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| Symbol | Example word | Type | Articulation | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /p/ | pen | Consonant | Voiceless bilabial plosive | |
| /b/ | bad | Consonant | Voiced bilabial plosive | |
| /t/ | tea | Consonant | Voiceless alveolar plosive | |
| /d/ | did | Consonant | Voiced alveolar plosive | |
| /k/ | cat | Consonant | Voiceless velar plosive | |
| /ɡ/ | got | Consonant | Voiced velar plosive | |
| /tʃ/ | chin | Consonant | Voiceless postalveolar affricate | |
| /dʒ/ | June | Consonant | Voiced postalveolar affricate | |
| /f/ | fall | Consonant | Voiceless labiodental fricative | |
| /v/ | van | Consonant | Voiced labiodental fricative | |
| /θ/ | thin | Consonant | Voiceless dental fricative | |
| /ð/ | this | Consonant | Voiced dental fricative | |
| /s/ | see | Consonant | Voiceless alveolar fricative | |
| /z/ | zoo | Consonant | Voiced alveolar fricative | |
| /ʃ/ | she | Consonant | Voiceless postalveolar fricative | |
| /ʒ/ | vision | Consonant | Voiced postalveolar fricative | |
| /h/ | how | Consonant | Voiceless glottal fricative | |
| /m/ | man | Consonant | Voiced bilabial nasal | |
| /n/ | no | Consonant | Voiced alveolar nasal | |
| /ŋ/ | sing | Consonant | Voiced velar nasal | |
| /l/ | leg | Consonant | Voiced alveolar lateral approximant | |
| /r/ | red | Consonant | Voiced postalveolar approximant | |
| /j/ | yes | Consonant | Voiced palatal approximant | |
| /w/ | wet | Consonant | Voiced labial-velar approximant | |
| /iː/ | see | Vowel | Close front unrounded, long | |
| /ɪ/ | sit | Vowel | Near-close near-front unrounded, short | |
| /e/ | bed | Vowel | Open-mid front unrounded, short | |
| /æ/ | cat | Vowel | Near-open front unrounded, short | |
| /ʌ/ | cup | Vowel | Open-mid back unrounded, short | |
| /ɑː/ | car | Vowel | Open back unrounded, long | |
| /ɒ/ | hot | Vowel | Open back rounded, short | |
| /ɔː/ | saw | Vowel | Open-mid back rounded, long | |
| /ʊ/ | put | Vowel | Near-close near-back rounded, short | |
| /uː/ | too | Vowel | Close back rounded, long | |
| /ɜː/ | bird | Vowel | Mid central unrounded, long | |
| /ə/ | about | Vowel | Mid central unrounded, short, schwa | |
| /eɪ/ | day | Diphthong | Closing diphthong, front onset to close front | |
| /aɪ/ | my | Diphthong | Closing diphthong, open onset to close front | |
| /ɔɪ/ | boy | Diphthong | Closing diphthong, open-mid back onset to close front | |
| /əʊ/ | go | Diphthong | Closing diphthong, central onset to close back | |
| /aʊ/ | now | Diphthong | Closing diphthong, open onset to close back | |
| /ɪə/ | here | Diphthong | Centring diphthong, close front onset to schwa | |
| /eə/ | hair | Diphthong | Centring diphthong, mid front onset to schwa | |
| /ʊə/ | tour | Diphthong | Centring diphthong, close back onset to schwa |
Reading dictionary pronunciation with the IPA
British dictionaries such as Oxford and Cambridge give each headword a transcription between slashes using the International Phonetic Alphabet, for example "cat" written as /kæt/. The table above lists the 24 consonants, 12 short and long vowels, and 8 diphthongs used to transcribe Received Pronunciation, the standard accent taught in UK schools and used as the reference accent throughout this tool, with an example word for every symbol and a "Listen" button powered by your browser's built-in speech synthesiser.
Symbol pairs that trip learners up
A handful of pairs cause confusion for most learners and English teachers alike: /iː/ (long, as in "sheep") against /ɪ/ (short, as in "ship"), /θ/ (as in "thin") against /ð/ (as in "this"), and /ʃ/ (as in "she") against /ʒ/ (as in "vision"). Use the search field to pull up a symbol on its own and compare it with its pair, or filter by an example word if you already know one.
Where this tool falls short
This reference covers Received Pronunciation only, not Cockney, Scottish English, General American, or any other regional accent, and dictionaries do not fully agree with each other either, Oxford and Merriam-Webster transcribe a couple of vowels differently. The tool does not mark word stress and does not cover connected speech features such as linking or elision between words. If you need to spell a word out letter by letter rather than transcribe how it sounds, the NATO Phonetic Alphabet tool is the one you want instead.
How to read the notation
Symbols sit between slashes, such as /kæt/, and the colon-like mark "ː" placed after a vowel means it is pronounced long, so /iː/ in "see" lasts noticeably longer than /ɪ/ in "sit". The symbol /ə/, called schwa, is the short neutral vowel heard in most unstressed syllables in English, such as the second syllable of "about".