What is the phonetics of the H in English?

To improve your English it is essential that you perfect your pronunciation. Register for free at ABA English and join our more than 30M students worldwide.

START FOR FREE

The letter ‘h’ in English has some differences compared to Spanish. Although when it is accompanied by a ‘c’ or an ‘s’ the sounds in English and Spanish coincide, when it stands alone it is another story. While in Spanish the ‘h’ is silent, in English it has a subtle presence. The phoneme used to represent it in these cases is /h/.

At ABA English we care that you learn how the pronunciation of a wide variety of words is in English, as this will enable you to manage yourself in this language in any situation you face. For this, we have developed tools like the speaking exercises and the ABA Moments that allow you to practice your pronunciation and conversational skills anytime.

+30 MILLION STUDENTS

Join the largest digital English academy
in the world and learn English

START FOR FREE

ENGLISH PHONETICS OF H

Although the IPA phonetic signs, the International Phonetic Alphabet, represent all the sounds of the different languages in the world, not all sounds are present in every language. Spanish and English are two such languages that do not share all the sounds. This makes it really useful when trying to know how a word is pronounced in English to know English phonetics. Now we will see the phoneme /h/ and for this, we will use three word examples containing h:

He (él)

How (cómo)

Perhaps (tal vez)

How would you pronounce them?

ABA on Air · Ep. 30 How To Improve Pronunciation | ABA on Air

What is the phonetics of the H in English?

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF H IN ENGLISH

Let’s see, we said that in Spanish the letter ‘h’ is silent but in English it is not. Now let’s look at the phonetic transcription of our examples:

He is /hiː/

How is /haʊ/

Perhaps is /pəˈhæps/

In Spanish we would say something like ‘i’, ‘au’, and ‘peraps’, right? Well, in English it’s the same, except that before each word you give a sigh or make a small exhalation. In the case of perhaps it is in the middle, of course. That’s how subtle the pronunciation of the h is in English.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR PRONUNCIATION IN ENGLISH

If you want to avoid the most common mistake, which is pronouncing the English ‘h’ like the ‘j’ in the Spanish word jabón (soap), we suggest you pay attention to how native speakers pronounce it in English movies and series. If you listen carefully, you will see that the ‘h’ is not silent, but it does have a very soft pronunciation.

If you are ready to be the one who speaks, you can imitate the pronunciations you have heard in those movies and series until you master the sigh that is the English ‘h’.

At first it may be better for you to speak slowly, so you can pronounce all the English sounds carefully and correctly.

Try our method, in our entertaining ABA Films you will hear the pronunciation of native actors.

The silent letter h in English

We wouldn’t be talking about the English language without mentioning exceptions. As we mentioned earlier, the sound of the h in English is not silent like in Spanish, nor does it sound like a j, but rather it is aspirated.

However, there are some words that differ from this main rule:

Heir (heredero) /eə/

Honest (honesto) /ˈɒnɪst/

Honour (honor) /ˈɒnə/

Hour (hora) /ˈaʊə/

All derivatives of these, such as hourly, honesty, etc., are also pronounced with a silent h in English.

Do you know your
English level?
Take a test now.

Register on our page and access the level test for free. In a few minutes you will know your level and be able to keep advancing with the course.

START THE TEST

Phrases to practice the pronunciation of the letter h in English

Here we leave you a list of phrases containing words with h so that you can practice the pronunciation of this phoneme which we do not have in the Spanish language.

We recommend you read them aloud and record yourself so you can analyze your mistakes afterwards.

1. He asked her for help, it was hard for him, since he’s always been a really proud person.

(He asked her for help, it was hard for him, since he’s always been a really proud person.)

/hiː ɑːskt hɜː fɔː hɛlp, ɪt wɒz hɑːd fɔː hɪm, sɪns hiːz ˈɔːlweɪz biːn ə ˈrɪəli praʊd ˈpɜːsn./

2. Maria, you have such a huge heart, you are my hero.

(Maria, you have a very big heart, you are my hero.)

/məˈriːə, juː hæv sʌʧ ə hjuːʤ hɑːt, juː ɑː maɪ ˈhɪərəʊ./

3. Do you want to play hide and seek with me?

(Do you want to play hide and seek with me?)

/duː juː wɒnt tuː pleɪ haɪd ænd siːk wɪð miː?/

4. He climbs a higher hill every year. He’s going to be hiking Everest soon enough.

(He climbs a higher hill every year. He’s going to be hiking Everest soon enough.)