Accent test

Aspirated P, T and K

At the start of a stressed syllable, English P, T and K are released with a strong puff of air: “pin” is really “p-hin”. Without the puff, English listeners tend to hear B, D and G, so “pin” becomes “bin” and “cold” becomes “gold”.

Say them with a puff of air

Press Listen, then Say it. Green means the word was understood.

  • pin/pɪn/
  • pay/peɪ/
  • park/pɑrk/
  • ten/tɛn/
  • time/taɪm/
  • two/tu/
  • cat/kæt/
  • cold/koʊld/
  • key/ki/
  • appear/əˈpɪr/
  • attack/əˈtæk/
  • because/bɪˈkɔz/

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The rule

PositionAspirated?Examples
Start of a stressed syllableyes, stronglypin, ten, cat, apPEAR, atTACK
After Snospin, stop, sky
Start of an unstressed syllableweaklyhappy, paper, taken
End of a wordno, often unreleasedstop, cat, back

Compare “pin” and “spin”, “top” and “stop”, “kin” and “skin”. The P, T and K after S have no puff at all.

The paper test

Hold a thin sheet of paper a few centimetres in front of your lips. Say “pin”: the paper should jump. Say “spin”: it should stay still. Say “bin”: it should stay still. If the paper does not move on “pin”, add more air.

Who needs to practise this

Speakers of Russian, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish and many other languages pronounce P, T, K without aspiration. To an English ear their “pear” is close to “bear” and their “time” close to “dime”. The fix is only breath: say the consonant, release a short “h”, then the vowel.

Questions people ask

Is aspiration written in dictionaries?

Usually not, because it is predictable. Detailed transcription shows it as a small raised h: [pʰɪn].

Does it change meaning?

Not officially, but in practice it is the main cue English listeners use to tell P from B at the start of a word.

Are B, D, G aspirated?

No. At the start of a word they are released with no puff, and often with very little voicing.

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