Sound Right

English Sounds All 47 sounds — click any to explore spellings

Simple vowels ↑ Top

/ə/ schwa
about today sofa
/ʌ/ BUTTER
but love tough

The schwa /ə/ is the most common vowel in English.

/i/ SEE
see eat be
/ɪ/ SIT
sit gym busy
/u/ MOON
moon blue new
/ʊ/ BOOK
book put would
/ɑ/ FATHER
hot father yacht
/ɔ/ LAW
law all autumn

Many Americans merge these into a single sound (the cot-caught merger).

/æ/ CAT
cat aunt plaid
/ɛ/ BED
bed said bread

Diphthongs ↑ Top

/eɪ/ DAY
day rain make
/oʊ/ NO
no home show
/aɪ/ FLY
fly time night
/aʊ/ CLOUD
now house plough
/ɔɪ/ BOY
boy oil
/ju/ USE
use few cue

R-colored vowels ↑ Top

/ɜr/ BIRD
bird her turn
/ər/ BUTTER-R
butter doctor dollar
/ɛr/ HAIR
hair care bear
/ɪr/ HEAR
hear here beer
/ɑr/ CAR
car heart sergeant
/ɔr/ DOOR
for door four
/ʊr/ TOUR
tour pure poor

Stops ↑ Top

Voiced / voiceless pairs

/p/ P
put happy
/b/ B
big rabbit
/t/ T
time letter walked
/d/ D
day ladder called
/k/ K
come key back
/g/ G
go egg

Fricatives ↑ Top

Voiced / voiceless pairs

/f/ F
for off phone
/v/ V
very have
/θ/ TH
think three bath
/ð/ TH (voiced)
the this that
/s/ S
see miss city
/z/ Z
zoo his buzz
/ʃ/ SH
she nation special
/ʒ/ ZH
vision measure beige

Affricates ↑ Top

/ʧ/ CH
check match nature
/ʤ/ J
just age bridge

Nasals ↑ Top

/m/ M
my summer climb
/n/ N
no running know
/ŋ/ NG
sing think

Liquids and glides ↑ Top

/l/ L
like all
/r/ R
right sorry write
/w/ W
will what queen
/j/ Y
yes onion
/h/ H
he who