What is a consonant

About this Video:
Have you ever wondered 'what is a consonant'? Have you ever wished that you knew how to pronounce consonants in English accurately?
Well, in this video, I'll show you exactly what a consonant is and how you to start to work on your consonant pronunciation in English. So here we go...
In the English language, as I'm sure you know, there are 21 consonant letters: like b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l and so on. But in terms of pronunciation we actually have 24 consonant sounds.
Now, a good consonant definition, in term of pronunciation, is that with consonants the articulators either touch or are very, very close to one another. Before I give you an example, just to clarify that the articulators are the tongue, and lips, and teeth, and hard and soft palate.
So, for example: with a b consonant sound, as in 'bye', 'bike', and 'bus' the two lips come together completely and then they release the sound suddenly. With an f consonant sound, as in 'fork', and 'from' and 'fry' the lower lip touches the underside of the upper front teeth but loosely so there's a little bit of space through which the breath travels. So it creates a hissy, friction like sound. With a ch consonant sound, part of the touch touches the hard palette and then releases slowly as in words like 'church', and 'chew' and 'chalk'. And it a sound like ng as in 'song', 'meeting' and 'talking' the back of the tongue is raised touching the soft palate and the sound travels out through the nose.
So, what is a constant: well a good way to define consonance sounds is that it is a sound whereby the articulators touch or almost touch and then releasing suddenly or slowly or they hold their position.
Now we do have 3 consonants that don't follow that rule exactly, in fact the articulators don't touch with these three consonants, instead the articulators approximate with one another. They hold a shape inside the mouth. And those sounds are 'r' as in 'row', 'w' as in 'we' and 'y' as in 'yellow'. Now interestingly they have the name semi-vowels. And that's because a good definition for a vowel sound is that with vowels the articulators don't actually touch or come close together instead they just hold a shape, so we call them consonants but we they've actually got qualities about them that are like vowel sounds.
Now I've made another video about vowels telling you what a vowel is and how to make vowels, so at the end of this video why don't you click here and it'll show you a link to that video and you can learn a little but more about vowel pronunciation.
But if you'd to master your pronounce of consonant sounds then at the end of this video I've put a link up that will take you to 1 of 5 videos that help you to master the pronunciation of what are in my opinion 5 of the most commonly mispronounced consonant sounds. Now they are only 3 minutes long and they show you how to make that sound, with pictures of the tongue and the lips, and also example words and typical spellings and if you watch to the very end there's a great free resource that I've shared with you and you can download that and really master your pronunciation in English and speak with much more confidence and clarity.
So if you enjoyed this video, click like so that you can find it again easily and consider subscribing to this channel because I post weekly videos here every Tuesday at 8.30pm GMT (local London time). So I hope to see you here next week.
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[@pinkmonster389]

If you guys don't understand, there are vowels, (a, e, i, o, u) consonants are the word that aren't a, e, i, o, u that is in the aphlabet .

[@karla9040]

Thanks 🙂

[@beepboop6518]

Really

[@blackentrepreneur244]

There's no need to watch the video thanks.

[@moofinmuffin4884]

Thank you so much for making it simple and brief and easy to understand *･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

[@Zss931]

Thank you really did not want to hear this guy speaking like he is a asmr when speaking

[@williamsaltsman6537]

OMG! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE HAS DEVELOPED TO THIS LEVEL. I AM COMPLETELY MEZMERIZED TO THE EXTREME!!! THIS IS SOOOO FRIKIN COOL!!!

[@cirenrose]

Im 14 and i am a english speaker. And i forget what consonants and vowels and verbs and stuff like that are.

[@luvkhey5237]

Lol

[@EvilBitch-yw8zp]

Hello, You are not alone. It is probably because when some of us first learn how to speak we only learn to speak English, but we are not really taught to learn any of that stuff until later. And since we only retain most of what we learn between the ages 1-3, when we begin to learn other stuff after that it gets more and more difficult to remember as we get older. It doesn't make anyone stupid or dumb. So don't feel bad ok. But if you want to be better at anything, then you just have to practice, practice, practice. And always remember you are the only competiton and competitor. So don't compare yourself to anyone else. Or you will limit your own abilities.

[@lunarlady03]

same

[@catpoke9557]

I didn't retain the memory of what those things are (I am 14 as well) because my mother never really made it clear why I would need to know. She would always say "It's just something educated people know.." or "I don't know, you'll just need it", which, to me, just proved that it was useless. Well, now I see that it can help with specific challenges such as learning a new language. I am trying to learn another language, and it's been very difficult to do so because I keep forgetting what verbs, consonants, ETC are. Oh, and by the way, I am home schooled so my mom was the one teaching me. I hope I can re-learn all the thing I have forgotten about these sorts of things!

[@feelingsintheabyss470]

Same

[@MohammedEssam-ie4nx]

Thank you so much sir ! You have helped me a lot, I'm a freshman in the English department and I've suffered a lot with differentiating between vowels and consonants, I've finally understood them after watching your videos Thank you so much again.

[@IStarscream_]

Thank you so much for this!! I'm an English speaker learning French but have to touch up on some of this before I can get started. So helpful!

