N /n/ vs NG /ŋ/ Consonant Sounds | Learn English Pronunciation Course | 44 Words

In today's video, I'm gonna focus on two consonant sounds,

the /n/ sound and the ng /ŋ/ sound.

For you to understand, let's take two example words.

The first word would be ‘pin’.

Can you hear the /n/ sound?

‘pin’

Now the second word is ‘ping’.

Can you hear the ng /ŋ/ sound this time?

‘ping’

‘pin’

‘ping’

Now I know they sound very similar guys, but they are actually different.

And they are very important sounds in the English language.

So I want you to be able to hear the difference and pronounce them differently.

We're going to practice together.

And I promise you, by the end of this video, you'll understand much better.

And you'll be able to pronounce these two sounds.

So let's get started.

The first step is to learn how to make the ‘n’ and 'ng' /ŋ/ sounds in English.

You can learn how to pronounce them correctly and hear the differences between the two sounds.

Also guys, remember, it's always important to know about the IPA spelling.

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

I know you can master these sounds so let's do this.

Let's practice producing the /n/ consonant sound in English.

So what you're going to do is, there's going to be air coming through your nose,

and you're going to block the air in your mouth with the tip of your tongue.

So the tip of your tongue should be up there.

Okay watch me.

/n/

Okay, I want you to repeat after me.

/n/

Let's now use the word ‘pin’.

Please repeat after me.

pin

pin

pin

Good.

Let's now learn how to produce the /ŋ/ sound in English.

So what you're going to do …

there's still air coming through your nose and you're also going to block the air in your mouth.

But this time not with the tip of your tongue, but with the back of your tongue.

So this time, it's the back of your tongue that's going to be up there.

Okay, watch me.

/ŋ/

Okay, please repeat after me.

/ŋ/

Let's use the word ‘ping’.

Please repeat after me.

ping

ping

ping

Good guys. Moving on.

Okay we're now going to practice with minimal pairs

- words that sound very similar but the sounds are actually different.

They are very useful for you to hear the difference between the two sounds.

First, let's focus on the sounds themselves.

Please repeat after me.

First, the /n/ sound.

/n/

And now the /ŋ/ sound.

/ŋ/

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

/n/

/ŋ/

/n/

/ŋ/

/n/

/ŋ/

And now, let's practice with our words. Please repeat after me.

pin

ping

pin

ping

pin

ping

Very good, guys.

Let's now go through minimal pairs together.

Remember to watch how I move my mouth and to repeat after me.

Let's go.

ban

bang

band

banged

chin

ching

clan

clang

din

ding

done

dung

fan

fang

gone

gong

hand

hanged

kin

king

pan

pang

sin

sing

stun

stung

sun

sung

tan

tang

thin

thing

ran

rang

run

rung

tin

ting

ton

tongue

win

wing

wind

winged

Excellent, guys.

Let's practice with a few sentences containing these consonant sounds.

The first sentence is,

‘He ran up the rung.’

Please repeat after me.

‘He ran up the rung.’

Good.

The second sentence,

‘That thing is thin.’

Please repeat after me.

‘That thing is thin.’

And finally,

‘My kin is a king.’

Please repeat after me.

‘My kin is a king.’

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 word.

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 one do I say ‘a’ or ‘b’?

Listen very carefully,

‘stung’.

One more time.

‘stung’

Was this ‘a’ or ‘b’?

It was ‘b’ ‘stung’.

'a' would be ‘stun’

What about now? ‘tongue’

‘tongue’

Is it ‘a’ or ‘b’?

It's ‘b’, ‘tongue’.

‘a’ is ton.

‘ran’

‘ran’

Is it ‘a’ or is it ‘b’?

It's ‘a’, ‘ran’.

‘b’ is pronounced ‘rang’.

Then I have

‘thing’

‘thing’

What do you think? ‘a’ or ‘b’?

It's ‘b’, ‘thing’ 'a' is 'thin'.

‘band’

‘band’

‘a’ or ‘b’?

It's ‘a’, ‘band’.

‘b’ is banged.

‘chin’

‘chin’

It's ‘a’, ‘chin’. ‘b’ is pronounced ‘ching’.

‘king’

‘king’

It's ‘b’, ‘king’.

‘a’ is pronounced ‘kin’.

Now, listen to me.

‘sin’

‘sin’

It's ‘a’, ‘sin’.

‘b’ is ‘sing’.

‘gone’

‘gone’

… is ‘a’, ‘gone’.

‘b’ would be ‘gong’.

And finally,

‘wind’

‘wind’

Is it ‘a’ or is it ‘b’?

It's ‘a’, ‘guys’, ‘wind’

‘b’ is ‘winged’.

Great job, students.

I know you now have a better understanding of the consonant sounds /n/ and /ŋ/ in English.

Keep practicing.

You need a lot of speaking and listening practice to be able to master these sounds.

But you can do it.

And by practicing, you'll be able to pronounce these sounds but also you will train your ear to be able to hear the different sounds in English.

Also make sure you watch my next English pronunciation videos if you want to improve your pronunciation skills.

See you next time.

Thank you so much for watching guys.

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See you.