The /f/ Sound, Voiceless Labio-Dental Fricative

/f/

/f/ is a voiceless labio-dental fricative. To make it, the lower lip touches the upper front teeth and the air is pushed through a narrow gap, which makes friction. It is voiceless, so the vocal folds do not vibrate.

Hear It In The App Naming Practice

Example Words

Word	UK	US
fan	/fæn/	/fæn/	Syllables · Pronounce
coffee	/ˈkɒf.i/	/ˈkɔː.fi/	Syllables · Pronounce
leaf	/liːf/	/liːf/	Syllables · Pronounce

Distinctive Features

/f/ is told apart from every other English sound by three distinctive features.

See them in DF Analysis

Allophones Of /f/

/f/ has 2 allophones in the app, starting with [fʷ], a consonant immediately before /w/ or a rounded vowel. The full list, where each occurs and the examples are in Allophones, which opens with any course or with Adroit Plus.

See The Allophones Get Access

Words With The /f/ Sound

/f/ At The Start Of A Word

/f/ In The Middle Of A Word

/f/ At The End Of A Word

Minimal Pairs

Minimal Pairs /f/ And /v/ (Fan And Van)Minimal Pairs /f/ And /p/ (Fan And Pan)Minimal Pairs /θ/ And /f/ (Three And Free)Minimal Pairs /h/ And /f/ (Hat And Fat)

Questions Students Ask

Is /f/ voiced or voiceless?

/f/ is voiceless.

What is the place of articulation of /f/?

/f/ is labio-dental, which means the lower lip touches the upper front teeth.

What is the manner of articulation of /f/?

/f/ is a fricative, which means the air is pushed through a narrow gap, which makes friction.

Which words have the /f/ sound?

For example fan, coffee, leaf.