Plosives – spoken language


Plosive sounds are made by suddenly releasing air that has been blocked by various parts of the
mouth. The others are /b/, /t/, /p/, /k/ and /g/.

The contraction 'I'd' ends in the sound /d/:

I'd like to visit Iceland.
I'd like to visit South America.
I'd like to visit Spain and Greece.
I'd love to go to Egypt.


I'd like to visit Iceland.
I'd like to visit South America.
I'd like to visit Spain and Greece.
I'd love to go to Egypt.


In fluent, everyday speech, when one word ends in a plosive sound and the next begins in another
consonant sound, we don’t always hear the release of the plosive sound. This is called 'an
unreleased stop', or, technically, 'a stop with no audible release':

How about a quick chat?
You should thank her.
It was a sad time in his life.
Why don't you sit down?