Consonant sounds of American English, sounds that Pop, Part 1. Some consonant sounds are made with a popping movement of your mouth. Let's practice these four, /p/ as in pat, /b/ as in bat, /t/ as in time, /d/ as in dime. All of these sounds are made in a similar way. First, you close off the air coming through your mouth with your lips or tongue. Next, pressure builds up behind the blockage. Finally, the air is released with this pop. Linguists call these sounds stops because the air stops completely for a bit. Two of these sounds /p/ and /t/ are voiceless. Your vocal cords aren't vibrating when you say them and the sounds are like a whisper. There's a small puff of air when we say these sounds at the beginning of a word; pat, time. Two of these sounds /b/ and /d/ are voiced. Your vocal cords are vibrating when you say them. There's no puff of air when we say /b/ and /d/, bat, dime. Now, let's practice each of these sounds. First, let's practice /p/ as in pad and /b/ as in bat. For both of these sounds, press your lips together, build up pressure and pop your lips open. /p/ is voiceless like a whisper. Try these words: park, speak, paper, lip. /b/ is voiced. Try these words: back, berry, rabbit, tub. Now, try these words with /p/ and /b/: paint, potato, appear, spend, cap, ball, banana, about, ruby, cab. Now, try these sentences with /p/ and /b/. Bob has a baby puppy named Penny. I paid for a package of potato chips and a bagel. Patty's parents live in a pleasant suburb. I need some pencils, pens, paper, and books. Now, let's try the sounds /t/ as in time and /d/ dime. For both of these sounds, the tip of your tongue touches the top of your mouth behind your teeth, build up pressure and release. /t/ is voiceless like a whisper. Try these words; top, train, steel, net. /d/ is voiced. Try these words: down, door, middle, bed. Say these words with /t/ and /d/; today, try, steam, attend, best, deep, desk, dream, adult, said. Now, try these sentences with /t/ and /d/; It's best to try to tell the truth. Donna's daughter is a doctor in Denver. The door in the middle leads to the stairway. What time does the train get to the station? In this lesson, we've practiced these four popping sounds, /p/ as in pat, /b/ as in bat, /t/ as in time, and /d/ as in dime. Thank you for practicing.