Vaia - The all-in-one study app.
4.8 • +11k Ratings
More than 3 Million Downloads
Free
Americas
Europe
In English, consonants can be distinguished by whether they are 'sounds' or 'letters'. Sometimes they overlap. From the sharp 's' sound to the gentle 'm' hum, consonants are the backbone of English speech. Explore our examples of English consonants and ways to identify them!
Explore our app and discover over 50 million learning materials for free.
Lerne mit deinen Freunden und bleibe auf dem richtigen Kurs mit deinen persönlichen Lernstatistiken
Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenIn English, consonants can be distinguished by whether they are 'sounds' or 'letters'. Sometimes they overlap. From the sharp 's' sound to the gentle 'm' hum, consonants are the backbone of English speech. Explore our examples of English consonants and ways to identify them!
A consonant is a speech sound made by either completely or partially obstructing breath. This is done by creating contact between two articulators.
Articulators are vocal organs such as the tongue, lips, teeth, hard and soft palate. These are what we use to create and manipulate speech sounds.
There are 24 consonant sounds in Englush. Some examples of how you use consonants in English are as follows:
/ p / as in pen, attempt, and top.
/ b / as in brain, abstract, and cab.
/ t / as in tell, realistic, and armpit.
/ d / as in dad, under, and bed.
/ tʃ / as in church, kitchen, and speech.
/ dʒ / as in Jordan, angel, and change.
/ k / as in kite, technical, and rock.
/ g / as in girl, finger, and gang.
/ f / as in photo, coffee, and laugh.
/ v / as in van, convince and of.
/ θ / as in think, athlete and month.
/ ð / as in this, brother and clothe.
/ s / as in sit, basic, and dance.
/ z / as in zebra, crazy / cousin, and watches.
/ ʃ / as in ship, pressure / nation / ocean, and wish.
/ ʒ / as in genre, casual / leisure / vision, and beige.
/ m / as in mother, common, and home.
/ n / as in need, dinner, and fun.
/ ŋ / used for the -ing form or sing.
/ h / as in hat, who and behave.
/ l / as in lion, help, and travel.
/ r / as in right, wrong, and car (standard American English pronunciation) .
/ w / as in wait / one, swim and quit.
/ j / as in yellow, cute, few and lay.
You may notice that certain consonants can be combined. For example:
ch is usually pronounced / tʃ /, which combines / t / and / ʃ / so chat = / tʃæt /.
Here's some trivia for you: in “Pacific Ocean” every c is pronounced differently: Pacific Ocean = [pəˈsɪfɪk ˈəʊʃən]. The reason this happens could be historical.
Fig. 1 - Vowel and consonant sounds are produced differently.
Consonants have three characteristics:
Let's have a look at them all in more detail.
Voicing refers to the activity of the vocal cords. The organs related to voicing are:
There are two types of voicing:
You can feel when your vocal cords are producing 'voiced' consonants by putting your hand on your larynx (throat). Try it.
Can you feel the vibration?
Now try a voiceless consonant. Feel the difference?
The place of articulation is where the airstream is obstructed to form consonant sounds. There are two types of articulators:
The active articulators are the parts that you can move, like your tongue or your lips.
The passive articulators are the immovable parts of your vocal tract that can be brought together, like the teeth or the palate.
These are the 8 places of articulation (with letters corresponding to the image below):
Fig. 2 - The eight places of articulation range from the lips to the glottis
Remember: practise all the time. Help yourself by putting your finger or your hand on the throat, close your eyes and focus on the movement of the tongue. In this way, you will understand more which places of articulation you are using.
Use the same technique for the manner of articulation to understand how it works when you pronounce a word.
The manner of articulation refers to how the airstream is obstructed to produce consonant sounds. There are six different 'manners of articulation':
Consonants are speech sounds produced by the obstruction or constriction of the airflow in the vocal tract, involving either the lips, the glottis, or the tongue.
Vowels are speech sounds made when the mouth is open and the air is expelled freely through the vocal tract without being blocked in the mouth or larynx.
Let's summarise:
Now play a game to understand the examples of how to pronounce a vowel and how to pronounce a consonant:
A consonant is a speech sound, articulated with a complete or partial closure of the vocal tract.
The sounds 'p' and 'l' in 'play', and 'b' and 't' in 'rabbit'.
Consonants are speech sounds produced by the obstruction of the airflow in the vocal tract. Vowels are speech sounds made when the mouth is open and the air is expelled freely through the vocal tract.
There are several types of consonant sound and you can define them based on voicing, place of articulation, and manner of articulation.
The following letters of the English alphabet are consonant sounds: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z
Flashcards in Consonants20
Start learningHow many consonant sounds are there in the word doctor?
3.
How many consonant sounds are there in the word utopia?
3.
Which phoneme is considered both a vowel sound and a consonant sound?
y
How many consonants are there in the alphabet?
21.
How many consonant sounds are there?
24.
What type of consonant is the phoneme /k/?
Voiceless velar plosive.
Already have an account? Log in
The first learning app that truly has everything you need to ace your exams in one place
Sign up to highlight and take notes. It’s 100% free.
Save explanations to your personalised space and access them anytime, anywhere!
Sign up with Email Sign up with AppleBy signing up, you agree to the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy of Vaia.
Already have an account? Log in