The /f/ as in FAN /f/

One of the most common consonants in American English. Hear it in fan, off, fish, fun.

IPA /f/ Respell f Category Consonant
Start here

The /f/ consonant, the fan sound, is a continuous, friction-based sound. Rest your top front teeth lightly against the inside of your bottom lip and blow air through the contact. Keep your vocal cords switched off so the airflow itself does all the work. That's the only difference between /f/ and its voiced partner /v/. The mouth position stays the same whether the sound starts a word like fish or ends one like off.

How to make it

Three small adjustments.

Get them right and the sound takes care of itself.

Lift your bottom lip to touch the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow air through this contact point without voicing.

Mouth position for /f/ in fan

Mouth shape

/f/ as in fan

Tongue

Should stay relaxed so air can push through easily.

Lips

The bottom lip lifts and the inside of the lip contacts the very bottom of the top front teeth. The top lip lifts slightly to get out of the way.

Quick tips

Two things to remember.

Don't curl your bottom lip all the way in. It only takes a slight inward roll for the inside of the lip to make contact with the teeth.

Same mouth position as V (/v/) but without vocal cord vibration.

Hear it in words

16 everyday words.

Tap any word for its full breakdown — every reduction, every flap-T.

fast
FAST
food
FOOD
four
FOR
found
FOWND
fact
FAKT
fail
FAYL
fair
FAIR
fall
FAHL
fresh
FREHSH
phone
FOHN
safe
SAYF
leaf
LEEF
left
LEHFT
brief
BREEF
gift
GIHFT
chef
SHEHF
Hear it in sentences

In real conversation.

5 short sentences where this sound shows up. Tap to play; click the title for the full breakdown.

The software has a few different features.

dhuh SAHFT·wair huhz uh FYOO DIH·fruhnt FEE·cherz.

The traffic flow was affected by the fire.

dhuh TRA·fuhk FLOH wuhz uh·FEHK·tuhd bahy dhuh FAHY·er.

Find the file for the official offer form.

FAHYND dhuh FAHYL fer dhee uh·FIH·shuhl AH·fer FORM.

I can't tell if you said fifteen or fifty.

ahy KANT TEHL ihf yoo sehd fihf·TEEN er FIHF·tee.

Life is full of fun if you feel free.

LAHYF ihz FUUL uhv FUHN ihf yoo FEEL FREE.
FAQ

Common questions about /f/.

What is the exact mouth position for the American /f/ sound?
Lift your bottom lip so the soft, inside edge lightly touches the very bottom of your top front teeth. Blow a steady stream of air through the contact point without vibrating your vocal cords. Keep your top lip slightly out of the way and your tongue relaxed so the air can flow easily. Don't bite down hard or curl the bottom lip all the way in. A gentle resting contact is enough.
What is the difference between the /f/ in "fan" and the /v/ in "van"?
The /f/ is completely voiceless, meaning it's made entirely of rushing air, while the /v/ uses the same mouth position but adds vocal cord vibration. If you put two fingers on your throat, you shouldn't feel any buzzing when you say fan, fish, or off. If you do feel a buzz, you're accidentally making a /v/. Americans rely heavily on this voicing difference to tell words like safe and save apart in casual conversation.
Why do words like "phone" and "laugh" use the /f/ sound?
English spelling is messy, and the /f/ sound shows up under several different letter combinations. You'll hear the same /f/ for the "ph" in phone and graph, and for the "gh" at the end of laugh, rough, and tough. The mouth position doesn't change no matter how it's spelled: top teeth on the bottom lip, pushing unvoiced air. One trap to watch for: the letter F in the word of is actually pronounced as a voiced /v/.

Practice /f/ with an AI coach.

SayWaader is the AI pronunciation coach for American English. Practice 5 minutes a day. Get a 5-axes accent assessment. Sound like you live here.

Download for iOS Android Coming soon