Sorting Familiar Words by First Sound — A1 English Pronunciation Practice Test
About this practice test
Practise A1 English pronunciation by saying everyday words and grouping the first consonant sound in each word.
What you’ll practice
Hear the difference
Recognise vowel and consonant contrasts in clear recordings.
Stress and rhythm
Identify strong syllables and emphasized words.
Listen and review
Replay each recording and learn from answer explanations.
What to expect:
8 questions with explanations to review after submission.
Study the questions and tasks
Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.
- Practice level
- A1. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.
- Question formats
- Sorting into categories
How to approach this practice
Read the instructions and work through the questions before opening the answers.
-
Question 1 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their first sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /p/ as in pen
- /b/ as in bag
Word bank
- ball
- park
- pen
- bag
Check answers and explanations
- 1. ball
- /b/ as in bag
- 2. park
- /p/ as in pen
- 3. pen
- /p/ as in pen
- 4. bag
- /b/ as in bag
Sound groups: /p/ as in pen: pen, park; /b/ as in bag: bag, ball.
-
Question 2 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their first sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /t/ as in ten
- /d/ as in dog
Word bank
- day
- ten
- dog
- tea
Check answers and explanations
- 1. day
- /d/ as in dog
- 2. ten
- /t/ as in ten
- 3. dog
- /d/ as in dog
- 4. tea
- /t/ as in ten
Sound groups: /t/ as in ten: tea, ten; /d/ as in dog: dog, day.
-
Question 3 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their first sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /k/ as in key
- /ɡ/ as in go
Word bank
- green
- go
- cup
- cat
Check answers and explanations
- 1. green
- /ɡ/ as in go
- 2. go
- /ɡ/ as in go
- 3. cup
- /k/ as in key
- 4. cat
- /k/ as in key
Sound groups: /k/ as in key: cat, cup; /ɡ/ as in go: go, green.
-
Question 4 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their first sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /f/ as in fish
- /v/ as in van
Word bank
- fish
- food
- very
- van
Check answers and explanations
- 1. fish
- /f/ as in fish
- 2. food
- /f/ as in fish
- 3. very
- /v/ as in van
- 4. van
- /v/ as in van
Sound groups: /f/ as in fish: fish, food; /v/ as in van: van, very.
-
Question 5 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their first sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /s/ as in sun
- /z/ as in zoo
Word bank
- sit
- zoo
- sun
- zero
Check answers and explanations
- 1. sit
- /s/ as in sun
- 2. zoo
- /z/ as in zoo
- 3. sun
- /s/ as in sun
- 4. zero
- /z/ as in zoo
Sound groups: /s/ as in sun: sun, sit; /z/ as in zoo: zoo, zero.
-
Question 6 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their first sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /m/ as in milk
- /n/ as in name
Word bank
- nine
- milk
- map
- name
Check answers and explanations
- 1. nine
- /n/ as in name
- 2. milk
- /m/ as in milk
- 3. map
- /m/ as in milk
- 4. name
- /n/ as in name
Sound groups: /m/ as in milk: milk, map; /n/ as in name: name, nine.
-
Question 7 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their first sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /h/ as in hat
- /w/ as in wet
Word bank
- window
- hand
- hat
- water
Check answers and explanations
- 1. window
- /w/ as in wet
- 2. hand
- /h/ as in hat
- 3. hat
- /h/ as in hat
- 4. water
- /w/ as in wet
Sound groups: /h/ as in hat: hat, hand; /w/ as in wet: water, window.
-
Question 8 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their first sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /l/ as in leg
- /ɹ/ as in red
Word bank
- leg
- room
- look
- red
Check answers and explanations
- 1. leg
- /l/ as in leg
- 2. room
- /ɹ/ as in red
- 3. look
- /l/ as in leg
- 4. red
- /ɹ/ as in red
Sound groups: /l/ as in leg: leg, look; /ɹ/ as in red: red, room.
What to review next
Review the feedback and revisit the topics you found difficult before trying again.
A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.