Consonant sounds
1. Consonant sounds and letters
Consonant sounds are not very difficult compared to vowel sounds as a consonant letter usually represents one consonant sound. Pay attention though as some consonant letters can represent two different consonant sounds.
Here are the symbols that do not look like a usual consonant letter and the combination of letters associated as well as examples of words:
Consonant sound | Letter/combination of letters | Examples |
/ʧ/ | CH- / -TCH / -TURE | Lecture, pitch, Bachelor, natural |
/ʤ/ | -G(+vowel) / -J- | College, subjects, Geography, technology, junior |
/ʃ/ | SH- / -TI- / -CI- | Freshman, tuition, associate (can also be pronounced /s/) |
/ʒ/ | -SI- | Revision, |
/ð/ | -TH- | The, these, theirs, mother |
/θ/ | -TH- | Mathematics, Maths, earth, |
/ŋ/ | -NG | Engineering, studying |
/j/ | Y or U | University, youth |
Watch out: the same combination of letters (even consonants) can lead to a different pronunciation.
e.g. Chemistry <ch> is pronounced /k/, <ture> when it is in a stressed syllable is pronounced /tjʊə/