Pronunciation

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All 44 English sounds plus word stress, sentence stress, intonation, connected speech, reductions, rhythm, chunking and fluency — every lesson ends with your own recording.

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🔤 Sounds—

🗣️ Word stress—

🎵 Sentence stress—

📈 Intonation—

🔗 Connected speech—

💬 Reductions—

🥁 Rhythm—

⏸️ Pausing & chunking—

⚡ Fluency—

Recommended for you

The 44 English sounds

44 shown

Vowels · Short vowels

Vowels · Long vowels

Diphthongs · Diphthongs

Consonants · Plosives

Consonants · Fricatives

Consonants · Affricates

Consonants · Nasals

Consonants · Approximants

/ɪ/ — short i

Voiced — your vocal cords vibrate · beginner · medium · American English

HowSay a very short, relaxed 'i'. Do not smile and do not stretch it.

Lips: Relaxed, slightly apart — no smile.
Teeth: Teeth apart, no contact.
Tongue: High but pulled back towards the centre, loose.
Jaw: Almost closed, still.

Common mistakes

Stretching it into /iː/, so 'ship' becomes 'sheep'.
Adding a smile, which lengthens the vowel.

Word practice

Sentence practice

This little kid is sitting still.
It is a big fish in a little dish.

Minimal pairs

ship / sheep
/ɪ/ vs /iː/
Short and loose vs long and smiling.
live / leave
/ɪ/ vs /iː/
Length changes the meaning completely.
bit / bet
/ɪ/ vs /e/
Tongue drops a little for /e/.