[@uliveulearnandregret]

is english similar to french?

[@artist-scopes8357]

I'm here as I'm learning Korean,just to see if I can understand consonants better.

[@wonderland1492]

Literally same. There's an app for learning Korean that teaches you the consonants and vowels and I'm just like, wait what does that mean?

[@mohsinmj741]

Same 😂

[@iamsinjin4889]

sameee

[@archanaghongde9218]

Same 😂🤭

[@IHTA_HP]

helps with hangul

[@ginastone8623]

Thank you you helped me with homework

[@0blacklightning046]

Funny part is I dont remember anyone explaining this to me and I didnt know what vowels or consanants were until now yet I still speak fluent english XD

[@NavaVive]

I pretty much had the same thoughts until I remembered I also liked to draw eyes in class and day dream about my crush

[@Daisy-jw2ei]

I needed to learn this so I can do my English homework

[@tena6477]

شكراً الك ♥

[@tenmiltenmil1770]

Thursday April 13th 2023 Thank you for this valuable lesson ! I was playing a trivia game that asked “How many consonants are in the alphabet and I had no idea what that meant ! Now I know . I will continue to follow up on your videos . Thank you ! New subscriber ! 👍👍👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️😊😊😊

[@Englishpronunciationroadmap]

It's likely that quiz question may have been about consonant LETTERS, which is different to consonant sounds. Consonant letters are basically every letter in the English alphabet except a e i o u. So the answer was 21 letters! There are more than 21 consonant sounds in English, however. This might demonstrate the difference: the letter Y, a consonant letter, could be either a consonant sound ('yes') or a vowel sound ('try'). Hope that helps!

[@tenmiltenmil1770]

@@Englishpronunciationroadmapthank you for this answer to my comment ! Much appreciated ! I will continue to watch and learn from your videos ! You are a great teacher ! My granddaughter is spending the weekend with me . She is 8 years old and home schooled ! I will be introducing your channel to her this weekend ! Once again thank you ! 👍👍👍😊😊😊⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@bcalife]

Hey, very nice video! It would be superb if you could make another one on how to pronounce r + L as in World. It's quite challenging if one has a Romance language background!

[@Englishpronunciationroadmap]

Thanks for your comment - I really appreciate it. The /r/ followed by /l/ is, as you say, confusing for those coming from Romance languages. In fact, in British English the /r/ is completely silent in these instances! The video I released on Tuesday covers the word 'world' actually, so check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYa7lZmvqqannpo

[@bcalife]

Thank you, in fact I just checked it out, and is very good indeed! Please, keep the great work!

[@nightknight669]

Amazing explanation! much thanks

[@natcalverley4344]

Thanks for the explanation.

[@rabeyabegumnowrin8326]

Very nice. Go ahead and All the best 👍🥺🤗. You love your own work for every time.

[@andrelahartinger5201]

You sir are very helpful

[@Englishpronunciationroadmap]

My pleasure Andre, feel free to share.

[@andrelahartinger5201]

English Pronunciation Roadmap I will

[@andrelahartinger5201]

English Pronunciation Roadmap And lucky for you, their are tons of kids that have this problem.

[@andrelahartinger5201]

At my school

[@parinacuato]

Heh

[@zephaniahjessica574]

Thank you so much Sir, I have learnt a lot.

[@dreamergirlz5178]

So I’m trying to learn a new language and it was like “let’s learn the consonants” I heard that word before but when I looked it up apparently I was never even taught about this in school... and I still don’t understand what it is even after watching this video😂😂

[@dumbasssupreme4022]

vowels are a e i o u

[@Dale_168]

Same me to

[@vmpriyavmpriya8906]

Thank you for the information ☺😊☺

[@James-zy5ry]

But the glottal h is also a consonant for which there is no obstruction of the air. In red, the r sound is an an approximant, in the same way as l sound led.

[@Englishpronunciationroadmap]

Hey Jacques, the glottis fully closes during a glottal stop - so there's no obstruction of airflow in the mouth, but there is a full closure in the throat. Thanks for your comment!

[@nuranozdil96]

your talking is like a poem.Yours or English language, ı couldnt decide.

[@marcellramos2045]

Thank you so much

[@hannalin6856]

It's very useful! Thank you very much!

[@varunrajrcae]

Very informative and good presentation From India

[@pravallikhareddy2270]

Tysm ... very useful

[@ictoan]

Thx man so much!

[@fahimsamadi]

Excellent explanation 👍🏻

[@coralcrue9397]

thank you, this is an amazing video. So grateful for this :)

[@sparks6477]

Bruh im 16 and don't know crap about this

[@theoppositeofsad]

im 24 and dont know shit about this lmao

[@Oceaniiz]

Ikr

[@tomatobark4328]

@@theoppositeofsad I'm 25 lmao and dont know shit about this stuff lmao. I hate English

[@Zuyst]

Lmaoo

[@JohnMac2023A.D.]

Thank you

[@ThePersonWhoHasAName]

I am a native English speaker but I have no idea what vowels,consonants or verbs are.

