pronouncekit

SOUND LESSON

How to pronounce /ɔɪ/: the vowel in boy

Start with rounded lips, then glide toward /ɪ/ for /ɔɪ/ in boy and choice. Keep it in one syllable, and do not break it into two vowels.

/ɔɪ/
American English
/ɔɪ/ · diphthong · open-mid back → high-front · rounded to unrounded
British English
/ɔɪ/ · diphthong · open-mid back → high-front · rounded to unrounded
Pronunciation model

Try it in a word

The boy enjoys a noisy toy.

Mouth & tongue

Enable JavaScript to view the 3D panda. Pronunciation steps remain available below.

Vocal folds: vibrating

TongueTeethUvula

Simplified human pronunciation. The small uvula hangs from the palate; it is not the vocal folds. The wave indicates voicing.

Voice settings

The mouth starts slightly open. Movement is slowed for observation; the synthetic sound plays once at its original speed. Pause holds the current mouth shape; reset returns to the relaxed position. The panda is a symbolic teaching aid for human pronunciation, not animal anatomy.

What your mouth is doing

The lips start rounded with the tongue back, as in the vowel of law. The tongue then moves forward and up toward /ɪ/ as the lips relax. It is a clear movement, all in one syllable.

Comparing with Mandarin and Spanish

The spelling is unusually regular: oi inside a word and oy at the end, as in coin and boy. This makes it one of the more predictable vowels in English.

Spanish oi, as in oigo, is very close. Mandarin has no matching syllable, so glide smoothly from a rounded /ɔ/ to /ɪ/ in one beat.

Build the sound, step by step

  1. Round your lips and start with the tongue back, as in law.
  2. Move your tongue forward and up while your lips relax.
  3. Say boy and enjoy, then noise and voice with a clear ending.

What to watch for

  • Stopping halfway makes boy sound like the vowel in law. Finish the glide.
  • Splitting it into two beats adds a syllable. Keep a single smooth movement.

Hear the difference in your own voice

Try boy and buy, then coin and cone. For the first pair, start rounded rather than open. For the second, move forward toward /ɪ/ rather than backward toward /ʊ/.

Compare these sounds

Keep practicing

References & editorial notes

PronounceKit wrote this lesson as practical guidance. The references below describe the sounds; the comparisons with other languages are editorial teaching suggestions. It describes common American and British patterns, not every accent, and it has not been independently reviewed by a pronunciation specialist. The mouth model is a simplified teaching aid, not a validated simulation.

Published 3 November 2026