PHONETICS: /dʒ/

In British English, the phonetic symbol /dʒ/ corresponds to the initial consonant sound in words like "job", and "jet" and the final one in "page" and "change".

Some common words which practice the initial pronunciation of /dʒ/:

• jam - James - Jane - jeans - John - July - jump - June - just;

Some common words which practice the mid-position pronunciation of /dʒ/:

• agency - danger - enjoy - urgent;

Some common words which practice the final pronunciation of /dʒ/:

• age - badge - charge - edge - fridge - huge - orange - page - stage;

Others:

• George - judge.

Homophones:

• genes/jeans

As /dʒ/ doesn't exist in Spanish, many Spanish speakers pronounce the initial "j" in words like "job" and "jet" like /j/, i.e. they do not distinguish very well between "yet" and "jet" or "yob" and "job". Other sounds that they may confuse this sound with are /tʃ/, a sound which does exist in Spanish, and two other sounds which don't: /ʃ/ or /ʒ/, especially as final sounds.

Written by Victoria Overton

Native English Spain is dedicated to make learning English simple, fun and affordable for Spanish people.