SOUND LESSON

How to pronounce /k/: the k sound in key

Raise the back of your tongue to the soft palate for /k/. Add aspiration in key, reduce it in school, and finish back and milk without a vowel.

/k/

American English: /k/ · stop · velar · voiceless
British English: /k/ · stop · velar · voiceless

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Pronunciation model

Try it in a word

Keep the cold milk in the kitchen.

Mouth & tongue

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

Vocal folds: apart

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 back of the tongue seals against the soft palate, and the voice stays off. Air builds behind the closure. At the start of a stressed syllable, the release carries a puff, as in key.

Comparing with Mandarin and Spanish

English spells this sound in many ways: k, c, ck, ch and q. Spelling is a poor guide, so check the sound itself. Compare the strong puff in cool with the weaker release in school.

Pinyin k is similarly aspirated but carries a vowel in syllables such as ke. Spanish c in casa has little aspiration, and Spanish speakers should begin school directly on /s/.

Build the sound, step by step

Raise the back of your tongue and feel it touch the soft part of the palate.
Build air, then release it with a light puff in key and cold.
Say back and milk. Stop on the closure without adding any vowel.

What to watch for

Weak aspiration can make coat sound like goat at the start of a word.
Do not follow spelling alone: the k in know is silent, and ch in school is /k/.

Hear the difference in your own voice

Practice coat and goat, then back and bag. At the start, change the puff. At the end, lengthen the vowel before /g/ while the tongue position stays the same.

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