not be possible with /z/ or other similar sounds. Consider /spr/ in spray, /str/ in straight, /spl/ in split, /sps/ in the plural form wasps or /sθm/ in isthmus.
The following errors may occur:
- Placing the tongue too close to the upper teeth and making it sound similar to /θ/
- Pronouncing /z/ at the beginning of a word, e.g. in social, same, sensible (frequent in speakers of German)
- Pronouncing /z/ instead of /s/ between vowels, e.g. in basis, dinosaur, fantasy, crisis, analysis
- Pronouncing /s/ in words with a silent letter “s”: island, isle, aisle, debris.
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How to pronounce /z/
The consonant /z/ is a voiced alveolar fricative. In order to pronounce /z/, you need to lower your jaw a little and leave some space between your upper and lower teeth. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded. Now raise your tongue and touch your alveolar ridge as you would for /d/ except for the very tip of the tongue, which should not block the passage of air completely. Push air against your tongue so it flows between the alveolar ridge and the tip of the tongue and make a buzzing sound. It is a voiced consonant – when you pronounce it, make your vocal cords vibrate.
The consonant /z/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: zoo, zap, zest, zebra, zucchini
- After a vowel or consonant: easy, lazy, crazy, music, poison, exam
- At the end of a word, where it is devoiced but weaker than /s/: is, was, jazz, choose, lose, please, advise.
Like other voiced consonants, /z/ makes the vowel or diphthong before it a little longer. When /z/ is devoiced before a pause, this slight difference in vowel sound length is important in distinguishing pairs like buzz and bus, lose and loose.
The following errors may occur:
- Placing the tongue too close to the upper teeth and making it sound similar to /ð/
- Pronouncing a strong voiceless /s/ at the end of a word, e.g. force instead of fours
- Misinterpreting the letter “s” in words like rise, lose, rose, music, desert, present, president, which contain /z/, not /s/
- Misinterpreting the letter “x” in words like examination, example, which contain /gz/, not /ks/.
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How to pronounce /ʃ/
The consonant /ʃ/ is a voiceless palato-alveolar fricative. In order to pronounce /ʃ/, first say the sound /s/ by putting your tongue on the alveolar ridge and leaving a small opening in the middle so that air passing between the ridge and the tip of the tongue makes a hissing sound. Now, as you say /s/, move the tip of the tongue back so the small gap through which the air is supposed to pass is in the area behind the alveolar ridge at the front of the hard palate. Do not move your tongue too far or you will end up saying a devoiced version of the approximant /r/. Additionally, make your lips slightly rounded, about as much as for /ʊ/, and you will arrive at the correct pronunciation of /ʃ/. It is a voiceless consonant – when you pronounce it, do not make your vocal cords vibrate.
The consonant /ʃ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: she, share, shy, shall, shirt, short, shape, sugar
- After a vowel or (less often) a consonant: session, fashion, passion, motion, action
- At the end of a word: ash, cash, wish, push, rush, leash, English.
The following errors may occur:
- Placing the tongue too close to the alveolar ridge and making it sound similar to /s/, e.g. pronouncing leash like lease (common among speakers of Finnish)
- Misinterpreting the letters “ssi” or “ti” as /sj/ or /tj/: the words mission, passion, lotion, ration all contain /ʃ/
- Misinterpreting the letters “s” or “c” as /s/: the words sure, sugar, ocean, crustacean contain /ʃ/
- Misinterpreting the letters “ch” as /tʃ/: the words chef, chauffeur, machine and the names Michigan, Chicago, Charlotte contain /ʃ/.
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How to pronounce /ʒ/
The consonant /ʒ/ is the voiced palato-alveolar fricative. In order to pronounce /ʒ/, first say the sound /z/ by putting your tongue on the alveolar ridge and leaving a small opening in the middle so that air passing between the ridge and the tip of the tongue makes a buzzing sound. Now, as you say /z/, move the tip of the tongue back so the small gap through which the air is supposed to pass is in the area behind the alveolar ridge at the front of the hard palate. Do not move your tongue too far or you will end up saying the approximant /r/. Additionally, make your lips slightly rounded, about as much as for /ʊ/, and you will arrive at the correct pronunciation of /ʒ/. It is a voiced consonant – when you pronounce it, make your vocal cords vibrate.
