Phonetics: Sounds in English

Phonetics is the study of sounds in human speech, it refers to the sounds produced rather than letters. It can help learners produce and understand sounds correctly.

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of symbols which represent sounds.

Below is the IPA which covers the sounds of an RP accent in English. This chart contains sounds of the RP (Received Pronunciation) accent which is considered a standard English accent.

Here you have MONOPHTHONGS, these are single vowel sounds, with no change.

Here you have DIPHTHONGS, these are vowel sounds that change.

The pairs of consonant sounds below are produced in the same way physically but with small differences in production, for example, in strength and vibration, the sounds are different.

A voiced sound when speaking produces a vibration.

A voiceless sound when speaking does NOT produce a vibration.

And finally, we have the remaining consonant sounds.