American English Sounds
  • Home
  • Vowels
    • VOWEL CHART
    • Front >
      • /iy/ (see, keep)
      • /ɪ/ (sit, pick)
      • /ey/ (take, name)
      • /ɛ/ (pet, tell)
      • /æ/ (sat, past)
    • Central >
      • /ɜr/ (church, nurse)
      • /ər/ (mother, surprise)
      • /ʌ/ (cup, must)
      • /ə/ (about, undo)
      • /ɑ/ (stop, job)
    • Back >
      • /ʊ/ (good, put)
      • /uw/ (food, soon)
      • /ɔ/ (bought, lost)
      • /ow/ (low, coat)
    • Diphthongs >
      • /ɑɪ/ (light, pie)
      • /ɑʊ/ (cow, loud)
      • /ɔɪ/ (boy, voice)
  • Consonants
    • CONSONANT CHART
    • Lips (Bilabial) >
      • /p/ (peace, price)
      • /b/ (buy, brain)
      • /m/ (map, time)
      • /w/ (wait, win)
    • Lips-Teeth (Labio-dental) >
      • /f/ (fix, friend)
      • /v/ (vase, love)
    • Tongue-Teeth (Dental) >
      • /θ/ (thank, bath)
      • /ð/ (this, breathe)
    • Tongue-Gum Ridge (Alveolar) >
      • /t/ (take, stand)
      • /d/ (day, drive)
      • /s/ (sit, race)
      • /z/ (zoo, these)
      • /l/ (less, sleep)
      • /n/ (nice, man)
    • Tongue-Palate (Palatal) >
      • /ʃ/ (push, show)
      • /ʒ/ (measure, vision)
      • /tʃ/ (choose, match)
      • /dʒ/ (juice, edge)
      • /r/ (rose, borrow)
      • /y/ (yes, young)
    • Tongue-Soft Palate (Velar) >
      • /k/ (kiss, cat)
      • /g/ (gas, green)
      • /ŋ/ (hang, long)
    • Throat (Glottal) >
      • /h/ (help, hand)
  • Resources
    • Pronunciation Vocabulary
    • For Students
    • For Instructors

/f/

LISTEN

listen_to_-f-.mp3
File Size: 282 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/f/…/f/…/f/…/f/…
​
fix...friend...laugh...offer...

WHAT IS IT?

Pronunciation:
The sound /f/ is a voiceless, labiodental, fricative consonant.
  • Press your upper teeth against your lower lip.
  • Breathe out and let air escape past your teeth.
  • Your vocal cords should not vibrate.
 
The sound /f/ can be in these consonant clusters:
  • Beginning of a Syllable
  • End of a Syllable
<
>
f_initial_clusters.mp3
File Size: 31 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/fr/ ("fr") - friend
/fl/ ("fl") - fly
f_final_clusters.mp3
File Size: 195 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/lf/ ("lf") - shelf
/lfs/ ("lfs") - gulfs
/rf/ ("rf") - scarf
​​/rfs/ ("rfs") - wharfs
/fs/ ("fs" / "ffs" / "ghs") - proofs, cuffs, coughs
​/fθ/ (“fth”) - fifth
/fθs/ (“fths”) - fifths
/lfθ/ (“lfth”) - twelfth
/lfθs/ (“lfths”) - twelfths
/ft/ ("ft") - left
/fts/ ("fts") - shifts

​Spelling:
  • “f" - friend, before
  • "ff" - off, difficult
  • "ph" - phrase, physics
  • "gh" - tough, laugh

COMPARE

Compare /f/ with /v/:
compare_f-v_1.mp3
File Size: 169 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/f/…/v/…/f/…/v/…/f/…/v/...

Both /f/ and /v/ are labiodental fricative consonants. However, /f/ is voiceless and /v/ is voiced. When you pronounce /f/, your vocal cords should not vibrate.  At the end of a word, the vowel before /f/ will be shorter than the vowel before /v/.

You can hear the difference between /f/ and /v/ in these words.

compare_f-v_words.mp3
File Size: 183 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. A. face, B. vase
2. A. fan, B. van
3. A. leaf, B. leave
4. A. surf, B. serve
5. A. safer, B. savor
6. A. shelf, B. shelve



Practice recognizing words with /f/ and /v/ by taking the quiz below.

