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

/w/

LISTEN

listen_to_-w-.mp3
File Size: 275 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/w/.../w/.../w/.../w/...

wait...win...twice...
away...

WHAT IS IT?

​Pronunciation:
The sound /w/ is a voiced, bilabial glide. 
  • Make a tight circle with your lips and pull your tongue back. Your tongue should not touch any other part of your mouth.
  • Open your lips quickly while moving your tongue forward and pushing air out of your mouth.
  • Your vocal cords should vibrate.

The sound /w/ is in these clusters:​
  • Beginning of a Syllable
  • End of a Syllable
<
>
w_initial_clusters.mp3
File Size: 221 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/kw/ ("qu") - quick
/sw/ ("sw") - switch
/tw/ ("tw") - twice
​/dw/ ("dw") - dwell

/skw/ ("squ") - square
(none)

​Spelling:
  • "w" - win, switch
  • "wh" - white, when
  • "u" - quit, persuade​​
​
grammar_-w-_1.mp3
File Size: 76 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

Grammar Tip: ​
​
Most "wh-" question words in English begin with /w/:
  • When
  • Where
  • Why
  • Which​
grammar_-w-_2.mp3
File Size: 46 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

​However, a few "wh-" question words begin with /h/:
  • Who
  • Whose
  • How

COMPARE

Compare /w/ with /v/:
compare_w-v_1.mp3
File Size: 170 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/w/.../v/.../w../v/.../w/.../v/...

Both /v/ and /w/ are voiced consonants that involve lip movement. However, /v/ is a voiced labiodental consonant, and /w/ is a bilabial glide.  When you pronounce /w/, your lips should form a circle and move to an open position, without touching your teeth. However, when you pronounce /v/, your upper teeth should rub against your lower lip.

You can hear the difference between /w/ and /v/ in these words.
compare_w-v_words.mp3
File Size: 168 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. A. wet, B. vet
2. A. went, B. vent​
3. A. wine, B. vine
4. A. west, B. vest
5. A. wheel, B. veal
6. A. wary, B. very

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

Now, compare /w/ with /b/:
compare_w-b_1.mp3
File Size: 166 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/w/.../b/.../w/.../b/.../w/.../b/...

These are both voiced bilabial consonants. However, /w/ is a glide and /b/ is a stop. When you pronounce /w/, your lips should not touch each other and the air in your mouth should not stop.

You can hear the difference between /w/ and /b/ in these words.

compare_w-b_words.mp3
File Size: 170 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. A. wed, B. bed​
2. A. white, B. bite
3. A. what, B. but
4. A. await, B. abate
5. A. rewind, B. rebind
6. 
A. wobble, B. bauble

Practice recognizing words with /w/ and /b/ by taking the quiz below.

PRACTICE

Listen and repeat these words:
words_with_-w-.mp3
File Size: 2215 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. what
2. way
3. win
4. word
5. switch
6. twice
7. dwell
8. queen
9. weather
10. whisper
11. waterfall
12. away
13. unwise
14. rewind
15. between
16. require
17. unswerving
18. underwater
19. aware
20. westward

​Now, practice /w/ in sentences. Say the words first, then the sentences.
sentences_with_-w-.mp3
File Size: 1140 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. weather - will - wet
​The weather will be very wet tomorrow.

2. what - want - watch
What do you want to watch this evening?​

3. working - whisper - quietly
Other people are working, so please whisper quietly.

4. quick - walk - between
I often take a quick walk between classes.

5. sweater - will - warm - winter
A sweater will keep you warm in winter.

6. were - aware - requirements
Were you aware of the requirements?

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:
If you could have 3 wishes given to you, what would you wish for?
  • To switch places with a famous person
  • To visit a waterfall
  • To be the wisest person in the world
  • To be wealthy
  • To swim in the ocean
  • To always have good weather
  • To win a world championship game
  • To live twice as long as anyone else
  • To live in a different world
  • To never need to work
  • To be able to breathe underwater
  • To remove all your bad qualities
  • To have a twin
  • To have peace between people that you love
  • To have wings and fly like a bird
  • To switch places with a famous person
  • To visit a waterfall
  • To be the wisest person in the world
  • To be wealthy
  • To swim in the ocean
  • To always have good weather
  • To win a world championship game
  • To live twice as long as anyone else
  • To live in a different world
  • To never need to work
  • To be able to breathe underwater
  • To remove all your bad qualities
  • To have a twin
  • To have peace between people that you love
  • To have wings and fly like a bird

​Record:
In your recording, describe your 3 wishes and explain why you wish for these things.
​
©2018-2021, Christine Wingate
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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  • 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