How to Pronounce Initial T and D Consonant Sounds | Learn English Pronunciation Course

In this video, I'm going to focus on two initial consonant sounds in English.

The /t/ sound and the /d/ sound.

They may be confusing because they sound quite similar.

But they are very different.

And they are important sounds in the English language.

So I want you to be able to pronounce them correctly.

Let's start with two example words.

The first example word is the word ‘ten’ with a ‘t’ sound.

‘ten’

It's different from ‘den’ with a ‘d’ sound.

‘den’

So ‘ten’, ‘den’.

Can you hear the difference?

Well if you can't, practice with me.

By the end of this video, I promise you you'll be able to pronounce them correctly.

Let's get started.

Before we learn about these initial consonant sounds /t/ and /d/ in English,

please remember to check the I.P.A spelling - it's very useful.

You can also watch how I move my mouth, and of course repeat after me in this video.

You can make those sounds.

Let's do it together.

First, let's learn how to produce this /t/ sound in English.

/t/ It's voiceless.

You're not using your voice.

No vibration in your throat.

You're just going to push out some air.

You put your tongue against your top teeth and you push out some air.

/t/ Please repeat after me.

/t/

/t/

/t/

Let's practice with the word ‘ten’.

Please repeat after me.

‘ten’

‘ten’ ‘ten’

Good.

And now moving on to the /d/ sound.

The tongue is in the same place as with the /t/ sound.

It's actually the same but this /d/ sound is voiced.

You're going to use your voice and your throat is going to vibrate.

So you put your tongue against your top teeth but this time you don't push out some air

you produce a sound.

So, /d/.

Please repeat after me.

/d/

/d/

/d/

Let's practice with the word ‘den’.

Please repeat after me.

‘den’

‘den’

‘den’

Great.

Let's now practice using minimal pairs.

These words that are almost the same but the sounds are different.

They're very good if you want to focus on the differences between the sounds.

First let's focus on the sounds themselves.

Watch my mouth - repeat after me, please.

First the /t/ sound.

/t/

/t/

/t/

Now the /d/ sound.

/d/

/d/

/d/

Let's now do both. Please repeat after me.

/t/

/d/

/t/

/d/

/t/

/d/

Just a trick.

The /t/ sound is voiceless.

The /d/ sound is voiced.

If you really want to make sure that you can do it properly,

what you can do is you put your hand in front of your mouth…

If it's voiceless, it means that you're going to push out some air.

And you're going to feel some air on your hands.

/t/

You can actually feel the air on your hand.

If it's voiced, you won't.

But if it's voiced, if you put your hands on your throat, you can feel the vibration,

okay.

So you can do that to make sure that you pronounce correctly.

Let's now move on to our words.

Please repeat after me.

‘ten’

‘den’

‘ten’

‘den’

‘ten’

‘den’

Great job, guys.

Okay, guys.

Time to go through minimal pairs together.

Please watch how I move my mouth and repeat after me.

Let's go.

tab dab

tail dale

tame dame

tamp damp

tank dank

tart dart

teal deal

team deem

tear dear

tech deck

teed deed

teen dean

tell dell

tent dent

tick Dick

tied died

tie die

tier deer

till dill

tin din

tine dine

tint dint

tip dip

tire dire

to do

toast dosed

tock dock

toe doe

toes dose

tomb doom

ton done

tongue dung

torn dawn

tote dote

touch Dutch

tough duff

tout doubt

town down

train drain

tresses dresses

try dry

tub dub

tuck duck

tug dug

tummy dummy

tusk dusk

tux ducks

tike dike

tyre dire

two do

Great, guys.

Time now to practice with sentences containing these consonant sounds.

Sentence number one: ‘Just dip the tip.’

Please repeat after me.

‘Just dip the tip.’

Sentence two: ‘The dummy hurt his tummy.’

Please repeat after me.

‘The dummy hurt his tummy.’

And finally: ‘Try to dry and drain the wet train.’

Please repeat after me.

‘Try to dry and drain the wet train.’

Good job.

Let's move on.

Let's now move on to listening practice.

I'm now going to show you two words.

I will say one of the two words, and I want you to listen very carefully and

to tell me if this word is, ‘a)’ or ‘b)’

Let's get started.

Let's start with our first two words.

Which word do I say?

‘a’ or ‘b’?

Listen.

‘tyre’

One more time.

‘tyre’

Word ‘a’, ‘tyre’.

‘b’ is ‘dire’.

What about this one?

‘dry’

‘dry’

It's word ‘b’ guys, ‘dry’.

Word ‘a’ is ‘try’.

‘dank’

‘dank’

It's word ‘b’, ‘dank’.

‘a’ is ‘tank’.

‘team’

‘team’

It's answer ‘a’, ‘team’.

‘b’ is ‘deem’.

Listen.

‘tear’

‘tear’

Is it ‘a’ or is it ‘b’?

It's ‘a’, ‘tear’.

‘b’ is ‘dear’.

‘dart’

‘dart’

It's ‘b’ guys, ‘dart’.

‘a’ is ‘tart’.

‘tub’

‘tub’

Answer ‘a’ is correct, ‘tub’.

‘b’ is ‘dub’.

‘duck’

‘duck’

It's word ‘b’, ‘duck’.

Word ‘a’ is pronounced ‘tuck’.

‘tie’

‘tie’

‘a’ is correct guys, ‘tie’.

‘b’ would be ‘die’.

Finally.

Listen to me.

‘dung’

‘dung’

It's answer ‘b’, ‘dung’.

‘a’ is ‘tongue’.

Great job guys.

You now have a better understanding of these two consonant sounds in English.

The /t/ and the /d/.

Obviously, you need to keep practicing.

It takes a lot of practice to master those sounds but you can do it.

You will be able to pronounce them correctly

and you will train your ear to hear the different sounds.

Make sure you watch my other pronunciation videos as well if you want to improve your English skills.

See you next time.

Thank you so much for watching, guys.

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put your comments below, and share this video.

See you.