These are common patterns for speakers of Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Gujarati, not rules: everyone is different, and many speakers have no trouble with some of these sounds. Press 🔊 to hear each word. Turn on the speaking check to test yourself.
“v” and “w” (vest, west)
What often happens: Many South Asian languages have one sound between v and w, so vest and west, or vine and wine, can sound the same.
How to make it: v: top teeth touch your bottom lip, with voice: vvv. w: no teeth, just round your lips like a kiss, then open them: oo-et → wet. Use a mirror: if your teeth touch your lip, it's a v.
Practice sentence: We visited a very windy village on Wednesday evening.
“th” (think, this)
What often happens: th is often said as a soft t or d (tank for thank, den for then). It's usually understood, but making it clearly helps.
How to make it: Put the tip of your tongue lightly between your teeth and blow air out. For think, three, month there's no voice; for this, that, mother, add your voice (a buzz). Don't touch the roof of your mouth, or it becomes t or d.
Practice sentence: I think the three of them thanked their mother on Thursday.
“z” and “j” (zoo, Jew)
What often happens: Some speakers say z like j, so zoo sounds like Jew and zero like jero.
How to make it: z: the same mouth as s, plus voice, like a bee: zzz. Air flows the whole time. j (as in jam) starts with the tongue stopping the air for a moment. Keep z smooth and buzzing, with no stop.
Practice sentence: The zoo is closed on Thursdays, so please visit on the weekend.
Consonant groups (street, school)
What often happens: An extra vowel before s + consonant (iskool, istation) is common. Start straight on the s.
How to make it: English often has two or three consonants together: street, school, spring, texts. Don't add a vowel before or between them (not i-school or se-treet). Start with the s sound directly: sss-chool.
Practice sentence: Students study at school in the spring.
“a” and “e” (bad, bed)
What often happens: bad and bed, or man and men, can sound alike. Open your mouth wider for a.
How to make it: a (bad, man): open your mouth wide, with your jaw down. e (bed, men): your mouth is only half open. Put a finger on your chin: it should drop further for bad.
Practice sentence: That man had a bad headache, so he went to bed.
Word endings: -s and -ed
What often happens: Endings like -s and -ed can be dropped in fast speech. They matter in Repeat Sentence and Write from Dictation.
How to make it: Endings carry grammar: works, played, students. Leaving them out can cost marks in Read Aloud, Repeat Sentence and Write from Dictation. -ed sounds like t (walked), d (played) or id (wanted).
Practice sentence: She worked late and walked home, then called her parents.
Your accent is fine
The aim is to be clear, not to sound Australian or British. PTE scores pronunciation on how easily most English speakers understand you, and says regional accents are fine. IELTS uses a pronunciation criterion in the speaking test that looks at clarity, stress and intonation, not accent. Fixing the few sounds that change the meaning of words makes the biggest difference.
Stress and rhythm
- Stress one syllable per word: PHOtograph, phoTOGraphy, photoGRAPHic. Check new words in a dictionary that shows stress.
- Stress the important words in a sentence (nouns, main verbs, numbers) and say small words (a, the, of, to) lightly.
- Pause at commas and full stops, not in the middle of a phrase. This matters in PTE Read Aloud.
How to practise (10 minutes a day)
- Pick one sound a day. Listen to the pairs and repeat each word 5 times.
- Say the practice sentence slowly, then at normal speed.
- Record yourself with our speaking recorder and listen back.
- Use the sound in real tasks: Read Aloud, or your IELTS speaking practice.
Unofficial practice. We wrote these questions to match the official PTE Academic task types and timings. They are not real exam questions, and points shown are practice feedback, not a PTE score. For an official estimate, use Pearson's scored practice tests.