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Consonant

P

The P sound is a voiceless bilabial stop consonant. It is made by briefly stopping the airflow by pressing both lips together, then releasing them with a small puff of air.

p
Phonetic System (Merriam-Webster):p

Watch the Sound

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Example Words

Main Example

pen
Phonetic: /pɛn/

Common Words

pen/pɛn/
park/pɑrk/
play/pleɪ/
push/pʊʃ/
paper/ˈpeɪpər/
happy/ˈhæpi/
stop/stɑp/

Minimal Pairs

Listen and compare similar sounds

p
pen
/pɛn/
Compare with
P
ben
/bɛn/
p
pat
/pæt/
Compare with
P
bat
/bæt/
p
pin
/pɪn/
Compare with
P
bin
/bɪn/

Tongue Twister

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Try it yourself

Practice saying this tongue twister

Technical Details

  • CategoryConsonant
  • VoicingVoiceless
  • Place of ArticulationBilabial
  • Manner of ArticulationPlosive/Stop
  • Mouth PositionPress your lips together firmly, build up air pressure behind them, then release the lips with a small puff of air. Your vocal cords should not vibrate.