The sound /ʒ/ is said to be the least frequent one in the English language, occurring mostly in borrowings from Latin and French. It is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: genre, gendarme, idioms like je ne sais quoi
- After a vowel: vision, precision, television, usual, visual, measure, pleasure, déjà vu
- At the end of a word, where it is devoiced but weaker than /ʃ/: beige, massage, sabotage, mange tout.
Like other voiced consonants, /ʒ/ is devoiced at the end of a word before a pause, but it also makes the vowel or diphthong before it a little longer when compared to /ʃ/. There are no examples of English words whose only difference in pronunciation would be the /ʒ/-/ʃ/ contrast.
The following errors may occur:
- Placing the tongue too close to the alveolar ridge and making it sound similar to /z/, e.g. pronouncing beige like bays (common among speakers of Finnish)
- Confusing /ʒ/ with /ʃ/ or /dʒ/ (common among speakers of Spanish and German)
- Confusing /ʒ/ with /z/ in related words: in the pairs revise and revision, the verb use and usual, please and pleasure, the first word has /z/, and the second /ʒ/.
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How to pronounce /h/
The glottal fricative /h/ is a sound which is produced by simply breathing out through your mouth and creating no obstacles to the air with the tongue, teeth or lips. To pronounce /h/, open your mouth a little, place your tongue rather low and breathe out. Make sure the middle of your tongue is not raised and close to the soft palate (velum). The actual position of your lips and tongue for /h/ varies depending on the vowel which follows it. The sound /h/ is usually voiceless – when you pronounce it, do not make your vocal cords vibrate. Sometimes, however, its voiced variant [ɦ] occurs: the only difference here is the use of the vocal cords.
Pronouncing /h/ is generally not difficult, but speakers of some languages (French, Italian, Spanish) are used to the letter “h” being usually or always silent, and many English words contain a silent letter “h” too, so knowing where to pronounce it can be challenging.
The consonant /h/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word before a vowel: he, who, his, whose, heart, hurt, house, half, hamster, happy, hotel, history
- After a consonant: inhabit, inhibit, words ending in -hood (parenthood, knighthood)
- Between vowels, where it is a voiced [ɦ]:ahead, behave, behind.
The following errors may occur:
- Omitting /h/ or replacing it with the glottal stop [ʔ], particularly at the beginning of a word, e.g. pronouncing hat like at, his like is, hill like ill
- Pronouncing the silent letter “h”, e.g. in ah, hour, honest, exhibit, Sarah, Deborah, which do not contain /h/
- Pronouncing the voiceless velar fricative [x], in which the tongue is close to the palate in a position similar to that for /ŋ/, /k/ and /g/: this sound occurs in Spanish Juan, ojo, German doch, machen and many other languages.
Speakers of some English dialects (notably in London) often omit /h/. English learners are advised not to do so.
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How to pronounce /tʃ/
The consonant /tʃ/ is a voiceless palato-alveolar affricate. Even though the phonemic symbol consists of two signs, the consonant should be pronounced in one movement, not as a sequence of two consonants. When you say the phrase what shoes, you should be able to feel and hear that /t/ and /ʃ/ require you to complete the movement of the tongue for the stop /t/ before you go on to articulate /ʃ/. When you say waitress, the /t/ and /r/ seem to be more combined, and yet they should not feel like one short sound. In the word watches, however, /tʃ/ should feel like one short consonant, as the tongue is placed between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate, the front of the tongue is raised and instead of saying an ordinary /t/, you should release the exhaled air gradually, not suddenly, in the same place as for the fricative /ʃ/. Like both /t/ and /ʃ/, /tʃ/ is voiceless, so do not make your vocal cords vibrate.
The consonant /tʃ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: chair, chain, chip, chap, charm, Charles
- After a vowel or consonant: butcher, watcher, question, suggestion, Frenchman
- At the end of a word: itch, catch, which, punch, lunch, peach, coach.
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How to pronounce /dʒ/
The consonant /dʒ/ is a voiced palato-alveolar affricate. Even though the phonemic symbol consists of two signs, the consonant should be pronounced in one movement, not as a sequence of two consonants. When you say the phrase bad gendarme, you should be able to feel and hear that /d/ and /ʒ/ require you to complete the movement of the tongue for the stop /d/ before you go on to articulate /ʒ/. When you say address, the /d/ and /r/ seem to be more combined, and yet they should not feel like one short sound. In the word major, however, /dʒ/ should feel like one short consonant, as the tongue is placed between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate, the front of the tongue is raised and instead of saying an ordinary /d/, you should release the exhaled air gradually, not suddenly, in the same place as for the fricative /ʒ/. Like both /d/ and /ʒ/, /dʒ/ is voiced, so make your vocal cords vibrate.
