Sorting First Sounds Behind Common Spellings — A2 English Pronunciation Practice Test
About this practice test
Practise A2 English pronunciation by sorting familiar words whose first consonant sound is not always clear from the spelling.
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
- A2. 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
- /s/ as in sun
- /k/ as in key
Word bank
- camera
- city
- circle
- kitchen
- coat
- centre
Check answers and explanations
- 1. camera
- /k/ as in key
- 2. city
- /s/ as in sun
- 3. circle
- /s/ as in sun
- 4. kitchen
- /k/ as in key
- 5. coat
- /k/ as in key
- 6. centre
- /s/ as in sun
Sound groups: /s/ as in sun: city, circle, centre; /k/ as in key: coat, camera, kitchen.
-
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
- /n/ as in name
- /m/ as in milk
Word bank
- music
- market
- name
- knee
- knife
- mother
Check answers and explanations
- 1. music
- /m/ as in milk
- 2. market
- /m/ as in milk
- 3. name
- /n/ as in name
- 4. knee
- /n/ as in name
- 5. knife
- /n/ as in name
- 6. mother
- /m/ as in milk
Sound groups: /n/ as in name: name, knee, knife; /m/ as in milk: music, market, mother.
-
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
- /ɹ/ as in red
- /w/ as in wet
Word bank
- week
- walk
- write
- right
- wrong
- window
Check answers and explanations
- 1. week
- /w/ as in wet
- 2. walk
- /w/ as in wet
- 3. write
- /ɹ/ as in red
- 4. right
- /ɹ/ as in red
- 5. wrong
- /ɹ/ as in red
- 6. window
- /w/ as in wet
Sound groups: /ɹ/ as in red: right, write, wrong; /w/ as in wet: walk, week, window.
-
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
- vegetable
- photo
- village
- Friday
- phone
- visit
Check answers and explanations
- 1. vegetable
- /v/ as in van
- 2. photo
- /f/ as in fish
- 3. village
- /v/ as in van
- 4. Friday
- /f/ as in fish
- 5. phone
- /f/ as in fish
- 6. visit
- /v/ as in van
Sound groups: /f/ as in fish: phone, photo, Friday; /v/ as in van: visit, village, vegetable.
-
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
- /dʒ/ as in job
- /ɡ/ as in go
Word bank
- garden
- giraffe
- gentle
- guitar
- game
- giant
Check answers and explanations
- 1. garden
- /ɡ/ as in go
- 2. giraffe
- /dʒ/ as in job
- 3. gentle
- /dʒ/ as in job
- 4. guitar
- /ɡ/ as in go
- 5. game
- /ɡ/ as in go
- 6. giant
- /dʒ/ as in job
Sound groups: /dʒ/ as in job: giant, giraffe, gentle; /ɡ/ as in go: garden, game, guitar.
-
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
- /tʃ/ as in chair
- /ʃ/ as in shop
Word bank
- shoes
- cheese
- shop
- shower
- chicken
- chair
Check answers and explanations
- 1. shoes
- /ʃ/ as in shop
- 2. cheese
- /tʃ/ as in chair
- 3. shop
- /ʃ/ as in shop
- 4. shower
- /ʃ/ as in shop
- 5. chicken
- /tʃ/ as in chair
- 6. chair
- /tʃ/ as in chair
Sound groups: /tʃ/ as in chair: chair, cheese, chicken; /ʃ/ as in shop: shop, shoes, shower.
-
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
- /θ/ as in think
- /ð/ as in this
Word bank
- thirsty
- thirty
- this
- that
- think
- these
Check answers and explanations
- 1. thirsty
- /θ/ as in think
- 2. thirty
- /θ/ as in think
- 3. this
- /ð/ as in this
- 4. that
- /ð/ as in this
- 5. think
- /θ/ as in think
- 6. these
- /ð/ as in this
Sound groups: /θ/ as in think: think, thirty, thirsty; /ð/ as in this: this, that, these.
-
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
- /h/ as in hat
- /j/ as in yes
Word bank
- young
- year
- yellow
- hungry
- holiday
- happy
Check answers and explanations
- 1. young
- /j/ as in yes
- 2. year
- /j/ as in yes
- 3. yellow
- /j/ as in yes
- 4. hungry
- /h/ as in hat
- 5. holiday
- /h/ as in hat
- 6. happy
- /h/ as in hat
Sound groups: /h/ as in hat: happy, hungry, holiday; /j/ as in yes: yellow, year, young.
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.