ENGLISH PHONETICS

With phonetic transcriptions, dictionaries tell you about the pronunciation of words.
Phonetic transcription is necessary, because the spelling of a word does not tell you how
you should pronounce it.
We can outline the discrepancies that exist between the spelling and sounds in the
following:

(a) Same sound is represented by different letters. In words such as each, bleed, either,
achieve, scene, busy, we have the same vowel sound represented by different letters, which
are underlined. This is not unique to vowels and can be verified with consonants, as in
shop, ocean, machine, sure, conscience, mission, nation.

(b) Same letter may represent different sounds. The letter a in words such as gate, any,
father, above, tall stands for different sounds. To give an example of a consonantal letter
for the same phenomenon, we can look at the letter s, which stands for different sounds in
each of the following: sugar, vision, sale, resume (vibrant s).

(c) One sound is represented by a combination of letters. The underlined portions in each
of the following words represent a single sound: thin, rough, attempt, pharmacy.

(d) A single letter may represent more than one sound. This can be seen in the x of exit and
the u of union.

Phonetic transcriptions are usually written in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), in
which each English sound has a special symbol.
For example, the phonetic transcription of no is / /, and the transcription of do is / /.
(In spelling, these words are similar. They both end in the letter o. But their phonetic
transcriptions are different, because they are pronounced differently).
Phonetic transcription is usually given in brackets, like this: / /, / /.
In a dictionary, it looks like this:

If a word is mispronounced, it may lead to confusion. For a clear example of this, look for
the video ‘The Italian man who went to Malta’ in YouTube.

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2
Word stress

When a word has many syllables, one of them is always pronounced more strongly. This is
called word stress, and we say that the syllable is stressed. For example, in the word
become, the stressed syllable is come.
Dictionaries tell you which syllable is stressed. The most popular system is to put an
apostrophe ( ) before the stressed syllable in the phonetic transcription of the word. For
example, the transcription for become is / /.
If a word has only one syllable (for example: pen, house), the syllable is always stressed.
Dictionaries usually do not put an apostrophe before the only syllable. So they don't write /
/ — they simply write / e /.
Some dictionaries use other systems for showing word stress. For example, they may put an
apostrophe after the stressed syllable, or they may underline the stressed syllable.
The final /r/ indicates that it is only pronounced in American English.
Remember that the stress changes according to the function of a word, such as ‘contract’
(noun if stressed on the first syllable, verb if stressed on the last). We have a few cases.

EXAMPLES

that however
difficult another
you again
which world
their area
about psychology
photo course
should company
people under
also problem
between never
many service
thicker something
child place
hear point
system provide
group large
number general

3
always head
next information
quick question
nervous business
local power
during change
although move
who book
example development
rather young
social national
write water
percent yet
guest perhaps
both until
every control
month include
important believe

allow person
stand once
idea police
character lose
result position
happen industry
friend major
carry build
awful language
early international
view else
himself yeah
xerox center
report enough
political calm
law color
ghost lure
modest knife

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 P H O N E T I C .B A N K (theory and examples)

Vowel
sounds

Long vowel -
sounds:

Diphthongs:

Consonants:
unvoiced: -
voiced:
a, e, i, o, u : all vowel sounds are voiced.
" - s / -es " .... - third person " s " endings.
" -ed " .. .- the past of the regular verbs ( - ed ).

Silent letters: . . . . no sound.ovación e investigación

DRILLING SENTENCES
5
1. “The fat cat sat on the man’s black hat”
/ ðə fæt kæt sæt ɒn ðə mænz blæk hæt /

2. “Bernie brought a big breakfast back to bed”

/ˈbɜːniˈbrɔːt ə bɪɡˈbrekfəst ˈbæk tə bed /

3. “Pat put purple paint in the pool”

/ pæt ˈpʊtˈpɜːpll peɪnt ɪn ðə puːl /

4. “Zebras in zoos are like dolphins in pools”

/ ˈzebrəz ɪn zuːz.ə laɪkˈdɒlfɪnz ɪn puːlz /

5. “David’s daughter didn’t dance, but David’s dad did”

/ ˈdeɪvədz ˈdɔːtə ˈdɪdnt dɑːns / bət ˈdeɪvədz dæd dɪd /

6. “I ate an apple and a banana in a cinema in Canada”