[@Oceaniiz]

Vowels are the letters (a, e, i, o, u) and a verb is a doing word

[@hajrakhalid3171]

Thankyouu so much

[@RedHeavy-]

Wow thx because I had to do homework but i didn't no what a constant was

[@gabi.d]

Blade Hoffman OMG SAMW

[@باقرمرتضى-خ9د]

Thanks you are look like player Modric

[@mamtajassal6667]

Thnku sir 🙂

[@thenorthhood7994]

Helpful

[@federalcasemaker]

I blame my math teacher for this

[@Oceaniiz]

I want to know what this is so I can speak pig Latin properly because I’ve been doing it wrong these whole fucking weeks

[@Dale_168]

Im trying to no what consonant sound like in different language

[@Lacocacolaman]

Im 38 years old and I had to come here to help my 2nd grader niece. Why do I need to know this 😭

[@mikeespinal7659]

good

[@shrooq5436]

I wish if you translate it to Arabic language because l am from Iraq😊

[@sabihaali939]

I'm 19, I don't know this shit. god I feel stupid

[@lycan2494]

im 20 and learning from this lmao stay in school kids stay in school

[@wrentii]

too late 😂😂

[@anitabonita707]

Im 30 never heard of this But watching because i got to help my second grader with HW

[@mrrandomdude4291]

I'm consonantly trying to figure this out

[@perilo.o2581]

I'm 29 and native english speaker but I have no idea about english language xd

[@bribri5812]

cool

[@milaahmad7210]

why the phrase “vowels and diphthongs” isn't quite logical.

[@tionehamilton1862]

Think you 🐶🐶🐶🐶😻😺😸😽✌️🤟🏿🙏🏼👋

[@jj987987987]

Professor Xavier?

[@lilultime6555]

Has anyone ever pronounced Consonant by stressing the so , like so = sew , ConSOnant ?

[@sunnyvaid7889]

Hello sir how r you🙂

[@learnwithmssuja]

Wow

[@metalicana5894]

"In the English language, as I am sure you know, we have 21 consonant letters" WHAT I DONT KNOW IF I HAVE EVER EVEN HEARD OF THIUS AND I FRIDGING 14

[@sabihaali939]

bruv I'm 19

[@medianmack]

Why yes I have!

[@VijayKumar-de8jq]

सर आपका भाषा नहीं समझ आ रहा है

[@Kadenwashere]

Bish what?

[@michaelmorgan9753]

I didn't understand a thing he said

[@iyz..shanty9326]

So Waht

[@iyz..shanty9326]

Ok

[@deathgamer9068]

Due the way that you explained it is terrible I still have no idea what a concenant is

[@carinanguyen8475]

Boo booo booo booo boooo boooooo boooooo boooooo

[@frogew2318]

Loop me I mepoopo

[@ikennatyrrell3436]

I'm five so I can't understand

[@crackerjackB]

remove the fluff

[@andrelahartinger5201]

Thank you so much

[@Englishpronunciationroadmap]

You're very welcome.

[@lokicraftadventures9666]

I so don't understand. I was like OMG! What does this mean?!! Not helping dude .

[@monlinakey]

Thank you very much!

[@chuck4747]

man your a funny guy i had to put on my thinking cap to realize i was dealing with a master patronist of the highest and wouldnt never just let me go missing a million day of school just to catch up real quick on a youtube video if you asked me i knew consanant i would have say "oh yeah i herd of um i think he went to my school" if it was who want to be a millionair i would have a friend i could to have my back on these consants you speak of ya know i smoked some really marijuana you never will while you were in school learning this criteria and i know that hurts dude trust me it hurts me to lol

[@nuranozdil96]

Your pronounciation delecious and also you.Very soft pronouncotion.

[@michaeljfreeman94]

Thank you for the education..... now this is home education rather than AT GOVERNMENT SCHOOLING as we can see and tell in the chat box that we don't learn the basics at school..... the most important ones of all , the social aspect .... Thank you once again... and now the youngones like Ciren Rose will have pride and this will grow and here comes Articulate & Confident Speakers.....SHARING our talents all round the board. Linda POW

[@learnwithmssuja]

Nice session

[@rift_fudge2056]

Your great very help full

[@Ludi133769]

Full of help

[@lizzydutch1563]

you're great, this is very helpful :{

[@nicolamuszalska6378]

Thank you, you helped me in homework today :)

[@sevilla2187]

Very helpful for my phonetics class. Thanks!

[@ricasoliman6036]

Thank you so much.

[@jazlynbell8202]

Wow this makes sense now haha

[@Lv2flair]

Is that drawing of a vampire?

[@Jeremy-zq3sr]

Excellent video! Thank you for your help.

[@louiscampos9606]

If anyone is feeling bad about not understanding it. I had to watch the video twice.

[@leilanicatrose3576]

Thank you for this video !

[@gnurtaedd62]

don't really think this is necessary for an English learner but definitely very helpful for me, as a linguistics learner. your explanation clears it up a lot, thanks so muchhhhh!

[@guipe43]

It's just a joy to hear such beautiful and clear English! Thank you for sharing!