Here is a table of English consonant sounds and their IPA symbols. The words in parentheses represent the IPA transcription.
Note that the examples are in three columns. The first column provides an example of the sound when it is word initial (at the beginning of the word). The second column provides an example of the sound when it is word internal (in the middle of the word). The third column provides an example of the sound when it is word final (at the end of the word). Note also that for each letter the examples show different spellings that produce the same sound.
Click on the words to get an idea of these sounds. Pay attention to the sound of the letters in bold.
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| English Consonant Sounds | |||
| IPA | initial | internal | final |
| p | please (pliz) |
purple (p  p l) |
help (h  lp) |
| apple (  pl) |
grape (greIp) |
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| b | book (b  k) |
noble (n  bl) |
web (w b) |
| cabbage (k bI g) |
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| f | five (faIv) |
fifty (fIfti) |
gulf (g  lf) |
| raffle (r fl) |
off (  f) |
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| phone (f n) |
hyphen (haIf n) |
nymph (nImf) |
|
| roughly (r fli) |
tough (t f) |
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| v | vanilla (v nIl) |
seven (s vn) |
five (faIv) |
 |
thirty ( ti) |
nothing (n Iŋ) |
path (p ) |
 |
they ( eI) |
father (f ) |
breathe (bri ) |
| t | ten (t n) |
autumn (  tm) |
hit (hIt) |
| attain ( teIn) |
mitt (mIt) |
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| eighty (eIti) |
freight (freIt) |
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| baked* (beIkt) |
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| white (weIt) |
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| *Pronunciation of simple past –ed ending | |||
| d | dish (dI  ) |
widow (wId ) |
red (r d) |
| adding ( dIŋ) |
guide (g  d) |
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| s | sir (s ) |
thesis ( iss) |
books (b ks) |
| scissors (sIz z) |
massage (m s ) |
miss (mIs) |
|
| center (s nt) |
December (dIs mb) |
ice (is) |
|
| psychology (saIk lgi) |
six (sIks) |
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| house (h  s) |
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| z | zero (z  ) |
freezing (frizIŋ) |
ooze (uz) |
| fuzzy (f zi) |
jazz (  z) |
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| miser (maIz ) |
dishes (dI z) |
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| xenophobe (z nfb) |
exit ( gzIt) |
please (pliz) |
|
| scissors (sIz z) |
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|
she ( i) |
mushroom (m rum) |
radish (r dI) |
| sure ( ) |
pressure (pr ) |
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| schist ( Ist) |
fascist (f Ist) |
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| tuition (tuI n) |
cache (k ) |
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| |
genre ( nr) |
seizure (si ) |
garage (g r) |
| fissure (fI ) |
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| vision (vI n) |
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| leisure (li ) |
|||
 |
cheers ( s) |
artichoke (  tIk |
March (m ) |
| picture (pIk ) |
watch (w ) |
||
|
jump ( mp) |
major (meI ) |
|
| gentle ( ntl) |
rigid (rI Id) |
cage (keI ) |
|
| badger (b ) |
bridge (brI ) |
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| k | king (kIŋ) |
baker (beIk ) |
pink (pIŋk) |
| rocket (r kt |
black (bl k) |
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| cold (k ld) |
October ( ktb) |
attic ( tIk) |
|
| queen (kwin) |
equal (ikw l) |
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| orchid (  kId) |
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| fix (fIks) |
cake (keIk) |
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| broccoli (br kli) |
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| g | good (g d) |
August ( gst) |
drag (dr g) |
| foggy (f gi) |
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| exotic ( gztIk) |
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| m | May (meI) |
humid (hjum d) |
ma’am (m m) |
| summer (s m) |
autumn ( tm) |
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| lamb (l m) |
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| n | no (n ) |
raining (raInIŋ) |
green (grin) |
| pneumonia (n mnj) |
sunny (s ni) |
sign (s n) |
|
| knife (naIf) |
unknown ( nn) |
fine (faIn) |
|
| ŋ | singer (sIŋ ) |
spring (sprIŋ) |
|
| pink (pIŋk) |
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| w | winter (wInt ) |
snowing (sn wIŋ) |
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| what (w t) |
nowhere (n w ) |
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| one (w n) |
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| j | yellow (j l) |
mayor (meI ) |
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| unite (junIt) |
beautiful (bjutIf l) |
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| h | hot (h t) |
mishap (mIsh p) |
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| l | look (l k) |
eleven ( lvn) |
cool (k l) |
| llama (l m) |
hello (h l) |
fall (f l) |
|
 |
red (r d) |
orange ( n) |
or ( ) |
| merry (m i) |
purr (p ) |
||
Related lessons:
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In my first language, it’s more similar sounds than English.
Some sounds, such as /th/, /dz/…, don’t have in my first language, so I pronounce them difficultly.