Voiced and Voiceless Consonants
One problem that many students face in pronunciation is whether a consonant is voiced
or voiceless. This guide should help you understand the differences.
What is voiced?
A simple explanation of voiced consonants is that they use the voice. This
is easy to test by putting your finger on your throat. If you feel a vibration
when pronouncing a consonant, the consonant is voiced. Here is a list of
some voiced consonants. Pronounce each consonant sound and feel the
vibration of your vocal chords.
b
d
th (as in then)
v
l
r
z
j (as in Jane)
What is Voiceless?
Voiceless consonants do not use the voice. They are percussive and use
hard sounds. Once again, you can test if a consonant is voiceless by
putting your finger on your throat. You will feel no vibration in your throat
but a short explosion of air as you pronounce a voiceless consonant.
Pronounce each of these consonant sounds and ensure that there is NO
vibration in your throat.
p
t
k
s
sh
ch
th (as in thing)
Be Careful! Some Voiced consonants are sometimes Unvoiced and vice
versa.
When consonants are put in groups they can change the voiced or voiceless
quality of the consonant that follows. A great example of this is the past
simple form of regular verbs. As you know, regular verbs add -ed to the
end of the verb in the past simple. For example:
 Play – played (d)
 wash –washed (t)
 live - lived (d)
These past simple verbs all end in '-ed'. However, some of the verbs are
pronounced with a voiceless 't' sound and some are pronounced with the
voiced 'd' sound. Why?
Here are the rules:

If -ed is preceded by a voiceless consonant sound (p, k, sh, etc.) -ed
sounds as a voiceless 't'. Examples include shopped, parked,
finished. Remember that the 'e' is silent.

If -ed is preceded by a voiced consonant sound (d, b, v, etc.) -ed
sounds as a voiced 'd'. Examples include robbed, moved, bathed.
Remember that the 'e' is silent.

If -ed is preceded by a vowel sound (often 'ay') -ed sounds as a
voiced 'd' because vowels are always voiced. Examples include
played, delayed, paid. Remember that the 'e' is silent.
Exception: If -ed is preceded by 't' pronounce a voiced -id. In this case, the
'e' is pronounced. Examples include commented, started, departed.
This pattern can also be found with plural forms. If the consonant
preceding the 's' is voiced, 's' will sound as voiced 'z'. For example:
Chairs
Machines
bags
If the consonant preceding the 's' is voiceless, 's' will sound as voiceless 's'.
For example:
bats
parks
pipes
Exercise - Voiced and Voiceless Consonants
Take this list of words and decide if the final consonants are voiced or
voiceless.
http://www.engvid.com/
Good by rebacca
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M7xIwAqy9I&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmH3gbG-M5U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu8kjzrEtLs
vowels by stacy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XsDZ4WBch0&NR=1
http://www.englishcafe.com/blog/voiced-and-unvoiced-consonants-18140