The consonant /dʒ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: jaw, joy, June, July, giant, gym, Jane, Jewish, Japan
- After a vowel or consonant: badger, enraged, apologize, biology, Egypt, Roger
- At the end of a word, where it is devoiced but not as strong as final /tʃ/: edge, wedge, badge, cage, lodge, porridge; the following words have a voiced /dʒ/ at the beginning and a devoiced one at the end: judge, George.
Like other voiced consonants, /dʒ/ makes the vowel or diphthong before it a little longer. When /dʒ/ is devoiced before a pause, this slight difference in vowel sound length is important in distinguishing pairs like badge and batch, ridge and rich.
The following errors may occur:
- Starting the sound too close to the alveolar ridge and moving the tongue too far back, which results in /dr/ instead of /dʒ/, e.g. Jane like drain
- Placing the tongue too far at the front instead of the palato-alveolar area (some languages have this alveolar version of /dʒ/)
- Pronouncing the voiceless sound /tʃ/ at the beginning of a word, e.g. Jane like chain (speakers of German)
- Pronouncing a strong voiceless /tʃ/ at the end of a word, e.g. Marge like march
- Confusing /dʒ/ with /ʒ/ or /g/ in words containing the letter “g”: gist, gin, legion, ginger, George, Gillian all contain /dʒ/.
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How to pronounce /m/
The sound /m/ is a voiced bilabial nasal. In order to pronounce /m/, you need to lower your jaw a little so that your tongue does not touch your upper teeth or the palate, and there is some space between your upper and lower teeth. The only closure is between your lips, so your mouth should be closed. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded. Instead of opening your lips as you would do when pronouncing /p/ or /b/, keep them closed and breathe out through your nose. The consonant /m/ is one of the most common sounds in languages around the world, so chances are that you can pronounce its basic variant correctly. It is a voiced sound – when you release the pressure of air, make your vocal cords vibrate.
The consonant /m/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: more, may, might, make, many, Mark, Mary, Manchester
- After a vowel or consonant: camp, jump, mummy, common, ample, almost, flatmate
- Before /f/, where it is pronounced as labio-dental [ɱ], that is in the same place as /f/: symphony, emphasis
- Before /s/, where it is weaker or partially devoiced: smile, smirk, smell, smooth
- At the end of a word: jam, ram, comb, tomb, germ, Pam, Vietnam.
The prefix in- becomes im- /ɪm-/ before /p/ or /b/, e.g. in impossible, improbable, imperfect, imbibe.
Likely errors
- Confusing /m/ with the alveolar nasal /n/, e.g. pronouncing man like nan, might like night
- Pronouncing final /zm/ as /zəm/ or /zɪm/: the final /m/ in mechanism, organism is called syllabic, so it can be said that there is no real vowel before it
- Prolonging /m/ to a double [mm] in words containing the letters “mm”, which is impossible in most words, e.g. Emma, recommend, summer, and allowed only in compound words, e.g. roommate, teammate, home-made
- Devoicing /m/ at the end of a word.
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How to pronounce /n/
The consonant /n/ is a voiced alveolar nasal. In order to pronounce /n/, you need to lower your jaw a little, and leave some space between your upper and lower teeth. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded. Now raise your tongue and touch your alveolar ridge so as to block the passage of air completely. Instead of moving your tongue down as you would do when pronouncing /t/ or /d/, keep the passage of air blocked and breathe out through your nose. It is a voiced sound – when you release the pressure of air, make your vocal cords vibrate.
The consonant /n/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: knee, know, knowledge, name, note, nice, night, nut, near, number
- At the beginning of many negative functional (grammatical) words: no, not, never, neither, none, nowhere, nobody, nothing
- After a vowel or consonant: sponge, Spanish, acknowledge, ant, aunt, grant, grand, sand, environment
- Before /s/, where it is weaker or partially devoiced: snow, snail, snack, snooze
- At the end of a word: sun, son, win, ban, moon, spoon, lane, Jane.
