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Differences between voiced and unvoiced sounds in English

The English alphabet has 26 letters, which form 44 sounds, including 9 unvoiced consonants and 15 voiced consonants. So what are voiced and unvoiced sounds? What will the pronunciation of each sound be like? Let's follow this article together to learn how to pronounce and distinguish unvoiced and voiced sounds most accurately!

I. What are unvoiced sounds?

Before distinguishing between voiced and unvoiced sounds in English, let's learn the definition and pronunciation of the 9 unvoiced sounds together with PREP!

1. Definition

Unvoiced sounds are sounds that when pronounced will not create vibrations. When reading unvoiced sounds, the reader mainly exhales bursts of air forcefully from the mouth. The unvoiced sounds are usually represented by the following 9 sounds:

/p/ (e.g: pen, pink, pound,...)
/t/ (e.g: cat, take, bite,...)
/k/ (e.g: kite, kiss, kick,...)
/f/ (e.g: phone, phage, phablet,...)
/s/ (e.g: bus, box, seat,...)
/th/ (e.g: bath, southern, think,...)
/tʃ/ (e.g: chat, match, cheat,...)

2. How to pronounce unvoiced sounds

To pronounce unvoiced sounds in English, you need to produce voiceless-leaning sounds. Below are ways you can pronounce some common unvoiced sounds:

Unvoiced sounds	How to pronounce	Image	Audio
/p/	The sound /p/ is quite similar to how the letter "p" is pronounced in Vietnamese. To pronounce it, place your lips close together and burst the sound /p/ fast and decisively, producing a short and cut-off sound.		uko002
/t/	The sound /t/ is quite similar to how the letter "t" is pronounced in Vietnamese. To pronounce the sound /t/, place the tip of your tongue behind your lower teeth. When the breath bursts out, the tip of the tongue touches the lower front teeth. The teeth are pressed tightly together and the breath is burst out forcefully.		uks021
/k/	The sound /k/ is quite similar to how the letter "c" is pronounced in Vietnamese. To pronounce /k/, raise the back of the tongue and touch the soft palate, lowering the tongue when bursting out-breath.		ukj004
/f/	The sound /f/ is similar to how the letter "ph" is pronounced in Vietnamese. To pronounce it, place the upper jaw lightly touching the lower lip, and then blow air through the gap between them to produce a drawn-out hissing sound.		ukee003
/s/	The sound /s/ is similar to how the letter "s" is pronounced in Vietnamese. To pronounce /s/, place the tip of the tongue near the upper gum and blow air through the gap between the tongue and gum, drawing out the hiss.		ukr008
/th/	To pronounce the sound /θ/, you will place your tongue between the two jaws, curving slightly upwards towards the upper jaw. When pronouncing, the air stream escapes between the tongue and the two jaws, without vocal cord vibration.		tick
/tʃ/	To pronounce the sound /tʃ/, you will position your tongue straight and touch the lower jaw. When making the sound, you will slightly round your lips and forcefully burst out air for it to escape over the surface of the tongue.		ukachary

II. What are voiced sounds?

Let's learn about the definition of voiced sounds and how to pronounce the 15 voiced sounds in English below to understand how to distinguish between voiced and unvoiced sounds!

1. Definition

Voiced sounds are sounds that cause vocal cord vibration when pronounced. You can feel the vibration by placing your hand on your vocal cords to check. Voiced sounds will be divided into the following 3 main groups:

Vowel groups: /i/, /i:/, /e/, /æ/, /ɔ/, /ɔ:/, /a:/, /ʊ/, /u:/, /ə/, /ʌ/, /ə :/.
Nasal sound group: /m/, /n/, /ŋ/.
Several other sounds: /r/, /l/, /w/, /j/, /b/, /g/, /v/, /d/, /z/, /ð/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/.

2. How to pronounce voiced sounds

To pronounce voiced sounds in English, you need to produce voiced sounds from the vocal cords, with a certain degree of vibration. Below are ways you can pronounce some common voiced sounds:

