Pronounce H in American English
The sound of h is a breath of air. It is always unvoiced, so you will never use your vocal cords when you pronounce it.
How to Pronounce H
To make the h sound, relax your entire mouth and leave it slightly open. The sound is formed by tensing your tongue slightly, either in the middle or the back of your mouth, and passing air over your tongue. The position of your tongue will depend on the sounds of other letters in the word.
Your lips and teeth can be in any position. They are usually in the position of the sound that comes after the h sound. Put your hand in front of your mouth. You should feel air coming out of your mouth. There should be no vibration in your vocal cords. Listen to this sound and practice with me.
Now practice these words with the s sound from the book of John, chapter 5:
he, him, his, have, has, had, here, happen, heal, who
Practice these words with H
Words Spelled with H
Sometimes the letter h is silent, as in the words hour and honest. It is very common to see the letter h paired with other letters to make new sounds, such as sh and ch. When you see it with g (gh), many times it will be silent or have an f sound.
But don’t worry too much! We’ll talk about all these sounds more in the spelling section. (coming soon) Just remember that when you see h by itself, it will usually be pronounced as a puff of air.
Ready to Review?
The letter h is the last sound in our list of American English consonant sounds. If you’d like to review these videos, click the button to go back to the complete list.
Good work! Now keep practicing your speaking skills. Try these speaking exercises from the self-study lessons here on the website. Have fun with them!
