Common English words with the "glottal stop" sound (IPA ʔ)

ʔ

Common English words with this sound

glottal stop

A CEFR-graded selection of the most common words that include this phoneme, sorted by learner level (A1 first). Both GA and RP shown when they differ. Tap Listen for audio.

Word GA RP Level Listen
button /ˈbʌʔn̩/ /ˈbʌtn̩/ A1
eaten /ˈiʔn̩/ /ˈiːtən/ A1
forgotten /fɚˈɡɑʔn̩/ /fəˈɡɒtən/ A1
gotten /ˈɡɑʔn̩/ /ˈɡɒtn̩/ A1
mountain /ˈmaʊnʔn̩/ /ˈmaʊntɪn/ A1
written /ˈrɪʔn̩/ /ˈrɪtn̩/ A1
badminton /ˈbædˌmɪnʔn̩/ /ˈbædmɪntən/ A2
captain /ˈkæpʔn̩/ /ˈkæptɪn/ A2
certain /ˈsɝʔn̩/ /ˈsɜːtn̩/ A2
certainly /ˈsɝʔn̩li/ /ˈsɜːtn̩li/ A2
frighten /ˈfraɪʔn̩/ /ˈfraɪtn̩/ A2
frightened /ˈfraɪʔn̩d/ /ˈfraɪtn̩d/ A2
frightening /ˈfraɪʔn̩ɪŋ/ /ˈfraɪtn̩ɪŋ/ A2
uncertain /ˌʌnˈsɝʔn̩/ /ˌʌnˈsɜːtn̩/ A2
carton /ˈkɑrʔn̩/ /ˈkɑːtən/ B1
cotton /ˈkɑʔn̩/ /ˈkɒtn̩/ B1
curtain /ˈkɝʔn̩/ /ˈkɜːtn̩/ B1
fountain /ˈfaʊnʔn̩/ /ˈfaʊntɪn/ B1
kitten /ˈkɪʔn̩/ /ˈkɪtn̩/ B1
mountaintop /ˈmaʊnʔn̩ˌtɑp/ /ˈmaʊntɪntɒp/ B1

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