Voiced sound	How to pronounce	Image	Audio
/b/	The sound /b/ is quite similar to how the letter "b" is pronounced in Vietnamese. You need to pucker your lips to block the airflow in your mouth and then burst it out forcefully to pronounce it.		ukaz003
/d/	To pronounce the sound /d/, you need to place the tip of your tongue under the gums until it touches the lower front teeth, pressing the jaws tightly together and opening when the strong airflow bursts out.		ukc012
/g/	To pronounce the sound /g/, raise the back of your tongue until it touches the soft palate and lower the tongue when the strong airflow bursts out.		ukfy004
/v/	To pronounce the sound /v/, you only need to let the upper jaw lightly touch the lower lip and push the airflow out.		in tr007
/ð/	To pronounce the sound /ð/, you will place your tongue between your two jaws, letting the airflow out between the tongue and the two jaws, with vibration in the larynx.		ukthirt
/z/	To pronounce the sound /z/, you need to lightly place your tongue on the upper jaw. The soft palate lifts to let the airflow out between the tongue and the hard palate, with vibration in the larynx.		ukzeale
/ʒ/	To pronounce the sound /ʒ/, you will part your teeth slightly, open your mouth, and round your lips. Then place your bent tongue touching the hard palate, lowering the tongue very quickly to let the airflow out.		you mean
/dʒ/	To pronounce the sound /dʒ/, you will round your lips, with your two jaws touching each other, blowing air strongly through the gap between the teeth and bursting the air out strongly.		you are joyful
/m/	The sound /m/ is quite similar to pronouncing the letter "m" in Vietnamese. The correct pronunciation is when the two lips are pursed, letting the airflow out through the nose.		ukl019
/n/	To pronounce the sound /n/, you will feel the vibration in the larynx, with the air blocked by the tongue and soft palate so it exits through the nose, lips parted, the back of the tongue lifted and touching the soft palate.		ukm007
/ŋ/	To pronounce the sound /ŋ/, you will lift the tongue root to hold the space in the mouth without touching the teeth. Then pronounce it by tensing the velum.		uksineq
/l/	To pronounce the sound /l/, you will slowly bend the tongue until it touches the upper gum. The larynx vibrates, and the lips widen.		ukk026
/r/	To read sounds /r/, you will curl your tongue inward, and your lips will be rounded and slightly curled forward. When the airflow escapes, the tongue returns to a relaxed state and the round lips expand.		uka014
/y/	To pronounce the sound /y/, you will widen your mouth and lips. Bend the tongue without letting it touch the teeth and hard palate.		ukx005
/w/	For the sound /w/, you will pronounce it like the two letters "double" and "u" to produce this sound.		ukvu003

III. Differences between voiced and unvoiced sounds in English

To pronounce correctly, you need to clearly understand the differences between voiced and unvoiced sounds. Here are some tips to help distinguish between unvoiced and voiced sounds in English:

Differences between voiced and unvoiced sounds in English

Unvoiced sound

Voiced sound

No vibration of the vocal cords:

When pronouncing unvoiced sounds, the vocal cords do not function. This means there is no vibration of the vocal cords (voicebox) in the throat.

The vibration of the vocal cords:

When pronouncing voiced sounds, there is a vibration of the vocal cords in the throat. The vocal cords produce sound by touching each other.

Produced by blowing air:

Unvoiced sounds are typically produced by blowing air without the vibration of the vocal cords. For example: /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /θ/ (th in "think").

Produced by creating vibration:

Voiced sounds are typically produced by creating vibration of the vocal cords. For example: /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /ð/ (/ð/ in "this"), /ʒ/ (s in "measure"), /dʒ/ (j in "judge").

Airflow from the lungs:

Unvoiced sounds are produced when there is an air stream from the lungs passing through the respiratory tract and producing sound when passing through the speech organs.

Airflow accompanied by vibration:

Voiced sounds are produced when there is an air stream from the lungs passing through the respiratory tract and producing sound when the vibration of the vocal cords is accompanied.

IV. Practice exercises to distinguish between voiced and unvoiced sounds with answers

Let's practice pronouncing voiced and unvoiced sounds through the two exercises below:

1. Exercises

Exercise 1: Sort the following voiced and unvoiced sounds into the correct categories

/b/, /m/,/d/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /p/,/n/, /ð/, /t/,/k/, /s/, /ŋ/, /tʃ/, /θ/, /f/
Unvoiced sound	Voiced sound

Exercise 2: Choose the word with the underlined sound pronounced differently from the other words

A. Buy	B. Bright	C. Bomb	D. Bite
A. Knife	B. Know	C. Knee	D. Kill
A. Question	B. Celebration	C. Station	D. Position
A. Noon	B. Tool	C. Blood	D. Moon
A. Chemist	B. Chicken	C. Church	D. Cherry

2. Answer

Exercise 1:

Unvoiced sound

Voiced sound

/p/
/t/
/k/
/f/
/s/
/θ/
/tʃ/

/ m /
/ n /
/ ŋ /
/b/
/d/
/g/
/v/
/z/
/ð/

Exercise 2:

PREP hopes that after reading the article on voiced and unvoiced sounds, you have recognized and know how to accurately pronounce voiced and unvoiced sounds in English. Let’s follow PREP for more helpful updates!

Master Tu Pham

Founder/CEO at Prep

Founder of Prep Smart Test Preparation Platform. With over 10 years of experience in teaching and test preparation, Mr. Tú has helped thousands of students achieve high scores in the IELTS exam. In addition, Mr. Tú Phạm is also a consulting expert in British Council programs and a speaker at many leading educational events, programs, and conferences.