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    The /f/ sound: f as in fan

    • Consonant
    • Voiceless
    • Medium priority

    Hear it

    in fan

    Lips
    Bottom lip under the top teeth
    Tongue
    Resting; top teeth on the bottom lip
    Voice
    Off: only air
    Air
    Squeezed through a narrow gap

    The sound on its own: recording by Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Credits

    How to make /f/

    1. 1

      Touch your top teeth to your bottom lip.

    2. 2

      Blow air through the gap, a soft continuous hiss.

    3. 3

      No voice: fan, coffee, life.

    How /f/ is spelled

    • f
    • ff
    • ph
    • gh

    The usual mistake

    Using both lips instead of teeth-on-lip so f sounds like /p/ or a soft h, listeners hear 'pood' or 'hood' for 'food'.

    Hardest for speakers of

    Words to practise

    Say it and get scored

    Read fan, coffee, life, difficult, future aloud. Free, no account.

    Check my /f/

    Questions

    How do you pronounce the /f/ sound?
    Touch your top teeth to your bottom lip. Blow air through the gap, a soft continuous hiss. No voice: fan, coffee, life.
    What is the most common mistake with /f/?
    Using both lips instead of teeth-on-lip so f sounds like /p/ or a soft h, listeners hear 'pood' or 'hood' for 'food'.
    Which spellings make the /f/ sound?
    Common spellings include “f”, “ff”, “ph”, “gh”, as in fan /fæn/, coffee /ˈkɒfi/, life /laɪf/.
    Does /f/ matter for IELTS?
    It matters moderately. Errors are noticeable but only sometimes affect understanding. Fix the high-priority vowel contrasts and final consonants first, then polish this one.