English Sounds - N [n] Consonant - How to make the N [n] Consonant
198,743 views ・ 2017-03-02
Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
00:00
In this American English pronunciation video,
0
440
3340
00:03
we're going to learn how to make the N consonant sound.
1
3780
4060
00:14
To make this sound, the jaw drops a little
2
14700
2900
00:17
and the lips part.
3
17600
2440
00:20
Nn-- The front flap part of the tongue goes to the roof
4
20040
5560
00:25
of the mouth.
5
25600
1020
00:26
Make sure to keep you tongue wide as you do that.
6
26620
3460
00:30
The soft palate is lowered.
7
30080
2780
00:32
Air comes up through the nasal passages.
8
32860
4240
00:37
This makes it a nasal consonant.
9
37100
2840
00:39
You can feel the vibration in your nose.
10
39940
3320
00:43
Nn--
11
43260
2000
00:45
There are only 3 nasal sounds in American English.
12
45260
4500
00:49
Nn-- Ng-- Mm--
13
49760
5860
00:55
It's very important that the tongue be relaxed.
14
55620
4480
01:00
If there is tension in the back of the tongue,
it will sound somewhat like the NG sound,
15
60100
6400
01:06
ng-- even if the front of the tongue is in the
16
66500
3679
01:10
right position.
17
70180
2140
01:12
One thing that will help relaxation is to
think about keeping the tongue really wide.
18
72320
6580
01:18
Nn-- nn--
19
78900
4040
01:22
Let's look up close and in slow motion.
20
82940
5500
01:28
The N sound.
21
88440
1720
01:30
Lips relaxed, tongue wide and lifted to the
roof of the mouth.
22
90160
5280
01:35
If you see any darkness on the sides of the tongue when you practice,
23
95440
5280
01:40
that means there is tension in the tongue.
24
100720
3480
01:44
Try to release that tension and keep the tongue wide.
25
104200
4160
01:48
The word 'no'.
26
108360
2300
01:50
Tongue soft, relaxed, and wide.
27
110660
5360
01:56
The word 'snag'.
28
116020
2940
01:58
Front of the tongue to roof of mouth.
29
118960
4760
02:03
The word 'on'.
30
123720
2900
02:06
Wide tongue to the roof of the mouth to finish
the word.
31
126620
6380
02:13
The N consonant sound.
32
133000
2920
02:15
No
33
135920
1880
02:17
Snag
34
137800
2280
02:20
On
35
140080
1940
02:22
Example words.
36
142020
1900
02:23
Repeat with me.
37
143920
2060
02:25
Nice.
38
145980
2060
02:28
Nn-- nice.
39
148040
5140
02:33
One.
40
153180
2440
02:35
Nn-- one.
41
155620
5880
02:41
Number.
42
161500
2340
02:43
Nn-- number.
43
163840
6480
02:50
Woman.
44
170320
2740
02:53
Nn-- woman.
45
173060
5440
02:58
Win.
46
178500
2700
03:01
Nn-- win.
47
181200
5720
03:06
Any.
48
186920
2240
03:09
Nn-- any.
49
189160
5980
03:15
End.
50
195140
2460
03:17
Nn-- end.
51
197600
5920
03:23
This video is one of 36 in a new series, The
Sounds of American English.
52
203520
6560
03:30
Videos in this set will be released here on
YouTube twice a month,
53
210080
4900
03:34
first and third Thursdays, in 2016 and 2017.
54
214980
5420
03:40
But the whole set can be all yours right now.
55
220400
4260
03:44
The real value of these videos is watching
them as a set, as a whole,
56
224660
5840
03:50
to give your mind the time to take it all
in and get the bigger picture.
57
230500
5180
03:55
Most of the materials you'll find elsewhere
just teach the sounds on their own in isolation.
58
235680
6760
04:02
It's a mistake to learn them this way.
59
242440
2640
04:05
We learn the sounds to speak words and sentences,
not just sounds.
60
245080
5800
04:10
Move closer to fluency in spoken English.
61
250880
3580
04:14
Buy the video set today!
62
254460
2160
04:16
Visit rachelsenglish.com/sounds
63
256620
4300
04:20
Available as a DVD or digital download.
64
260920
4720
New videos
Original video on YouTube.com
About this website
This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.