Phonetics: /k/

In British English the Phonetic symbol /k/ corresponds to the initial consonant sound in words like "kiss", and "cold" and the final one in "book" and "black". Just to keep students on their toes, there are also a few words where it corresponds to "ch". It is a voiceless consonant. 

Some common words which practice the initial pronunciation of /k/ include the following:

• with "c": call - coat - come - cross - cut;
• with "k": bake - book - break - dark - keep - kill - kind - kiss - like - look - oak - shake - shark - sink - take;
• with "ck": check - lock - luck - rock - sock - shock - sick - stick - thick - walk - work;
• with "ch": ache - archive - chaos - chemical - chemist - chemistry - stomach - technician - technology;
• initial and final /k/: cake - click - clock - cook - cork - crack - crook - kick.

The main "problem" here is that Spanish speakers tend to forget that "ch" can, in just a few words, also be pronounced /k/, and will invariably pronounce "ache" with /tʃ/, as if it were a homophone of the letter "h".

Written by NativeEnglish

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