English Pronunciation Overview

Level: A1. English spelling is a poor map of English sound. The quickest way to sound clearer is to learn the sounds by ear and copy good audio, rather than reading a word and guessing. This page shows you what to focus on first.

By the end of this page you can…

…explain why English spelling and sound differ, name the sounds that trip up most learners, and use the audio here to practise.

Spelling is not the same as sound

English uses 26 letters to write around 44 sounds. Because there are far more sounds than letters, one letter can stand for several sounds, and one sound can be spelled many ways. The letter c is a hard sound in cat but a soft one in city. The sound at the start of ship is also spelled in sugar and station. So the spelling often cannot tell you the pronunciation on its own.

Linguists call a single distinct sound a phoneme. The exact number depends on the accent and on how you count, but a common figure for standard British English is about 20 vowel sounds and 24 consonant sounds. You do not need to memorise that list — you need to hear the differences and produce them.

The sounds learners find hardest

A few sounds and patterns cause most early mistakes. Spend your first efforts here:

• The two th sounds. think uses a voiceless th (/θ/); this uses a voiced th (/ð/). Put your tongue lightly between your teeth. Many learners replace them with t, d, s or z — the listener still understands, but it marks an accent strongly.
• Long versus short vowels. ship (/ɪ/) and sheep (/iː/) are different words. So are full and fool. Hold the long vowel clearly longer.
• The schwa. The most common vowel in English is the weak /ə/ in unstressed syllables — the a in about or the er in teacher. Reducing these syllables is what makes speech sound natural.
• Word stress. English squeezes unstressed syllables and leans on the strong one. comfortable is said with three clear beats (KUMF-tuh-bul), not four even ones.
• Consonant clusters. Groups like the str in street or the -sks in asks are hard. Say them slowly and join them up; do not add an extra vowel between the consonants.

How to say it

Three quick habits fix most beginner errors:

• th: tongue tip just touching the back of the top teeth, then let air out. Voiceless for think, with voice for this.
• Vowel length: stretch the vowel in sheep, food, car; keep it short and quick in ship, foot, cut.
• Schwa: in a weak syllable, relax the mouth to a small, lazy uh — banana is buh-NAH-nuh, not bah-nah-nah.

Listen and repeat with the audio

Press play on each word, then say it back. These contrast the sounds above.

How to use the audio on this site

Every example and quiz word has a play button that uses your browser voice. Make it work for you:

• Shadow it. Play, then speak at the same time on the next play, matching the rhythm.
• Slow down. Repeat a hard word five times before moving on.
• Record and compare. Use your phone to record yourself, then play the example again and listen for the gap.
• Chunk it. For long words, break them into syllables, stress the strong one, then speed up.

Quick recap before you practise.

Practice

Quiz

Next

• Learn the letters and their sounds in The English Alphabet and Its Sounds
• Browse every topic in the English pronunciation section
• New here? Start with Start Learning English Here