/ ˈaɪ et ən ˈæpll ənd ə bəˈnɑːnə ɪn ə ˈsɪnəmə ɪn ˈkænədə /

7. “Alex’s lettuces tasted like cabbages”

/ ˈæləksəz ˈletɪsɪz ˈteɪstɪd ˈlaɪk ˈkæbɪdʒɪz /

8. “Frank found four frogs laughing on the floor”

/ fræŋk faʊnd fɔː frɒɡz ˈlɑːfɪŋ ɒn ðə flɔː /

9. "Vera drove to Venice in a van”

/ ˈvɪərə drəʊv tə ˈvenɪs ɪn ə væn /

10. “Grandma gave the guests eggs and frog’s legs”

/ ˈɡrænmɑː ɡeɪv ðə ɡests eɡz ənd ˈfrɑːɡz leɡz /

11. “Harry had a habit of helping hitch-hikers”

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 / ˈhæri həd ə ˈhæbɪt əv ˈhelpɪŋ ˈhɪtʃhaɪkəz /

12. “We didn’t use euros in Europe a few years ago”

/ wi ˈdɪdnt ˈjuːs ˈjʊərəʊz ɪn ˈjʊərəp ə fjuː ˈjiəz əˈɡəʊ /

13. “Nile crocodiles have the widest smiles”

/ nile ˈkrɒkədaɪlz həv ðə ˈwaɪdɪst smaɪlz /

14. “Sharon shouldn’t wash her shoes in the shower”

/ ˈʃærən ˈʃʊdnt wɒʃ hə ʃuːz ɪn ðə ˈʃaʊə /

15. “Ginger spilt orange juice on George’s jacket”

/ ˈdʒɪndʒə spɪlt ˈɒrɪndʒ dʒuːs ɒn ˈdʒɔːdʒəz ˈdʒækɪt /

16. “The rabbits raced right around the ring”

/ ðə ˈræbɪts reɪst raɪt əˈraʊnd ðə rɪŋ /

17. “It’s hard to park a car in a dark car park”

/ ɪts hɑːd tə pɑːk ə kɑːr ɪn ə dɑːk kɑː pɑːk /

18. “Sarah and Mary share their pears fairly”

/ ˈseərə ənd ˈmeəri ʃeə ðeə peəz ˈfeəli /

19. “Young King Kong was stronger than strong”

/ jʌŋ kɪŋ kʰʊŋ wəz ˈstrɒŋɡə ðən strɒŋ /

20. “John wants to watch Walter wash the dog”

/ dʒɒn wɒnts tə wɒtʃ ˈwɔːltə wɒʃ ðə dɒɡ /

21. “Martha Smith’s an author and an athlete”

/ ˈmɑːθə ˈsmɪθs ən ˈɔːθər ənd ən ˈæθliːt /

22. “My father and mother live together with my other brother”

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 / maɪ ˈfɑːðər ənd ˈmʌðə ˈlaɪv təˈɡeðə wɪð maɪ ˈʌðə ˈbrʌðə /

23. “The girl heard the nurse work”

/ ðə ɡɜːl hɜːd ðə nɜːs ˈwɜːk /

24. “Laura’s daughter bought a horse and called it Laura”

/ ˈlɔːəz ˈdɔːtə ˈbɔːt ə hɔːs ənd kɔːld ɪt ˈlɔːrə /

MINIMAL PAIRS

Considering that a mispronounced word may lead to confusion, it is most advisable to

practice, through minimal pairs, those sounds which are more difficult to recognize and
produce.

shops chops vase bars Ron wrong thin fin

shoes choose vest best pin Ping thaw four
ships chips vat bat win wing thought fort
share chair VB thin thing thread Fred
Shane chain vote boat thorn fawn
shin chin van ban three free
sheep cheap vow bow thirst first
shock chock very berry

More exercises at the end of the set.

EXERCISES

8
According to the sound, write in alphabetical order the 26 letters in the
blanks below:

a-b-c-d-e-f-g-h-i-j-k-l-m-n-o-p-q-r-s-t-u-v-w
-x-y-z

h k
1. :

b t
2. :

f
3. E :

4. :

5. :

u
6. :

7. :

English Pronunciation ~ Simple past of regular verbs and their final -ed
sound

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There are three ways to pronounce the final -ed of regular verbs in the simple past tense.
This pronunciation is determined by the final sound of the verb in the infinitive: Is it a
voiced consonant, an unvoiced consonant, or a vowel sound?

