In this video you will learn all about the six plosive consonant sounds in English: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/ & /g/. Three of these are unvoiced (/p/, /t/ & /k/) and three are voiced, which means we use our vocal chords to produce the sound (/b/, /d/ & /g/). Plosives are formed by completely blocking the airflow somewhere in the vocal tract, and then suddenly releasing it. This sudden ‘explosion’ of air is what forms the sound. The closure can be formed with both lips closed as in the two bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/, but there are also other places of articulation, e.g. at the alveolar ridge (/t/ & /d/) or the velum (/k/ & /g/). I explain what aspirated plosives are and next, we will have a look at the typical spelling for all six plosive sounds. Last but not least, we will go over some important minimal pairs.

UPDATE: I am very sorry but the 2 example words I provide on aspiration are incorrect. Two correct examples with plosives that are aspirated would be: cat, top, pack – with the aspirated plosive in initial position.