Lips
Press both lips firmly together, then pop them open.
Voiceless consonants
/p/as in pen
Voiceless: no buzz in your throat, just air.
Example words: pen, spin, tip, happy, cup
Accent
Mouth
How do you pronounce the /p/ sound?
Tongue
Your tongue rests low and neutral. It does no work here; your lips do everything.
Video lesson
Try it
- Press both lips together and build up a little air pressure behind them.
- Hold a small strip of paper in front of your mouth.
- Release the lips with a burst: the paper should flutter. Keep your throat silent, no buzz.
- After "s" the puff is much weaker: compare strong "pen" with soft "spin".
- Now say: pen, spin, tip.
Check
Say "pad" then "bad" with a hand on your throat. For "pad" the buzz starts only on the vowel; for "bad" it starts right away. If both feel the same, add more puff to /p/.
Common trap
Skipping the puff of air. At the start of a word, /p/ needs a strong burst. Without it, "pad" starts to sound like "bad". Also, don't swallow a final /p/: close the lips and release lightly in "tip".
Practice: /p/
Words
penpˈɛn
spinspˈɪn
tiptˈɪp
happyhˈæpi
cupkˈʌp
Sentences
Please put the pen on the paper.plˈiz pˌʊt ðə pˈɛn ˌɔn ðə pˈeɪpəɹ.
The puppy plays in the park.ðə pˈʌpi plˈeɪz ɪn ðə pˈɑɹk.
Can you help me open this package?kˌæn ju hˈɛlp mˌi ˈoʊpən ðɪs pˈækɪdʒ?
She paid a cheap price for the apple.ʃˌi pˈeɪd ɐ tʃˈip pɹˈaɪs fɔɹ ði ˈæpəl.
Keep the cup on top.kˈip ðə kˈʌp ˌɔn tˈɑp.
Words
penpˈɛn
spinspˈɪn
tiptˈɪp
happyhˈapi
cupkˈʌp
Sentences
Please put the pen on the paper.plˈiːz pˌʊt ðə pˈɛn ˌɒn ðə pˈeɪpə.
The puppy plays in the park.ðə pˈʌpi plˈeɪz ɪn ðə pˈɑːk.
Can you help me open this package?kˌan juː hˈɛlp mˌiː ˈəʊpən ðɪs pˈakɪdʒ?
She paid a cheap price for the apple.ʃˌiː pˈeɪd ɐ tʃˈiːp pɹˈaɪs fɔː ði ˈapəl.
Keep the cup on top.kˈiːp ðə kˈʌp ˌɒn tˈɒp.
🔊 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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