After unvoiced sounds such as /p, k, f, s, /, and / /the final -ed is pronounced like /t/ as in
the word cat. Note that the -e remains silent.
IPA infinitiv past
* e tense

help helped
/P/
/F/ stuff stuffed
laugh laughed
/S/ miss missed
dice diced
fix fixed

/k/ look looked

/ / fish fished

/ / march marched
*IPA refers to the International Phonetic Alphabet.

After voiced sounds such as / b, , g, v, z, , , m, n, ŋ, l/, and /r/, the final -ed sound is pronounced
like /d/ as in good. Note that the -e remains silent.

IPA infinitive past tense

/b/ grab grabbed /ŋ/ bang banged

/g/ hug hugged /l/ peel peeled

/v/ save saved /r/ honor honored

/z/ ooze oozed / / breathe breathed

please pleased

/ / massage massaged

/ / rage raged

/m/ resume resumed

/n/ sign signed

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The final -ed is also pronounced like the d in good after all vowel sounds. Note that the -e
remains silent.
infinitive simple past
stay stayed
free freed
lie lied
hoe hoed
sue sued
ski skied
snow snowed
try tried

For verbs ending in d and t the final -ed is pronounced /Id/ as in the final two letters of the
word did.

Note that here the -e is not silent and this final -ed sound adds another syllable to the end of
the verb.

infinitive past tense

add added
grade graded
decide decided
exit exited
taste tasted
object objected

When the past participle of any regular verb is used as an adjective, the final –ed is
pronounced as /Id/, independently of the former rules.

Examples:

1. The naked baby.

2. The chained dog.

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 EXERCISES

How is the “ed” pronounced in these verbs /t/, /d/ or /Id/?

answered asked called cleaned

collected completed crossed dropped

dusted expected filled finished

guessed handed hoped jumped

listened offered opened parked

picked planned poured prepared

realized repeated saved seemed

stared started studied talked

tasted touched vacuumed waited

washed watched waxed

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Regular plurals
The plural morpheme in English is suffixed to the end of most nouns. The plural form is
usually represented orthographically by adding -s to the singular form (see exceptions
below). The phonetic form of the plural morpheme is /z/ by default. Examples:
boy boys /boɪz/
girl girls /gɜːlz/,/gɝlz/
chair chairs /ʧeəz/,/ʧeaz/

Other cases::

When the preceding sound is a voiceless consonant—such as /t/, /p/, or /k/ —it is
pronounced /s/. Examples:
cat cats /kæts/
lap laps /læps/
clock clocks /klɒks/,/klɑːks/

Where a noun ends in a sibilant sound—/s/, /ʃ/, /ʧ/, /z/, /ʒ/, or /ʤ/—the plural is formed by
adding /ɪz/ (also pronounced /əz/), which is spelled -es if the word does not already end
with -e:
dish dishes /’dɪʃɪz/
glass glasses /’glɑːsɪz/
judge judges /’ʤʌʤɪz/
phase phases /’feɪzɪz/
witch witches /’wɪʧɪz/

Morphophonetically, these rules are sufficient to describe most English plurals. However,
there are several complications introduced in spelling.

The -oes rule: most nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant also form their plurals by
adding -es (pronounced /z/):
hero heroes
potato potatoes
volcano volcanoes or volcanos

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The -ies rule: nouns ending in a y preceded by a consonant usually drop the y and add -ies
(pronounced /Iz/). This is taught to many American and British students with the rhyme:
"Change the y to I and add -es":
cherry cherries
lady ladies
party parties

However, proper nouns (particularly those for people or places) ending in a y preceded by a
consonant form their plurals regularly:
Germany Germanys (as in The two Germanys were unified in 1990; this rule is
commonly not adhered to as several book titles show, and Sicilies rather
than Sicilys is the standard plural of Sicily)
Harry Harrys (as in There are three Harrys in our office)
The rule does not apply to words that are merely capitalized common nouns:
P&O Ferries (from ferry)
Other exceptions include lay-bys and stand-bys.
Words ending in a y preceded by a vowel form their plurals regularly:
day days
monkey monkeys
(Money/Monies is an exception, but money can also form its plural regularly).

EXERCISES

Read the following words, paying special attention to the final sound.

