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English Pronunciation: Sounds with N

An "-ing" ending is used regularly in central, northern and western areas. "Ing" is considered professional speech. Americans use "in" regularly (instead of -ing) if they live in the south--this ending is part of the southern dialect. People outside of the south may use "in" for informal speech, especially young people. In this case, a person may say "ing" sometimes and "in" at other times depending on the situation.

"Ing" is pronounced lightly. The "g" is silent, but indicates a nasal ending. This ending is created by pressing the back of the tongue against the top of the mouth which causes air to go into the nose. If you struggle with the nasal ending, think of "ing" as "eeng." Forming a long E helps some students pronounce "ing." With nasal sounds, you can actually feel the sound in your nose if you think about it.

For the "NK" sound, the back of the tongue presses and releases. For "NG," the back of the tongue presses and remains there.		  



in'
 -ing
 Notes on "in" and "ing"
 N
 NK
 NG
Watch Video Watch Video
happenin'
 happening
 See note 1
 thin
 think
 thing
plannin'
 planning
fin
 fink
 fling
farmin'
 farming
win
 wink
 wing
startin'
 starting
 See note 4
 ban
 bank
 bang
standin'
 standing
bin
 blink
 bing
laughin'
 laughing
sin
 sink
 sing
callin'
 calling
 See note 2
 rinse
 rinks
 rings
drawin'
 drawing
 See note 3
 ran
 rank
 rang
fallin'
 falling
 See note 2
 hand
 hank
 hang
partin'
 parting
 See note 4
 hun
 hunk
 hung
talkin'
 talking
min
 mink
 ming
walkin'
 walking
din
 dink
 ding
wantin'
 wanting
 See note 4:
 also notice that "wanting"
will reduce to "wanning."
 dan
 dank
 dang
watchin'
 watching
sand
 sank
 sang
developin'
 developing
lin
 link
 -ling
endin'
 ending
 can be either noun or verb
 land
 lanky
 langely
gettin'
 getting
 See note 4
 stint
 stink
 sting
helpin'
 helping
sprint
 sprinkle
 spring
interestin'
 interesting
 note that this can be
pronounced "inner" for all
3 words 		clan
 clank
 clang
buildin'
 building
 can be either noun or verb tan
 tank
 tang

Note 1: in this case, "happenin'" and "happening are idioms
which mean that something interesting or popular is going on

Note 2: L near N may require some practice--make sure to pronounce both sounds

Note 3: remember that "aw" sounds like "ah"--W is completely silent

Note 4: with T before N, some people will use more reduction, as in "Par-N." Also, the T between vowels will reduce to the light D, as in "PAR-ding." Use all the T sound rules as needed.




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