English pronunciation
Hear and practise every sound of English, train your ear with minimal pairs, and learn the stress and intonation that make you easy to understand. Tap any word to hear it.
Pronunciation lessons
Minimal pairs: train your ear
Minimal pairs are words that differ by one sound, like ship and sheep. Hearing the difference is the first step to saying it.
Long and tense vs short and relaxed.
Words are read by your device’s voice, so the accent depends on the voices installed on your device.
Vowel sounds
/iː/
seeeatgreen
Long. Smile slightly; tongue high and forward.
/ɪ/
sitshipbig
Short and relaxed — not the same as /iː/.
/e/
bedtensaid
Mouth half open; short.
/æ/
cathandblack
Open your mouth wide; tongue low and forward.
/ɑː/
carfatherstart
Long, open and at the back of the mouth.
/ɒ/
hotdogwhat
Short, rounded lips (British English).
/ɔː/
doorlawwalk
Long, with rounded lips.
/ʊ/
bookputcould
Short, lips a little rounded.
/uː/
foodbluetwo
Long, lips pushed forward and rounded.
/ʌ/
cuplovemoney
Short, central, relaxed.
/ɜː/
birdworklearn
Long, central; lips neutral.
/ə/
aboutteacherbanana
The schwa — the most common English sound. Very short and weak, only in unstressed syllables.
/eɪ/
daynamegreat
Glide from /e/ to /ɪ/.
/aɪ/
mytimebuy
Glide from /a/ to /ɪ/.
/ɔɪ/
boycoinenjoy
Glide from /ɔ/ to /ɪ/.
/əʊ/
gohomephone
Glide from /ə/ to /ʊ/ (US: /oʊ/).
/aʊ/
nowhousedown
Glide from /a/ to /ʊ/.
/ɪə/
herenearidea
Glide from /ɪ/ to /ə/.
/eə/
hairwherecare
Glide from /e/ to /ə/.
Consonant sounds
Many consonants come in pairs: the same mouth position, with or without the voice. Put your hand on your throat — you’ll feel the voiced sound buzz.
/p / b/
pen / Benpie / buy
Both use the lips. /p/ has a small puff of air; /b/ uses the voice.
/t / d/
ten / dentie / die
Tongue behind the top teeth. /d/ is voiced.
/k / g/
coat / goatcold / gold
Back of the tongue. /g/ is voiced.
/f / v/
fan / vanfine / vine
Top teeth on the bottom lip. /v/ is voiced — not /b/ or /w/.
/θ / ð/
think / thisthree / that
Tongue tip between the teeth and blow gently. /ð/ is voiced.
/s / z/
sip / ziprice / rise
Hissing sound. /z/ is voiced, like a bee.
/ʃ / ʒ/
shoemeasure
Lips pushed forward, like saying “shh”. /ʒ/ is voiced.
/tʃ / dʒ/
chip / jobcheap / jeep
Start like /t/ or /d/ and release into /ʃ/ or /ʒ/.
/h/
hatwhobehind
Just breath — don’t make it rough.
/m / n / ŋ/
somesunsung
Nasal sounds. /ŋ/ in -ing: the back of the tongue closes; don’t add a /g/.
/l / r/
light / rightlong / wrong
/l/: tongue touches behind the teeth. /r/: tongue does not touch anything; lips slightly rounded.
/w / j/
wetyet
/w/: round lips then open. /j/ is the y sound in ‘yes’.
Word stress
In words with two or more syllables, one syllable is stronger: longer, louder and higher. Wrong stress makes words hard to recognise, even when every sound is right. O = stressed, o = unstressed.
Oo
TEAcherHAPpyWINdowMOther
oO
hoTELaGObeGINtoDAY
Ooo
BEAUtifulCAMeraHOSpitalYESterday
oOo
baNAnacomPUterimPORtantdeCIsion
ooO
afterNOONunderSTANDJapaNESEengiNEER
oOoo
phoTOgraphyexPEriencemaTERialenVIronment
Sentence stress and intonation
Sentence stress
English stresses the content words (nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs) and weakens grammar words. Say: I WANT to GO to the BEACH on SATurday. Stress a different word to change the meaning: I didn’t say HE took it (someone else did).
Intonation
Voice goes down ↘ at the end of statements and wh- questions (Where do you live?↘) and usually up ↗ in yes/no questions (Do you live here?↗). A rise can also show surprise or that you haven’t finished.
Say it: speaking drills
Listen, then say the sentence. If your browser supports speech recognition, you’ll see which words it understood.
Sentence 1 of 10 · A1
Nice to meet you.
Focus: Link the words: nice-to-meet-you.
Speech recognition isn’t available in this browser. Listen, repeat aloud, and record yourself in any speaking exercise to compare.
Common pronunciation mistakes
The -ed ending
Say /t/ after voiceless sounds (worked), /d/ after voiced sounds (played) and /ɪd/ only after t or d (wanted, needed). Don’t add an extra syllable to ‘walked’.
workedplayedwanted
Silent letters
Many letters are written but not said: the k in knife, the b in climb, the l in walk, the w in write, the h in hour, the t in listen.
knifeclimblisten
Adding vowels
Don’t add a vowel before or after consonant groups: say ‘school’, not ‘eschool’; ‘stop’, not ‘stoppu’.
schoolstreetdesk
Word stress changes meaning
Some words change stress by part of speech: a PREsent (noun) / to preSENT (verb); a REcord / to reCORD.
presentrecordobject
Weak forms
Small grammar words are usually weak with the schwa /ə/: to /tə/, for /fə/, and /ən/, can /kən/. Using full forms everywhere sounds unnatural.
fish and chipsa cup of teaI can swim
Th sounds
/θ/ and /ð/ are not /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/ or /f/. Put the tongue between the teeth: think, three, this, that.
thinkthisthree