1. Boys

2. Cages

3. Horses

4. Foxes

5. Bushes

6. Bosses

7. Monkeys

8. Puppies

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9. Patios

10. Heroes

11. Pianos

12. Beliefs

13. Wolves

14. Wives

15. Cuts

16. Raises

17. Dresses

18. Fixes

19. Fizzes

20. Catches

21. Pushes

22. Plays

23. Carries

24. Goes

25. It’s

26. She’s

27. Cans

28. Boy’s

29. Boys’

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 SILENT LETTERS
For each of the words below, write the consonant that is written but not pronounced.

1.- knife _______________ 26.- write _______________

2.- answer _______________ 27.- fasten _______________
3.- handsome _______________ 28.- castle _______________
4.- Christmas _______________ 29.- hymn _______________
5.- island _______________ 30.- scissors _______________
6.- doubt _______________ 31.- lamb _______________
7.- knee _______________ 32.- gnaw _______________
8.- wrestle _______________ 33.- limb _______________
9.- honest _______________ 34.- wrong _______________
10.- often _______________ 35.- wrist _______________
11.- knew _______________ 36.- listen _______________
12.- sign _______________ 37.- sword _______________
13.- dumb _______________ 38.- comb _______________
14.- match _______________ 39.- knot _______________
15.- walk _______________ 40.- kneel _______________
16.- could _______________ 41.- czar _______________
17.- talk _______________ 42.- half _______________
18.- knock _______________ 43.- ghost _______________
19.- know _______________ 44.- whistle _______________
20.- Wednesday _______________ 45.- scent _______________
21.- pneumonia _______________ 46.- calf _______________
22.- climb _______________ 47.- ledge _______________
23.- should _______________ 48.- hour _______________
24.- aisle _______________ 49.- scene _______________
25.- whole _______________ 50.- thumb _______________

TO KEEP IN MIND…

SYLLABLE BREAK

By syllable break we understand the unconscious pause between two syllables, when if not
done, there could be a misunderstanding.

Example:

We worked too much.

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In this example, the final sound of the verb is the same as the first one in the following
word, so we usually tend to omit the last sound of the first word (/hi ˈwɜːk tuː ˈmʌtʃ , but
in this specific case, there would be a change in the tense, from past into present, as there
isn’t any other word indicating the time, such as ‘yesterday’, so our brain orders us to pause
between both words, creating thus a syllable break, where both sounds are pronounced.
(/hi ˈwɜːkt.tuː ˈmʌtʃ

USE OF ‘THE’

Don’t forget that the article ‘THE’ has two different pronunciations: ðə/ and ð

The rule in this case is very simple: pronounce it as / ðəbefore consonants and as 
ðbefore vowels.

EXERCISES

Read the following sentences:

1. The car is red.

2. The elephant is big.
3. I liked the apple.
4. The city is safe.
5. All the animals are at large in Namibia’s First National Park.
6. The time was wrong.

EXERCISES

Read the following text and write it down in ‘normal’ writing.

/ ɪt ɔːl ˈstɑːtɪd wen dʒəʊˈæn kæmps / ə ˈdɔːtər əv ə ˈfeɪməs ˈtʃeɪnsɔː ˈɑːtɪst /

wəz ˌʌnˈpækɪŋ səm əv hə bɪˈlɒŋɪŋz ɪn hə njuː ˈbjuːtəfll triːˈhaʊs wɪtʃ hə ˈfɑːðə
həd bɪlt fə hə wɪð ɪz ˈfeɪməs ˈtʃeɪnsɔː / ðə triːˈhaʊs kənˈteɪnd ə ˈtelɪˌvɪʒnl / ə
ˈsterɪəʊ ˈsɪstəm ənd ə kəmˈpjuːtə /

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 _________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Practice this tongue-twisters:

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man! Hush-a-bye, baby, on the treetop,

So I will, master, as fast as I can; When the wind blows, the cradle will rock;
Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with T, When the bough bends, the cradle will fall.
Put it in the oven for Tommy and me. Down will come baby, bough, cradle, and all.

Does your tongue get twisted?

