/p/ is a voiceless consonant sound,...
...and the /b/ sound is also made in the same place, but with voice.
/p/ is a plosive and that means there's a lot of energy behind the sound.
The /p/ sound is produced by bringing your lips tightly together and releasing a puff of air like this /p/.
A common challenge involves adding an extra vowel sound after the /p/ sound.
So for example the word "rip" becomes "rip uh" or "stop" becomes "stop uh".
The key here is not to add the extra sound "uh" at the end,...
...just let the voiceless /p/ end the word.
Another challenge that could come up is replacing the /p/ sound with the /f/ sound.
So a word like "cap" sounds like "calf".
Here is one of my favorite tongue twisters for practicing both the /p/ and the /b/ sound.
Here it goes.
Paper poppy, baby bubble.
Okay, you start slow and then you speed it up.
So try it along with me.
Paper poppy, baby bubble. Paper poppy, baby bubble. Paper poppy, baby bubble. Paper poppy, baby bubble. Paper poppy, baby bubble.
Hopefully, your lips are warmed up now.
And we can try a few words together.
Pad, fad.
Pig, fig.
Pit, fit.
Leaped, leafed.
Sipped, sift.
Lapping, laughing.
Leap, leaf.
Snip, sniff.
Wipe, wife.
Try this out as you practice on EnglishCentral and good luck!
