Lips
Keep your mouth slightly open and relaxed. The lips do nothing here.
Other consonants
/ŋ/as in sing
Voiced nasal. Back of tongue up, air through the nose.
Example words: sing, long, thank, morning, finger
Accent
Mouth
How do you pronounce the /ŋ/ sound?
Tongue
Raise the BACK of your tongue up to the soft palate, deep in your mouth. The tip stays down, away from the front ridge. This is the opposite of /n/.
Video lesson
Try it
- Let your tongue tip rest down behind your bottom teeth.
- Raise the back of your tongue until it touches the soft palate.
- Switch your voice on and hum through your nose.
- Hold the hum, end cleanly with no "g", then say: sing, long, song.
Check
Say "sin" then "sing". Your tongue tip should touch the ridge for "sin" but stay down for "sing". Then pinch your nose during "ng": the sound should stop completely.
Common trap
Do not add a hard "g" after it. "Sing" ends on the nasal hum itself, not "sing-guh". Release the sound through your nose and stop. Also keep the tongue tip down, or it becomes /n/.
Practice: /ŋ/
Words
singsˈɪŋ
longlˈɔŋ
thankθˈæŋk
morningmˈɔɹnɪŋ
fingerfˈɪŋɡəɹ
Sentences
We sing a long song every morning.wˌi sˈɪŋ ɐ lˈɔŋ sˈɔŋ ˈɛvəɹi mˈɔɹnɪŋ.
Thank you for bringing my things.θˈæŋk ju fɔɹ bɹˈɪŋɪŋ maɪ θˈɪŋz.
She is reading an interesting book.ʃˌi ɪz ɹˈidɪŋ ɐn ˈɪntɹəstɪŋ bˈʊk.
He hurt his finger while playing.hˌi hˈɜɹt hɪz fˈɪŋɡəɹ wˌaɪl plˈeɪɪŋ.
They are going shopping this evening.ðˌeɪ ɑɹ ɡˈoʊɪŋ ʃˈɑpɪŋ ðɪs ˈivnɪŋ.
Words
singsˈɪŋ
longlˈɒŋ
thankθˈaŋk
morningmˈɔːnɪŋ
fingerfˈɪŋɡə
Sentences
We sing a long song every morning.wˌiː sˈɪŋ ɐ lˈɒŋ sˈɒŋ ˈɛvəɹi mˈɔːnɪŋ.
Thank you for bringing my things.θˈaŋk juː fɔː bɹˈɪŋɪŋ maɪ θˈɪŋz.
She is reading an interesting book.ʃˌiː ɪz ɹˈiːdɪŋ ɐn ˈɪntɹɪstɪŋ bˈʊk.
He hurt his finger while playing.hˌiː hˈɜːt hɪz fˈɪŋɡə wˌaɪl plˈeɪɪŋ.
They are going shopping this evening.ðˌeɪ ɑː ɡˈəʊɪŋ ʃˈɒpɪŋ ðɪs ˈiːvnɪŋ.
🔊 plays the app's native voice. 🎤 records you so you can play it back next to it. Your recording stays in your browser.
Sounds in the same group
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