How to Pronounce the /d/ Sound

alveolar sounds consonant sounds plosive sounds voiced sounds

In this lesson, we will learn how to produce the /d/ sound using the appropriate articulatory organs.

What Type of Sound Is /d/?

/d/ is a consonant in the English language.

How to Produce /d/?

As you can see in the picture (b), the tongue is used to produce this sound. Raise your tongue a bit and place its tip on the roof of the mouth, just behind the upper teeth. Note that the uvula has blocked the air passage to the nose. By raising our tongues, we stop the air from flowing out. Then, we lower our tongues so that the air is released forcefully from the mouth. Also, the circle of the vocal cords is colored which means that we have to vibrate our vocal cords. So, it is voiced.
In picture (a), the lips and the teeth are parted and the teeth are close but not touching.
In picture (c), you can easily find out where to put your tongue. The red part indicates that the tip of the tongue makes contact with that part.

Which Letters are Pronounced as /d/?

The sound /d/ is represented by the following letters:

Example

doctor /dɑk·tər/

doze /doʊz/

dictator /dɪk·teɪ·t̬ər/

blood /blʌd/

dd:

Example

raddle /ˈɹædəl/

address /ˈæd.ɹɛs/

/d/ Sound in the Most Common World Languages

As you can see in the table below, most languages have the /d/ sound. With all the instructions provided for you and a little effort, you can easily produce this sound, even if it is not in your native language. Look:

	Existence	Example
Mandarin*	✔	大 (dà)
Spanish	✔	andar
Hindi	✔	दूध
Bengali	✔	দুধ
Portuguese	✔	lenda
Russian	✔	два
Japanese	✔	男性的 (danseiteki)
Vietnamese*	✔	đi
Turkish	✔	dal
French	✔	dais
German	✔	oder
Italian	✔	dare
Persian	✔	اداره
Standard Arabic	✔	دين
Korean	✔	아들
Indonesian	✔	dahan
Filipino	✔	daw
Hungarian	✔	adó
Dutch	✔	dak
Polish	✔	dom
Romanian	✔	dop
Swedish	✔	dag
Czech	✔	do
Greek	✔	ντροπή
Ukrainian	✔	дерево
Urdu	✔	دودھ

* The sound exists in the language, but the pronunciation may differ.

Listening

Below, there is an audio file that helps you learn the proper pronunciation of the /d/ sound:

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What Type of Sound Is /d/?
How to Produce /d/?
Which Letters are Pronounced as /d/?
/d/ Sound in the Most Common World Languages
Listening

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