How To Teach The G Sound
To make the /g/ sound bring the back of the up to the roof of your mouth. The tongue should tap against the soft spot known as the soft palate. Quickly pull the tongue down and release air over the tongue. Turn your voice on by vibrating your vocal folds. This quick movement, burst of air, and voicing produces the /g/ sound.
At What Age Should a Child Say the G Sound?
Most English speaking children can say the G sound around age 2-3.*
What is the Difference Between g and /g/?
The written symbols, G and g, refer to the name of the letter “g”. When you see the g between diagonal lines, /g/, that refers to the sound the letter makes, /g/.
G is a letter name.
/g/ is the sound it makes.
What Are K and G Sounds?
K and G are paired together because they are made the same way, with one difference, our voice. The muscles in our mouth move the same way to make both sounds except our voice is “turned on” for the G and not the K. This means we vibrate or move our vocal folds as air passes through them to make a sound.
G is voiced.
K is unvoiced.
Try it!
Hold your hand to your throat and say /g/. Can you feel the vibration?
Now say the /k/ sound. Just air, no vibration.
(Learn more voiced and voiceless pairs of sounds here.)
How Do You Practice the G Sound?
It depends.
Understanding why your child is having difficulty making this sound is important. A speech therapist can do an evaluation to make a diagnosis. What words you choose and activities will vary depending on the cause.
Click here to read more about types of speech sound disorders and treatment
Initial G Word List
gallop
game
gap
garbage
garden
gas
gate
gave
gear
geese
get
gift
girl
give
go
goal
goat
gold
goldfish
gone
good
good-bye
gooey
goofy
goose
gorilla
guard
guess
guest
guide
guitar
gum
Medial G Word List
again
begin
bigger
digging
doggy
dragon
finger
foggy
hamburger
jogging
juggle
kangaroo
luggage
magazine
piggy
spaghetti
sugar
tiger
tugboat
wagon
Final G Word List
bag
big
bug
dig
dog
drag
egg
fig
flag
fog
frog
hotdog
hug
jog
jug
ladybug
leg
log
mug
pig
rag
rug
sag
tag
tug
twig
wag
wig
Activity Ideas for Practicing the G Sound
Practice Common Words
Write down a list of words with G that your child uses. Think of as many things (nouns), actions (verbs), and descriptive words (adjectives) as you can.
Nouns: dog, pig, goose…
Verbs: go, get, give…
Adjectives: good, big, sag…
Games and Toys
Look for games and toys that include a lot of G words.
Race and say “Ready. Set. (pause) Go!”
Play Go Fish or Duck Duck Goose
Dig in the sandbox
Sing This Little Piggy Went to Market
Drop coins in a piggy bank
Books
Find books that have G words in them.
Think about characters, places, and objects (nouns)
What G action words does it have?
Does the book use descriptive words (adjectives with G words?)
Make your own G word book!
Speech Therapy Materials
Check out the resources on the right side of the page for ideas.
Or Shop Here.
* Resource
McLeod, S. & Crowe, K. (2018). Children’s consonant acquisition in 27 languages: A cross-linguistic review. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. doi:10.1044/2018_AJSLP-17-0100. Available from: https://ajslp.pubs.asha.org/article.aspx?articleid=2701897
