Interactive American English Phoneme Chart
General American English has 39 phonemes — the smallest units of sound. Tap any symbol below to hear the sound spoken with example words. Notes in purple flag sounds learners often find tricky.
Sound plays through your browser. Turn your volume up, listen two or three times, then say it back. Slashes / / show that we are talking about a sound, not a spelling.
Consonants (24 sounds)
pen, map, happy
bad, cab, robber
tea, cat, butter
did, ladder, red
cat, back, school
go, bag, bigger
fan, off, photo
van, love, river
Keep the lips and teeth touching — do not let it slide toward a w.
think, bath, mouth
Voiceless TH — tongue between the teeth, no voice.
this, mother, breathe
Voiced TH — tongue between the teeth, voice on.
see, bus, city
zoo, buzz, lazy
Final z is often dropped — let it buzz.
she, wash, nation
vision, measure, beige
hat, ahead, who
chair, watch, nature
just, bridge, age
man, lamp, summer
no, ten, dinner
sing, finger, long
The -ng sound. Keep it nasal, no hard g.
leg, ball, yellow
Final "dark L" — say "ball" fully, do not drop the L.
red, car, around
American R — tongue pulls back, never trilled or tapped.
wet, away, queen
yes, you, beyond
Vowels & Diphthongs (15 sounds)
see, machine, key
sit, ship, gym
Short and relaxed — do not stretch it into "ee".
bed, head, said
cat, hand, apple
A wide, flat vowel — open the mouth more than for "e".
father, car, hot
thought, law, dog
put, book, good
Short — contrast with the long "oo" in "food".
food, blue, two
cup, luck, money
about, sofa, support
The schwa — the most common sound. Quick and weak.
bird, nurse, learn
The R-coloured vowel — keep the R going through it.
day, name, rain
my, time, light
boy, coin, voice
go, home, boat
now, house, loud
Why a phoneme chart helps
English spelling is unreliable — the letter "a" is a different sound in cat, father and about. The phoneme chart lets you learn sounds directly, without being misled by spelling.
Several of these sounds — /θ/, /ð/, /r/, the schwa /ə/ — may not exist in your first language, which is why they need focused practice. Start with the sounds marked in purple.
