Pronouncing English Consonants

Consonant Sounds are produced by completely or partially stopping the breath. Consonant Sounds can be voiceless (VL, no vibration of the vocal cords) or voiced (VD, vibration of the vocal cords) and often come in sound pairs.

The symbols used for consonants are shown in the following table. Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the left is voiceless, the one to the right voiced.

  Bi­labial Labio-
dental		 Labio-
velar		 Den­tal Alveo­lar Post-
alveo­lar		 Pala­tal Velar Glot­tal
Stop p  b       t  d     k  g  
Affricate                   
Nasal m       n      
Fricative   f  v      s  z      (x) h
Approximant       W     j    
Lateral
approximant		         l        

  • /p/: pit
  • /b/: bit
  • /t/: tin
  • /d/: din
  • /k/: cut
  • /g/: gut
  • //: cheap
  • //: jeep
  • /m/: map
  • /n/: nap
  • //: bang
  • /f/: fat
  • /v/: vat
  • //: thin
  • //: then
  • /s/: sap
  • /z/: zap
  • //: she
  • //: measure
  • /x/: loch, Chanukah (often replaced by /h-/ and /-k/)
  • /h/: ham
  • //: whine (also written /hw/), (only when distinguishing whine/wine, which/witch; otherwise replaced by /w/)
  • /w/: we
  • //: run (often written /r/ in broad transcription)
  • /j/: yes
  • /l/: left
More about:
Voicing and aspiration


Back to:
English Pronunciation
English Language