Consonant Sound / n / as in 'nice'- American English Pronunciation

Learn how to pronounce the consonant sound /n/ used in words like "name," "next," or "when."
Improve your American accent with two phonetic exercises recorded by a professional speech therapist.
Practice pronunciation of the /n/ consonant sound in everyday words.

Quick Links:
• Consonant sound /n/, as in "nice": 00:00
• Common pronunciation problems with the /n/: 01:00
• How to make the consonant sound /n/: 01:42
• Pronunciation exercise 1: 02:44
• Pronunciation exercise 2: 04:41
• Fun fact about the /n/: 06:24

Related videos:
#AmericanPronunciation #ConsonantSounds #NasalSounds

[ THIS VIDEO HAS ENGLISH, SPANISH, JAPANESE, CHINESE, VIETNAMESE, PORTUGUESE, AND RUSSIAN SUBTITLES]
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TRANSCRIPT

Hello there! This is the "Sounds American" channel.
In this video, we’re going to talk about the American consonant sound /n/, as in the word "nice".
You can also hear this sound in words like "now," "open," "nine" or "sunny."
We’ll be using a special phonetic symbol - /n/ - for this sound.

The /n/ sound exists in a majority of the world languages and many non-native English speakers typically don’t have any difficulties with this sound.
However, sometimes the /n/ gets distorted or confused with other sounds. Here are a few common problems that people have with the /n/ sound:
• The /n/ is often confused with the /m/ sound. For example: "then" - "them"
• Also, the /n/ is confused with the /ŋ/ sound. Compare: "sin" - "sing"
• Another typical problem is that the /n/ is reduced or even dropped at the end of words: "then" - "the"

To make sure you know how to pronounce the /n/ like an American, let’s find out how to make it and then practice it in words.

To make the /n/ sound correctly, it's important to focus on passing the air through your nose.
Let's take a closer look at how to do that:
Place the tip of your tongue on the alveolar ridge behind your upper front teeth.
Next: stop the air in your mouth with the tip of your tongue and direct it into your nose.
If you make this sound correctly, you should be able to stretch out this sound, like this: /n-n-n-n-n-/
Now, let's try saying it: /n/, /n/, /n/

Now, let's practice the /n/ sound in some words.
You'll see a word on the screen and hear its pronunciation. Like this.
You'll have a few seconds to pronounce the word. Repeat each word after the speaker, this is the most important part of the exercise.
Let's begin.
[Pronunciation exercise]

• name
• navy
• near
• neat
• neck
• need
• new
• next
• nose
• note
• dawn
• done
• lane
• lawn
• open
• oven
• sign
• soon
• when
• wine

[Pronunciation exercise 2]
• nine
• none
• noon
• noun
• known
• linen
• onion
• union
• anyone
• cannon
• canyon
• engine
• napkin
• nation
• lantern
• mention
• opinion
• tension
• unicorn
• nineteen

You're done! Congratulations!

Did you know that the /n/ sound is the most frequently used consonant in American English?
For instance, in this particular video it's been used 189 times!
Sorry, after that last sentence it's now actually 192 times.
As for regular daily conversations, you can hear the /n/ in every 4th word.
Now you know how important this sound is for your American accent :).

Give us a thumbs up if you liked this video!
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[taniafernandaguerrerom.]

Omg ! 4 years studying English never better tool than this one, thanks a lot. Finally my pronunciation is getting on shape.

[ruiyingtu]

I love these videos to death as I never got a chance to learn the different sounds systematically. I especially love the animations that show the postions of tounge and mouth.

[travelbonne]

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[globalwhosanes]

Thanks "Sounds American." Your explanation is really easy and effective.

[keko]

I like this video. Very detailed and descriptive. And the animations of the tongue placement definitely help! I like the practice part too. If it can include the animation of the jaw and tongue movement, it will be perfect. Anyway, thank you.

[victorhernandez]

Wow, congratulations. I loved that end of the "....and still counting".

[piedrabrillante]

I've watched all of your videos. And I'm always waiting for some other one about the American English sounds. I think that in catching, and trying to reproduce, the sounds you are showing us, resides the secret to take ride of my strong Mexican accent. And to be able to understand better when Americans speak out of classroom enviroments. Thanks a lot. Please continue the excelent work.

[jieminguo]

thanks a lot for sharing this. really helpful to reduce accent.

[baotranquoc]

I'm waiting next lesson.all wonderful :)).Thank

[oksanaokasa]

Hello there.At first wanted to say You, guys a huge thank You for all your hard work, I am a big fan of your channel.My name is Oksana, I am a previous English teacher from Ukraine.I am planning to launch my YouTube channel in 1-2 months time for all Ukrainians who want to learn English.I really need your help Guys, please,if you could let me use a few seconds of your videos to help my future students to learn and improve their pronunciation and have a possibility to hear that from native speakers.We all would really appreciate all your help.Also I promise to recommend your channel to my students and will leave the link in the description box.Thank you so much for all your help and support.

[xx.badgirl]

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[burakbayram]

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[oliviawu]

This is very helpful. Can you please make a vein how to pronounce plan, plain, etc. Much appreciated.

[ramzy-]

in this video for n sound after /ɛ/ is sound changed, because the sound /ɛ/ bed /bɛd/ and set /sɛt/ met /mɛt/ different from engine /ˈɛndʒən/ - /ˈɛnd͡ʒɪn/ -  mention /ˈmɛnʃn/ -  /ˈmɛnʃən/ Thank you

[ramzy-]

6:08 in this time in this video you said the word (unicorn /ˈjunɪkɔɹn/) is there a schwa /ə/ sound between the r and n consonant, even a little bit or fast schwa like this /ˈjunɪkɔɹən/. is that also for the word term /tɝm/ is there a schwa sound betweeh r and m sound. please.

[mitsukohatsuon]

Hello! I started making some videos for Japanese English learners a few months ago. Since I'm not a native English speaker, I've been learning a lot from your videos. So thank you! Today, I have a question about the position of your tongue when you pronounce N and L. I watched both videos of your N and L, and I can't find any big difference between them., I mean the position of your tongue. I'd thought that when you pronounce N, the tongue would touch the upper jaw（？）widely, while' the tip "of your tongue touches it when you pronounce L. I'm a bit confused about this when I watched the video of "N." If you give me some more tips, I would be happy. Thanks for great videos!

[ramzy-]

Hello, in a word ( neck ) can my tip tongue touch the lower back teeth and the middle of tongue touch alveolar ridge at the same time to make /n/ sound because the /n/ sound followed /ɛ/ sound, neck /nɛk/. Is that possible???

[sedd]

Hello, Mr.Sounds American. I am not sure how to pronounce ''N'' when ''N'' is in the middle of a word. For example, the word ''dictionary.'' Is the ''N'' pronounced just once like ''dictio / nary'' or twice like ''dictio-n-ary.'' I am quite confused because both of them sound all right to me. Thanks in advance