EXTRA EXERCISES

LISTEN AND SELECT THE WORD OR PHRASE YOU HEAR:

A B 4. beat bit
1. i: i 5. seat sit
2. eat it 6. eel ill
3. neat knit 7. heel hill

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8. green grin 47. met mat
9. teen tin 48. set sat
10. reach rich 49. Ben ban
11. sheep ship 50. Ken can
A B 51. den Dan
12. l r 52. bed bad
13. light right 53. head had
14. lice rice 54. said sad
15. lot rot 55. leg lag
16. low row A B
17. long wrong 56. h f
18. lead read 57. hall fall
19. led red 58. honey funny
20. lung rung 59. heat feet
21. load road 60. hold fold
22. lock rock 61. hollow follow
A B 62. hear fear
23. i e 63. hit fit
24. pit pet 64. hill fill
25. knit net 65. hell fell
26. mitt met 66. hat fat
27. sit set A B
28. ill L 67. ae a
29. bill bell 68. cat cot
30. fill fell 69. hat hot
31. will well 70. pat pot
32. hill hell 71. rat rot
33. did deal 72. cap cop
A B 73. map mop
34. b v 74. mass moss
35. base vase 75. math moth
36. berry very 76. band bond
37. boat vote 77. lack lock
38. bolt volt A B
39. best vest 78. s th
40. beer veer 79. sink think
41. bent vent 80. sank thank
42. bat vat 81. sing thing
43. ban van 82. some thumb
44. curb curve 83. sick thick
A B 84. sin thin
45. e ae 85. use youth
46. bet bat 86. mass math

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87. pass path A B
88. worse worth 110. o u
A B 111. cob cub
89. ou au/a: 112. rob rub
90. so saw 113. sob sub
91. low law 114. cop cup
92. hole hall 115. pop pup
93. bowl ball 116. dock duck
94. coal call 117. lock luck
95. wrote rot 118. stock stuck
96. note not 119. not nut
97. boat bought 120. won one
98. coat caught A B
99. coast cost 121. sh s
A B 122. ship sip
100. z/d th 123. sheet seat
101. bays bathe 124. she sea,see
102. sues soothe 125. shed said
103. breeze breathe 126. shelf self
104. close clothe 127. shell sell
105. Z thee 128. shingle single
106. den then 129. shit sit
107. dare there 130. show sew
108. Dan than 131. leash lease
109. die thy 132. fished fist

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Intonation
From English Grammar Today
Intonation describes how the voice rises and falls in speech. The three main patterns of
intonation in English are: falling intonation, rising intonation and fall-rise intonation.

Falling intonation
Falling intonation describes how the voice falls on the final stressed syllable of a phrase or
a group of words. A falling intonation is very common in wh-questions.

Where’s the nearest p↘ost-office?

21
What time does the film f↘inish?

We also use falling intonation when we say something definite, or when we want to be
very clear about something:

I think we are completely l↘ost.

OK, here’s the magaz↘ine you wanted.

See also:
 Questions: wh-questions

Rising intonation
Rising intonation describes how the voice rises at the end of a sentence. Rising intonation
is common in yes-no questions:

I hear the Health Centre is expanding. So, is that the new d↗octor?

Are you th↗irsty?

Fall-rise intonation
Fall-rise intonation describes how the voice falls and then rises. We use fall-rise intonation
at the end of statements when we want to say that we are not sure, or when we may have
more to add:

I do↘n’t support any football team at the m↘om↗ent. (but I may change my mind in future).

22
It rained every day in the firs↘t w↗eek. (but things improved after that).

We use fall-rise intonation with questions, especially when we request information or invite
somebody to do or to have something. The intonation pattern makes the questions sound
more polite:

Is this your cam↘er↗a?

Would you like another co↘ff↗ee?

Intonation in Question Tags

When the speaker is adding a tag question to his/her statement, he/she might
increase or decrease the volume/tone of his/her voice at the end. If the person is
increasing his/her voice with the tag question, this is called "Rising Intonation", if
the tone/volume is decreasing, this is called "Falling Intonation".

Falling Intonation ↘

I have told you not to run, haven't I? (Mother telling her son after her son falls.)
You love wearing my clothes, don't you? (...Stop wearing my clothes.)
It is a beautiful view, isn't it? (...We are all enjoying it.)
You know I hate this movie, don't you? (...And yet we are watching it.)

In a falling intonation the speaker is not really asking a question, rather he/she is

23
asserting what he thinks, the speaker is actually very confident and sort of asking
the person to confirm/agree with what he/she is saying.

Rising Intonation ↗

He didn't go to school yesterday, did he? (Did he really go to school yesterday?)

Jack paid for the dinner, didn't he? (I hope he paid for the dinner... did he?)
You told her I wasn't going to the party, didn't you? (Did you forget to tell her?)

In a rising intonation the speaker is not as confident of his/her statement and

he/she is asking the other person to find out about it.

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