Now let’s talk about the shape of your mouth while you say these sounds.
Say the sound /b/. This is a voiced sound because when you feel your throat, you feel the vibration /b/.
What is your mouth doing when you say this sound? /b/ Your lips are together, then you release the sound with a burst of air /b/.
Now say the sound /p/. This is a voiceless sound because when you feel your throat, you do not feel the vibration.
What is your mouth doing when you say this sound? /p/ Your lips are together, then you release the sound with a burst of air, /p/ just like the /b/ sound.
Notice that the shape of our mouth is exactly the same for these two sounds. /b/ /p/
So what makes them different?
It’s the voicing! Say these two sounds again while feeling your throat. /b/ & /p/
Your voice is ON during the first sound /b/
and your voice is OFF during the second sound /p/
But your mouth stays in the exact same position for both sounds.
These two sounds are what we call pairs. Everything is the same, the only difference is whether your voice is on or off.
You will find these pairs a lot in English.
