Unit 12: Twenty days /t/ and /d/
A. How to make the sound /k/
Look at the diagrams. Listen and say the sound.
Stop the air with your tongue behind your teeth.
Move your tongue down to release the air. If you hold
a piece of paper in front of your mouth when you move
your tongue down, the paper moves. Target sound: /tə/
B. Sound and spelling
/t/ is usually spelled t or tt. Listen and say these words.
- tea: /tiː/
- till: /tɪl/
- ten: /ten/
- top: /tɑːp/
- two: /tuː/
- twenty: /ˈtwen.ti/
- bit: /bɪt/
- complete: /kəmˈpliːt/
- eat: /iːt/
- eight: /eɪt/
- light: /laɪt/
- suit: /suːt/
- water: /ˈwɔː.t̬ər/
- better: /ˈbet̬.ər/
- bottle: /ˈbɑː.t̬əl/
/t/ is sometimes spelled ed in past tenses. Listen and say these words.
- stopped: /stɑːpt/
- washed: /wɑːʃt/
/t/ is spelled th in a few names. Listen and say these words.
- Thailand: /ˈtaɪ.lænd/
- Thames: /temz/
- Thomas: /ˈtɑː.məs/
C. How to make the sound /d/
Look at the diagrams. Listen and say the sound.
Stop the air with your tongue behind your teeth.
Move your tongue down to release the air.
/d/ is different from /t/ in two ways:
+ If you hold a piece of paper in front of your mouth when
you move your tongue down, the paper does not move.
+ There is voicing (vibration from the throat).
Target sound: /də/
D. Sound and spelling
/d/ is spelled d or dd. Listen and say these words.
- day: /deɪ/
- deep: /diːp/
- do: /duː/
- door: /dɔːr/
- did: /dɪd/
- food: /fuːd/
- good: /ɡʊd/
- head: /hed/
- ready: /ˈred.i/
- add: /æd/
- address: /əˈdres/
- ladder: /ˈlæd.ər/
- middle: /ˈmɪd.əl/
Sometimes you don’t hear the /t/ or /d/ clearty at the end of a word. Listen to the difference.
- something to eat /ˈsʌm.θɪŋ tu iːt/
- turn on the light /tɜːrn ɑːn ðə laɪt/
- something to ea(t)
- turn on the ligh(t)
- the end of the road /ði end əv ðə roʊd/
- writing on the board /ˈraɪ.t̬ɪŋ ɑːn ðə bɔːrd/
- the end of the roa(d)
- writing on the boar(d)
