English pronunciation and phonetics
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English pronunciation and phonetics
Lesson Outline
Hide- 1.How to pronounce the English vowels, consonants and diphthongs
- 2.Vowels chart
- 3.Consonants chart
- 4.Diphthongs chart
- 5.Pronunciation rules of the English language
- 5.1.The consonants (voiced and unvoiced) in English
- 5.1.1.The 'th'
- 5.1.2.Combination of 'sp' and 'st'
- 5.1.3.'v' and 'w'
- 5.1.4.The consonant 'r'
- 5.2.The vowels in English
- 5.2.1. The vowel 'a'
- 5.2.2.The vowel 'e'
- 5.2.3.The vowel 'i'
- 5.2.4.The vowel 'o'
- 5.2.5.The vowel 'u'
- 5.2.6.The two 'oo' sound
- 6.Exercises
- 6.1.Vowels exercise
- 6.2.Consonant exercise
- 6.3.Consonant and vowels worksheets
How to pronounce the English vowels, consonants and diphthongs
The English language has an extensive amount of phonetic sounds and different types of pronunciation acquired through its long history and influences. By learning the most common sounds in the form of vowels and consonants you should be able to pronounce properly most words and letters.
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1) Vowels chart
Vowels are part of the speech in the form of sound or a letter. They are pronounced with an open vocal tract. The English vowels are: 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u'. The vowel can be pronounced differently in different words, see the table below.
| Letter | Vowel sound | Pronunciation examples |
|---|---|---|
| A | /æ/ | Cat, Black, Hat |
| A | /ɑ:/ | Spark, Dark, Arm |
| A, E | /ə/ | Sofa, Alive, Kingdom |
| A, U, O | /ɔ:/ | Bored, Horse, Law |
| E, I, U | /ɜ:/ | Bird, Learn, Casual |
| E | /i:/ | Sheep, See, Eat |
| I | /i/ | Hit, Sit, Ship |
| O | /əʊ/ | Go, Hole, Alone |
| O | /ɒ/ | Rob, Hot, Top |
| O, U | /u:/ | Blue, Few, Chew, |
| U | /ʊ/ | Should, Put, Look |
| U | /ʌ/ | One, Cup, Fun |
2) Consonants chart
Consonants are part of the speech in the form of a sound. Upon pronouncing them there is a partial air block and not-pronouncing certain letters. In English, their list is quite extensive.
| Letter | Consonant sound | Pronunciation examples |
|---|---|---|
| B | /b/ | Bed, Banana, Book |
| CH | /tʃ/ | Church, Cheese, Watch |
| CH | /x/ | Loch |
| G | /g/ | August, Give, Grass |
| G | /ʒ/ | Garage, Casual, Television |
| H | /h/ | Hear, Hand, Hold |
| J | /dʒ/ | Juice, January, Juggle |
| L | /,l/ | Low, Critical, Little |
| M | /m/ | More, Make, Mother |
| N | /n/ | Knew, Nest, Turn |
| N | /,n/ | Threaten |
| N | /ŋ/ | Song, Finger, King |
| P | /p/ | Pin, Apple, Pause |
| R | /r/ | Responsible, Ring, Rap |
| S | /s/ | Snake, Snow, Sick |
| S | /ʃ/ | Show, Shirt, Cash |
| T | /t/ | Transport, Train, Late |
| T | /ð/ | That, Others, There |
| T | /θ/ | Think, Bath, The |
| V | /v/ | View, Very, Cave |
| W | /w/ | Waste, We, Wait |
| W | /hw/ | Wheel |
| X | /ɡz/ | Examine |
| X | /ks/ | Taxi, Max, Tax |
| X | /z/ | Xenophobic, X-ray |
| Z | /z/ | Result, Maximize |
3) Diphthongs chart
Diphthongs are vowels that were created by the combination of two vowel sounds with the same syllable. They are very commonly used and vital to learn by heart.
Diphthong | Pronunciation examples |
|---|---|
| /aɪ/ | Buy, Eye, Pie |
| /eɪ/ | Day, Okay, Pay |
| /ɔɪ/ | Toy, Boy, Coy |
| /ɪə/ | Beer, Ear, Dear |
| /eə/ | Air, Fair, Hair |
| /aʊ/ | How, Mouth, Cow |
| /əʊ/ | Phone, Nose, Dose |
| /ʊə/ | Sure, Pure, Endure |
Pronunciation rules of the English language
The consonants (voiced and unvoiced) in English
In the English language some consonants are voiced and some are unvoiced. The table below shows the unvoiced consonants with their voiced counterparts.
| Unvoiced | Voiced |
|---|---|
| s | z |
| k | g |
| f | v |
| th | th |
| ch | g |
| p | b |
| sh | j |
| t | d |
1. The 'th'
There are two types of 'th', the unvoiced and voiced pronunciation.
The 'th' sound will be voiceless at the beginning of a content word. A content word is a word that add a meaning to a sentence, for example nouns, verbs or adjectives. The 'th' is unvoiced in the middle of words when it is before a consonant. The 'th' sound is voiceless when it is at the end of words, except for the word 'with'.
Examples of the unvoiced 'th':
- thank, thumb
- bathtub, toothpick
- smooth, teeth
The 'th' is voiced when it is at the beginning of the function word. A function word is a word that doesn't mean a specific action. The 'th' is voiced when it is in the middle of words between two vowels. The 'th' at the end of the word 'with' is voiced.