The following errors may occur:
- Pronouncing final /sn/ as /sən/ or /sɪn/: the final /n/ in lesson, person is called syllabic, so it can be said that there is no real vowel before it; the same is true of final /ʃn/ in passion, fashion
- Prolonging /n/ in words containing the letters “nn” to a double [nn], which is impossible in most words, e.g. in winner, dinner, banner, manner there is just one /n/
- Devoicing /n/ at the end of a word.
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How to pronounce /ŋ/
The consonant /ŋ/ is a voiced velar nasal. In order to pronounce /ŋ/, you need to lower your jaw a little, and leave some space between your upper and lower teeth. The lips should be neither spread nor rounded. Now raise the middle of your tongue and touch your soft palate (velum) so as to block the passage of air completely. Do not move the tongue away from the soft palate as you do when pronouncing /k/ or /g/, but breathe out through your nose. It is a voiced consonant – when you release the pressure of air, make your vocal cords vibrate.
The consonant /ŋ/ is pronounced in the following places:
- After a vowel: language, English, singer, hanger, bringing
- Often before /g/ or /k/: finger, stronger, Hungary, bank, pink, drink
- At the end of a word: bang, fang, wing, thing, among, tongue, song, long.
Two things are worth noting with regard to the consonant /ŋ/. Firstly, it differs from the other nasal consonants /m/ and /n/ in that it is not used at the beginning of a word. Secondly, it occurs in the important suffix -ing in present participles as used in the continuous tenses (I am writing), gerund nouns (She likes fishing) and adjectives derived from participles (a boring lecture).
The following errors may occur:
- Devoicing /ŋ/ at the end of a word
- Pronouncing the alveolar nasal /n/ instead of the velar /ŋ/, e.g. bang like ban, sung like sun/son
- Pronouncing the -ing suffix /-ɪn/, /-ɪnk/ or /-ɪng/, not /-ɪŋ/
- Confusing /ŋ/ and /ŋk/ in similar-looking words, e.g. in the pairs bring and brink, wing and wink the first word contains /ŋ/ and the second /ŋk/.
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How to pronounce /l/
The consonant /l/ is a voiced alveolar lateral set of two sounds which never occur in the same position in a word, and that is why they are treated as one category (phoneme). The first, so-called “clear” /l/ (transcribed [l]), is alveolar. To pronounce it, put the front of the tongue on the alveolar ridge, but unlike in the pronunciation of /t/ and /d/, do not make a complete closure but leave an opening for the exhaled air between both sides of the tongue and the alveolar ridge. When you breathe out, you should feel that the sound is made on the left and right, not in the middle as in articulating /s/ or /z/. The other variant is the so-called “dark” /l/ (transcribed [ɫ]), which is alveolar and velarized. To pronounce it, you need to touch the area of the alveolar ridge with the front of the tongue while the middle and back are raised close to the soft palate. However, do not make a complete closure as in the case of /k/, /g/ or /ŋ/. The “clear” variant of /l/ exists in many languages (French, German, Spanish etc.), while consonants close to the “dark” variant exist in Russian, Ukrainian, Portuguese and some other languages. It is a voiced consonant, so make your vocal cords vibrate.
The consonant /l/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word, it is always followed by a vowel and is thus a “clear” [l]: lore, loo, Lee, lay, lean, leap, let, like, London
- Before a vowel and between vowels, it is a “clear” [l]: enlarge, blush, plum, Florence, Berlin, allow, believe; the same is true of phrases like all over, ball and chain
- Before a consonant and at the end of a word before a pause, it is a “dark” [ɫ]: self, milk, help, will, shall, tall, mall, roll, bell
- After a consonant at the end of a word, /l/ becomes syllabic, so it does not need a vowel in between: little, bottle, apple, table, article.
The following errors may occur:
- Devoicing /l/ at the end of a word
- Confusing /l/ with the approximant /r/, e.g. pronouncing lock like rock (particularly speakers of Japanese)
- Confusing the positions where the “clear” [l] and “dark” [ɫ] should be pronounced (speakers of Russian and some other Slavic languages)
- Pronouncing the “dark” [ɫ] as /w/ or /ʊ/, e.g. ball similar to bow.
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Semi-vowels
How to pronounce /r/
The sound /r/ in English is a voiced palato-alveolar approximant. This means that the tongue does not touch the area of the alveolar ridge or palate at all, and that the sound produced could even be considered a vowel in another language. To pronounce /r/, start by saying /z/, in which the tongue except its tip rests on the alveolar ridge. Then, move the tongue back and curl its tip upwards to pronounce /ʒ/ and then a little further, making sure the lips are not rounded or spread and the middle of the tongue is low, not close to the palate.
