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    n

    The /n/ sound: n as in no

    • Consonant
    • Voiced
    • Polish

    Hear it

    in no

    Lips
    Relaxed
    Tongue
    Tip on the ridge behind the top teeth
    Voice
    On: feel your throat buzz
    Air
    Through the nose

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

    How to make /n/

    1. 1

      Touch your tongue tip to the ridge behind your top teeth.

    2. 2

      Let the sound come through your nose with your voice on.

    3. 3

      Keep the tongue forward, not curled back or on the soft palate.

    /n/ vs /ŋ/: thin vs thing

    Every pair

    For /n/ the tongue TIP touches behind the teeth; for /ŋ/ the BACK of the tongue rises to the /k/-position and the tip stays down. And never release a hard g after /ŋ/: 'sing', not 'sing-guh'.

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    Which word do you hear?

    How /n/ is spelled

    • n
    • nn
    • kn
    • gn

    The usual mistake

    Merging it with /ŋ/ before pauses so 'sun' sounds like 'sung', or with /l/ in some contexts.

    Words to practise

    Say it and get scored

    Read no, funny, sun, opinion, never aloud. Free, no account.

    Check my /n/

    Questions

    How do you pronounce the /n/ sound?
    Touch your tongue tip to the ridge behind your top teeth. Let the sound come through your nose with your voice on. Keep the tongue forward, not curled back or on the soft palate.
    What is the most common mistake with /n/?
    Merging it with /ŋ/ before pauses so 'sun' sounds like 'sung', or with /l/ in some contexts.
    Which spellings make the /n/ sound?
    Common spellings include “n”, “nn”, “kn”, “gn”, as in no /nəʊ/, funny /ˈfʌni/, sun /sʌn/.
    Does /n/ matter for IELTS?
    It is a polish-level sound: errors are audible but rarely stop a listener understanding you. IELTS scores intelligibility, not perfection; prioritise the contrasts that change word meaning.