Examples of the voiced 'th':
- this, these
- mother, bathing
- with
2. Combination of 'sp' and 'st'
The examples below show the different pronunciation between the 'sp' and 'st'.
- sports
- Spain
- stick
- stamp
3. 'v' and 'w'
The letters 'v' and 'w' have a different pronunciation, to understand the difference listen to the words below.
- voice, various, video
- which, winter, awake
4. The consonant 'r'
The rule to learn for the pronunciation of the letter 'r' is:
- 'r' is voiced when it is before a vowel sound. (grass, asparagus, grapefruit)
- 'r' is unvoiced when it is before a consonant or at the end of a word. (short, door, dark)
The vowels in English
Most English vowels have a long vowel sound and short vowel sound depending on the word.
1. The vowel 'a'
The letter 'a' has a long sound, sounds like 'ei' and a short sound, sounds like 'ah'.
- day, way (long sound)
- cat, dad (short sound)
In words that include '-ought', '-aught', '-alk' or '-aw', the 'a' sound is pronounced like 'oh'.
- talk
- awkward
2. The vowel 'e'
The long sound of the letter 'e' is pronounced as 'ee'. The short sound of the letter 'e' is pronounced as 'eh'.
- monkey, these (long sound)
- melt, letter (short sound)
When the letter 'Y' is at the end of a word that has more than one syllable and when the letters 'ie' are together, they are pronounced as a long 'e'. For example: lady, funny, believe, piece.
3. The vowel 'i'
The long vowel 'i' sounds like 'aiy'. The short vowel 'i' sounds like 'ih'.
- ice, iris (long sound)
- it, ship (short sound)
When the letter 'y' is at the end of a word that has one syllable it is pronounced as a long 'i'. For example: my, bye, why.
4. The vowel 'o'
The long vowel 'o' sounds like 'ooh'. The short vowel 'o' is pronounced as 'oh'.
- nose, remote (long sound)
- stop, box (short sound)
When the letter 'o' is followed by another vowel it is still pronounced as 'ooh'. For example: boat, toe.
5. The vowel 'u'
The long sound of the vowel 'u' is the pronounced like 'yu'. The short vowel 'u' sounds like 'uh'.
- cute, music (long sound)
- cut, butter (short sound)
When the letter 'u' is followed by the vowels 'e' or 'i' it is still pronounced as a long vowel 'u'. For example: fruit, clue.
6. The two 'oo' sound
There are some words in English that have the two 'oo' sound.
- boot
- took
- book
When the letters 'oo' follow the letter 'l', it is pronounced as a short 'u' sound. For example: flood, blood.
Exercises
Vowels exercise
Consonant exercise
Consonant and vowels worksheets
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Hands down one of the best teachers I've had the pleasure of working with. Very knowledgeable in all aspects of Bulgarian (grammar rules, expressions, ...) but also in both English and French, which helps whenever you have a more in-depth question on the how or why something is the way it is in Bulgarian. Furthermore he has his own material and always comes prepared, but he is equally open to changing the subject of a lesson to suit your needs. He is patient, positive and not too scholarly, which is what you need as an adult learning day- to- day Bulgarian.I have been working with him for 18 months now and still look forward to our lessons every week.
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Elena is an excellent teacher and a very nice person. I have been training in Spanish with Elena for quite some time now after her being recommended to me by a friend, and have consistently been very pleased with our lessons. While I do not consider myself to be very good at learning foreign languages, Elena is very patient and adapts the lessons to my ability, making me feel at ease. In fact, I find her to be extremely skilled at assessing exactly where I am at any given time with respect to my individual learning situation, and structuring the lessons accordingly. I think I probably would have given up trying to learn Spanish had I not began my study with Elena; and that would have been a shame considering where I am now with the language. Because of Elena's skilled help, I am extremely pleased to not only be conversant in basic Spanish, but also have confidence that I will one day reach full proficiency with the language. No other learning method I tried before meeting Elena compares to the one-on-one, personalized instruction I receive from her, which comprises reading; writing; developmental exercises; and most importantly, conversation. To be able to look at Spanish now and have it appear largely familiar is extremely satisfying. I even plan to study Italian with Elena after reaching my desired level in Spanish. These are not things I ever imagined would occur at the beginning stages of my studies. I am a native English speaker and find Elena's English to be excellent. She had no difficulty instructing me from the very beginning levels where it was necessary that a lot of English be spoken in our lessons, to where we are now with much less English being spoken. The friend who recommended Elena to me learned Dutch from her, and is equally pleased with their experience. I would not hesitate to learn from Elena any of the languages she teaches. I give Elena my highest recommendations and thank her for all the help she has provided me.
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We are an Italian family residing in France for 3 months, we have two 10 year old children who have just started attending CM1. We asked Natalia to give the children two lessons a week to speed up their learning. We are super happy with the choice. Nous sommes une famille italienne résidant en France depuis janvier, nous avons deux enfants de 10 ans qui viennent de commencer la CM1. Nous avons demandé à Natalia de leur donner deux leçons par semaine pour accélérer leur apprentissage. Nous sommes super contents de Natalia. We are an Italian family living in France since 3 months, we have two 10 year old children who have just started attending CM1. We asked Natalia to give the kids two lessons a week to speed up their learning. We are super happy with this choice.
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