Rhoticity is an important concept concerned with the pronunciation of /r/. Standard American English, most varieties of English in the USA, Canada, India, Ireland and Scotland are rhotic, that is use /r/ every time it appears in spelling:
- Before a vowel and between vowels: ray, run, rain, rabbit, very, sorry, merry, borough, Mary
- Before a consonant: arm, barn, fork, pork, Harvard
- At the end of a word: more, sure, car, there, dear.
Thanks to rhoticity, American English has two vowels whose articulation includes the sound /r/: /ɚ/ (doctor) and /ɝ/ (first).
Some dialects in the American South and New England, Standard British English, most dialects in England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore and other places are non-rhotic. This means that /r/ is pronounced only before a vowel, including between vowels.
The following errors may occur:
- Pronouncing a trilled /r/, in which the tongue taps the area of the alveolar ridge several times (speakers of Slavic languages, Italian, Spanish, Finnish, Hungarian etc.)
- Pronouncing a voiced alveolar tap /ɾ/, like the American “t” in better (speakers of Spanish or Portuguese)
- Pronouncing a voiced uvular (guttural) trill /ʀ/, in which the back of the tongue touches the uvula, behind the soft palate (speakers of Arabic, French, German, Danish etc.)
- Confusing /r/ with the lateral consonant /l/ (e.g. Japanese speakers)
- Inconsistent use of rhoticity.
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How to pronounce /w/
The sound /w/ is a voiced bilabial-velar approximant. If you already know how to pronounce /uː/, this sound should not be difficult. You need to open your mouth a little, round your lips and raise the middle and back of your tongue, but instead of saying /uː/ or /ʊ/, make your lips even more rounded so that the sound you make feels different from a vowel. The approximant /w/ should change quickly to the next sound, so do not make it a long [www]. The approximant /w/ is usually voiced, so when you pronounce it, make your vocal cords vibrate.
The approximant /w/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: wait, wake, wine, win, week, wood, weep
- At the beginning of many functional (grammatical) words: what, where, when, why, whether, whereby, which, with, will, would (the exceptions who, whose have /h/)
- After a vowel or consonant – after /t/ or /k/ it is devoiced: awake, Ewan, owing, rewind, twin, twig, queen, sweet, swim
- In a phrase between /uː/ or /ʊ/ at the end of one word and a vowel at the beginning of the next word: you are, how about, the shoe is.
The following errors may occur:
- Insufficient rounding of the lips, resulting in /uː/ or /ʊ/
- Confusing /w/ with /v/, e.g. wet and vet (speakers of some Germanic and Slavic languages)
- Exaggerating the voiceless variant of /w/, so it sounds too much like [hw] or [xw]
- Pronouncing /gw/ instead of /g/ in words spelt with “gu”, e.g. guess, guest.
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How to pronounce /j/
The sound /j/ is a voiced palatal approximant. If you already know how to pronounce /iː/, this sound should not be difficult. You need to open your mouth a little, spread your lips and raise the middle of your tongue, but instead of saying /iː/ or /ɪ/, raise your tongue even more towards the hard palate so that the sound you make feels different from a vowel, but do not touch the palate. The approximant /j/ should change quickly to the next sound, so do not make it a long [jjj]. The approximant /j/ is voiced, so when you pronounce it, make your vocal cords vibrate.
The approximant /j/ is pronounced in the following places:
- At the beginning of a word: you, year, youth, young, yes, yellow, yoghurt, union, yesterday
- After a vowel or consonant: playing, cue, humid, argue, continue, interview
- In a phrase between /iː/, /ɪ/ or [i] at the end of one word and a vowel at the beginning of the next word: he is, me and you, say or write.
The following errors may occur:
- Not raising the tongue high enough, resulting in [i] or /ɪ/
- Confusing /j/ and /dʒ/, particularly in similar-looking words: in the pairs yoke and joke, yam and jam, the first word has /j/ and the other /dʒ/
- Omitting /j/ in words without letters “j” or “y”, e.g. cure, pure, value.
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British and American pronunciation are no longer a mystery to you! For a comprehensive discussion of the British accent with exercises, you can find it in the course “Say It Better. British English.” With this course, you can easily train your pronunciation using speech-to-text (STT) exercises that allow for speech recognition. If you’re interested in American pronunciation, then check out our course “Say It Better. American English.”
