/k/as in “cat”

Consonant

How to pronounce /k/ in English

The /k/ sound is a velar, voiceless, stop consonant.

Voiceless
Stop
Velar

Jaw
Open your mouth slightly.
Tongue
Raise the back of your tongue towards your throat and press it against the soft palate to stop the airflow. Then lower your tongue to release it.
Lips
Keep your lips in a neutral position.

Note: Depending on its position in a word, /k/ is pronounced with a strong or slight puff of air, or without one at all.

Example words

cat
kite
back
school
make

Common mistakes

Final clusters

A vowel slipped in between the consonants. Keep the whole cluster in one syllable.

How to practise

Split the cluster and practise the parts: "desk" = "des" + "k".
Join them again slowly, then speed up.
Do not put a vowel between the consonants: "desk", never "des-kuh".

Easily confused words

guess · guest
miss · mist
ban · band
Ben · bend
bus · bust

N or NG, T or K

/n/ came out as /ŋ/: "thin" became "thing". Finish with the tongue tip up, not the back of the tongue.
/ŋ/ came out as /n/: "thing" became "thin". Keep the tip down and close with the back of the tongue.
/t/ came out as /k/: "bat" became "back". Close with the tongue tip.
/k/ came out as /t/. Close with the back of the tongue.

How to practise

/n/ and /t/ use the tongue tip on the ridge behind your top teeth.
/ŋ/ and /k/ use the back of the tongue against the soft palate, with the tip resting low.
Check in a mirror: for /n/ you can see your tongue tip behind your top teeth.

Easily confused words

thin · thing
ran · rang
win · wing
bat · back
sit · sick

P, T, K puff

There was no puff, so it sounded like /b d g/. Push a short burst of air out as you open.

How to practise

At the start of a stressed syllable, English /p t k/ come with a puff of air: [pʰ tʰ kʰ].
Hold a thin piece of paper in front of your mouth: it should move on "pie", "tie", "kite".
Without the puff, listeners hear /b d g/.

Easily confused words

pie · buy
pear · bear
tie · die
time · dime
coat · goat
cold · gold

Practise /k/ with Letty

Say any sentence and Letty scores every sound, showing which one to fix. On iPhone, iPad and Mac, no internet needed.

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