Plosive Consonant Sounds (30-35)

Plosives are made by fully stopping the air then releasing it in an explosion. 

English pronunciation has 6 plosive consonant sounds:

This last sound is different from the others – it is a variation of /t/ that lots of native English speakers use. It is not one of the 44 sounds found in dictionaries, so we call it sound 45 (if you want to know more about this sound, see this article on our blog).

Affricate Consonant Sounds (36-37)

Affricates begin as a plosive (full block of air) then release as a fricative (a squeeze of air).

English has 2 affricate consonant sounds:

Now let’s move on to ‘Plosive Activities’ to practise the sounds: