How to Pronounce Initial K and G Consonant Sounds | Learn English Pronunciation Course

In today's video, we are going to focus on two initial consonant sounds in English.

The ‘k’ sound and the ‘g’ sound.

/k/ and /g/.

I know they sound quite similar but they are actually quite different in English.

And they are very important so keep watching.

Let's take two example words to begin with.

The first word is ‘cot’.

It's a very sharp ‘k’ sound as you can hear.

‘cot’

The second word is ‘got’.

It's a ‘g’ sound this time.

‘got’

So ‘cot’ and ‘got’.

They sound quite different actually but if you cannot hear the difference,

don't worry keep watching.

We'll practice together and at the end of the video you will be able to pronounce them correctly.

Let's get started.

Before we get into these initial consonant sounds /k/ and /g/ in English,

you should know about the I.P.A spelling, guys.

It's very useful.

You can also watch me and how I move my mouth.

And remember to repeat after me when I ask you to in this video.

You can make those sounds.

Let's do it together now.

Let's first learn how to produce this /k/ sound in English.

It's voiceless.

You are not going to use the vibrations of your throat - your voice.

You're just going to push out some air.

And you're going to place the back of your tongue up there.

And you're going to push out some air with the back of your tongue.

So /k/

Can you please do this? Repeat after me.

/k/

Let's practice with the word ‘cot’.

Please repeat after me.

‘cot’

Let's now move on to the /g/ sound.

Now it's the same as the /k/ sound but it's voiced.

So you're not going to push out some air.

You're going to produce a sound.

You're going to make your throat vibrate, okay.

So back of your tongue, up there, and you produce a sound. You use your voice.

So, /g/

Please repeat after me.

/g/

Let's practice with the word ‘got’.

Please repeat after me.

‘got’

Good.

Let's now practice using minimal pairs.

These words sound almost the same but they are different.

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

But first, let's focus on the sounds themselves.

Watch my mouth. Please, repeat after me.

/k/

/g/

Let's do it together. Please repeat after me.

/k/

/g/

/k/

/g/

/k/

/g/

And now let's practice with the words.

Please repeat after me.

‘cot’

‘got’

‘cot’

‘got’

‘cot’

‘got’

Very good, guys.

Okay, guys.

Time now to go through minimal pairs together.

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

Let's do this.

cab

gab

came

game

cane

gain

cap

gap

cape

gape

card

guard

cash

gash

cave

gave

clad

glad

clam

glam

clamour

glamour

class

glass

clean

glean

clue

glue

coast

ghost

coat

goat

cob

gob

cod

god

cold

gold

come

gum

cork

gawk

could

good

coup

goo

crab

grab

cram

gram

cramps

gramps

crane

grain

crate

great

craze

graze

crease

Greece

creed

greed

creek

Greek

crepe

grape

crew

grew

crime

grind

crow

grow

crowned

ground

crumble

grumble

cull

gull

cunning

gunning

curd

gird

curly

girly

cussed

gust

cut

gut

kale

gale

kill

gill

kilt

guilt

krill

grill

Excellent, guys.

Time for the sentences now using these consonant sounds.

Sentence number one:

‘The goat ate my coat.’

Please repeat after me, guys.

‘The goat ate my coat.’

Sentence number two:

‘A good guard could check my card.’

Please repeat after me.

‘A good guard could check my card.’

And finally:

‘The mountain cave is cold, but it gave gold.’

Please repeat after me.

‘The mountain cave is cold, but it gave gold.’

Great. 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?

Word ‘a’ or word ‘b’?

Listen to me.

‘gird’ ‘gird’

Was it ‘a’ or ‘b’?

It was ‘b’, ‘gird’.

‘a’ would be ‘curd’.

What about this one?

‘crab’ ‘crab’

It's ‘a’ guys, ‘crab’.

‘b’ is ‘grab’.

‘cram’ ‘cram’

It's ‘a’, ‘cram’.

‘b’ is ‘gram’.

Listen to me.

‘ground’ ‘ground’

It's ‘b’, ‘ground’.

‘a’ is ‘crowned’

‘cussed’ ‘cussed’

Is it ‘a’ or is it ‘b’?

It's ‘a’, ‘cussed’.

‘b’ would be pronounced ‘gust’.

‘guilt’ ‘guilt’

It's ‘b’, ‘guilt’.

‘a’ is ‘kilt’.

Listen to this word.

‘grew’ ‘grew’

Word ‘a’ or word ‘b’?

It’s word ‘b’, ‘grew’.

Word ‘a’ is ‘crew’.

‘crime’ ‘crime’

It's word ‘a’, ‘crime’.

Word ‘b’ is ‘grime’.

‘grow’ ‘grow’

The answer ‘b’ is correct, ‘grow’.

Answer ‘a’ would be ‘crow’.

Finally.

‘gull’ ‘gull’

It's answer ‘b’ guys, ‘gull’.

‘a’ is ‘cull’.

Good job, guys.

You now have a better understanding of the two consonant sounds

/k/ and /g/ in English.

It takes a lot of speaking and listening practice to master those sounds

so please keep practicing.

You can do it.

You will be able to pronounce them correctly

and you will train your ear so you can hear the differences between the sounds.

Also make sure you watch my other pronunciation videos

if you want to improve your English skills even further.

See you next time.

Thank you so much for watching, guys.

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put your comments below, and share this video.

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