IPA Pronunciation Reference
International Phonetic Alphabet symbols for English, with example words.
Click any sound to copy its IPA symbol.
The International Phonetic Alphabet gives each speech sound one symbol, so pronunciation is unambiguous regardless of spelling. In English, /θ/ is the “th” in think, /ʃ/ is the “sh” in she, and /ə/ (schwa) is the weak vowel in about. One symbol always maps to one sound.
Why one symbol per sound
English spelling is famously unreliable: the letters “ough” alone cover several different sounds. The IPA fixes this by giving every distinct sound its own symbol. Once you know that /iː/ is the vowel in see and /uː/ is the vowel in boot, a dictionary transcription tells you exactly how a word is said — no guessing from the spelling.
How the sounds are grouped
English sounds fall into three families. Vowels (monophthongs) are single, steady vowel sounds like /æ/ in cat. Diphthongs glide from one vowel to another within a syllable, like /aɪ/ in price. Consonants are made by obstructing the airflow, from familiar /p/ and /t/ to the trickier /θ/, /ð/, /ʃ/, and /ŋ/.
English vowels and diphthongs
Symbols follow Received Pronunciation; example words show each sound in use.
| Symbol | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| /iː/ | long “ee” | see |
| /ɪ/ | short “i” | sit |
| /e/ | short “e” | bed |
| /æ/ | short “a” | cat |
| /ɑː/ | long “ah” | father |
| /ɒ/ | short “o” | hot |
| /ɔː/ | long “aw” | thought |
| /ʊ/ | short “oo” | put |
| /uː/ | long “oo” | boot |
| /ʌ/ | short “uh” | cup |
| /ɜː/ | long “er” | bird |
| /ə/ | schwa (unstressed) | about |
| /eɪ/ | diphthong | face |
| /aɪ/ | diphthong | price |
| /ɔɪ/ | diphthong | choice |
| /aʊ/ | diphthong | mouth |
| /əʊ/ | diphthong (US /oʊ/) | goat |
Consonants that trip learners up
The obvious letters (p, b, t, d, k, g …) sound as written; these do not.
| Symbol | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| /θ/ | voiceless “th” | think |
| /ð/ | voiced “th” | this |
| /ʃ/ | voiceless “sh” | she |
| /ʒ/ | voiced “zh” | vision |
| /tʃ/ | voiceless “ch” | church |
| /dʒ/ | voiced “j” | judge |
| /ŋ/ | velar nasal “ng” | sing |
| /j/ | the “y” sound | yes |
| /ʔ/ | glottal stop | uh-oh |
Reading a transcription
The IPA is language-independent: the same symbols describe sounds in French, Mandarin, or Swahili, which is why dictionaries and language courses worldwide rely on it. The example words here use Received Pronunciation and General American, so a few vowels differ slightly by accent — most noticeably /əʊ/, which many American speakers say as /oʊ/. Whatever the spelling, one symbol always stands for one sound, so /f/ transcribes the start of both fan and photo.