Consonant Stop: g sound /ɡ/

Listen to the g sound

How to pronounce the g sound

The g sound is voiced (the vocal cords vibrate while producing it), and is the counterpart to the unvoiced k sound.

To create the g sound, air is briefly prevented from leaving the vocal tract when the back of the tongue lifts and presses against the soft palate at the back of the mouth. The sound is aspirated when the air is released. The amount of aspiration used to produce a g sound is less than that for a k sound.

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Common g sound spellings

spelling	example		other pronunciations for spelling
g/gg[1]	girl begin egg		j sound (gentle)
(n+)g[2]	anger language single		ng sound (song
-gue[3]	intrigue league vague		g sound+vowel sound (guest

[1]: g spelling
When the g spelling is followed by the letters e, i, or y, the j sound is the most common pronunciation (examples include the words gentle, giant and gypsy).

[2]: ng spelling
When the ng spelling occurs in the middle of a word, it may be pronounced as an ng sound followed by a g sound or just an ng sound (consult your dictionary to be sure which is used for specific words). At the end of a word, or as part of the -ing ending, the ng spelling does not typically include a g sound.

[3]: gue spelling
The gue spelling is generally only pronounced as a g sound when it is at the end of a word. In the beginning or middle of a word, the gue spelling is likely pronounced g sound+vowel sound (examples include the words guest and guerilla).

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The g sound in suffixes

none

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Non-phonetic g sound words

none

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Pronuncian Lessons

  

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t sound /t/

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g sound /ɡ/

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Letter x Pronunciation: k+s or g+z

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