like /laɪk/ and look. /lʊk/

It is a sound from the Single Consonants group.

The /l/ sound is called the “alveolar lateral approximant,”

which means that you put your tongue against your upper teeth and push the

air around the sides of your mouth.

It is made through the mouth and is Voiced,

which means you use your vocal chords to the sound, make the sound,

and it is defined by the motion of your tongue.

It is an approximant, a sound

which means it is made by creating a narrow space in your mouth through which air flows.

In this case, it’s the space between your tongue and the sides of your mouth.

To produce the /l/ sound just press the tip of your tongue against the back of your upper

teeth and voice out through your mouth.

Sometimes it is helpful to curl the sides of your tongue upward.

The /l/ sound is spelled with the letter ‘l’ or double ‘ll.’

Here are some words that start with /l/. last /lɑːst/

leave /liːv/

later /ˈleɪtə/

and laugh /lɑːf/

Here are some words with the /l/ sound in the middle.

child /tʆaɪld/

problem /'prɒbləm/

always /'ɔːlwəz/

and black /blæk/

And here are some words that end with an /l/. people /'piːpəl/

little /ˈlɪtl/

national /ˈnæʆənəl/

and control /kənˈtrəʊl/

To see the pronunciation explanation and examples for another sound click on its symbol.

To learn about the groups of sounds, Vowels, Diphthongs, Single Consonants or Consonant

Pairs, click on the links on the left. And to hear just the pronunciation of an individual

symbol, check out our interactive phonetic chart video.

Thanks for watching and I hope you have found this useful. You can also find us on Twitter,

Facebook and Skype. And if you have got any questions or comments or you would like to

arrange an online class, please do get in touch.