​Now, compare /f/ with /θ/:
compare_f-th_1.mp3
File Size: 106 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/f/…/θ/…/f/…/θ/…/f/…/θ/…

Both /f/ and /θ/ are voiceless fricative consonants. However, /f/ is a labiodental consonant, and /θ/ is an dental consonant. You should pronounce /f/ with your upper teeth rubbing against your lower lip.
​
You can hear the difference between /f/ and /θ/ in the words below.
compare_f-th_words.mp3
File Size: 168 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. A. fought, B. thought
3. A. free, B. three
2. A. first, B. thirst
4. A. deaf, B. death
6. A. whiff, B. with
​5. A. reefs, B. wreaths

​
Practice recognizing words with /f/ and /θ/ by taking the quiz below.r.

PRACTICE

Listen and repeat these words:
words_with_-f-.mp3
File Size: 1262 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. fake
2. phone
3. fire
4. fever
5. flame
6. flower
7. frown
8. fraction
9. fantasy

10. offer
11. rough
12. left
13. coughs
14. selfish
15. afraid
16. after
17. different

18. effective
19. fifth
20. philosopher

Now, practice /f/ in sentences. Say the words first, then the sentences.
sentences_with_-f-.mp3
File Size: 2158 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. afford - forget - phone
You can't afford to forget your phone!

2. cough - fever - feels
He has a cough and a fever, so he feels very sick.

3. flying – after - f​inal
I'm flying home after final exams.

4. family - friends - fireworks - fourth
My family and friends watched fireworks on July Fourth.

5. left – before – finished
I left before the class was finished.

6. fee - ferry - five
The fee for riding the ferry is five dollars.

To practice with different varieties of English, choose another native English speaker by clicking one of the links below:
  • Male 1 (US Midwest - St Louis) - words, sentences
  • Male 2 (US Midwest - Iowa) - words, sentences
  • Male 3 (US Midwest) - words, sentences
  • Female 1 (US Northeast) - words, sentences
  • Female 2 (US Southeast) - words, sentences

USE IT!

​Practice the task below. Then, record yourself completing that task. Give your recording to a teacher or an English-speaking friend for feedback.

​Prepare:
People are afraid of many different things. Look at the list of fears people might have. Which fears are most common?
  • fire
  • a flood
  • a typhoon
  • fighting with a friend
  • fake news
  • forgetting someone's name
  • being by yourself ​(alone)
  • falling
  • flying
  • failure
  • being different from most people
  • being left out of a fun activity
  • speaking in front of people​
  • fire
  • a flood
  • a typhoon
  • fighting with a friend
  • fake news
  • forgetting someone's name
  • being by yourself ​(alone)
  • falling
  • flying
  • failure
  • being different from most people
  • being left out of a fun activity
  • speaking in front of people​

Record:
​In your recording, describe which 3 fears are most common among your family or friends. Explain why people are afraid of these things.

©2018-2021, Christine Wingate
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Vowels
    • VOWEL CHART
    • Front >
      • /iy/ (see, keep)
      • /ɪ/ (sit, pick)
      • /ey/ (take, name)
      • /ɛ/ (pet, tell)
      • /æ/ (sat, past)
    • Central >
      • /ɜr/ (church, nurse)
      • /ər/ (mother, surprise)
      • /ʌ/ (cup, must)
      • /ə/ (about, undo)
      • /ɑ/ (stop, job)
    • Back >
      • /ʊ/ (good, put)
      • /uw/ (food, soon)
      • /ɔ/ (bought, lost)
      • /ow/ (low, coat)
    • Diphthongs >
      • /ɑɪ/ (light, pie)
      • /ɑʊ/ (cow, loud)
      • /ɔɪ/ (boy, voice)
  • Consonants
    • CONSONANT CHART
    • Lips (Bilabial) >
      • /p/ (peace, price)
      • /b/ (buy, brain)
      • /m/ (map, time)
      • /w/ (wait, win)
    • Lips-Teeth (Labio-dental) >
      • /f/ (fix, friend)
      • /v/ (vase, love)
    • Tongue-Teeth (Dental) >
      • /θ/ (thank, bath)
      • /ð/ (this, breathe)
    • Tongue-Gum Ridge (Alveolar) >
      • /t/ (take, stand)
      • /d/ (day, drive)
      • /s/ (sit, race)
      • /z/ (zoo, these)
      • /l/ (less, sleep)
      • /n/ (nice, man)
    • Tongue-Palate (Palatal) >
      • /ʃ/ (push, show)
      • /ʒ/ (measure, vision)
      • /tʃ/ (choose, match)
      • /dʒ/ (juice, edge)
      • /r/ (rose, borrow)
      • /y/ (yes, young)
    • Tongue-Soft Palate (Velar) >
      • /k/ (kiss, cat)
      • /g/ (gas, green)
      • /ŋ/ (hang, long)
    • Throat (Glottal) >
      • /h/ (help, hand)
  • Resources
    • Pronunciation Vocabulary
    • For Students
    • For Instructors