Consonantes Plosivas y de Parada

Plosives and stops: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/

Plosives are made by cutting off the air completely and releasing it in a burst. What almost nobody explains is that in English they aren't always released: at the start of a word they explode hard, and at the end they're often cut off with no release at all. That silent stop is one of the hallmarks of an American accent.

How it's made

• 👄 Mouth: the closure is made with the lips (/p/, /b/), the front of the tongue (/t/, /d/) or the back (/k/, /g/).
• 💨 Air: word-initially, a clear burst with aspiration; word-finally, a cut with no release.
• 🔊 Voice: /p/, /t/, /k/ are voiceless; /b/, /d/, /g/ are voiced.

You hear it in: pen · back · time · dog · cat · stop (final, unreleased)

⚠️ The typical Spanish-speaker mistake: adding a vowel after the final consonant, the way Spanish does. Stop isn't stopa: the air is cut and stays inside.

By the end you'll be able to: burst your initial plosives and cut the final ones without adding a vowel.