How To Pronounce The "B/P" Sounds
Explanation, Exercises & Tongue twisters.
Many Egyptian learners struggle with the “B” and “P” sounds in English. It's not your fault — Arabic doesn’t have a /p/ sound, so your mouth and brain need special training to get it right. The good news? There’s a simple 3-step method that can help.
👌 Step 1: Identify the Sound
Before you fix it, you need to hear the difference.
If your brain can’t hear the difference, your mouth won’t produce it correctly.
There are two sounds you need to know:
/b/: voiced, like in "book", "baby", "base". It vibrates in your throat.
/p/: voiceless, like in "pen", "paper", "pace". It has a strong puff of air.
Minimal Pairs – /b/ vs /p/
ben 🫀 – pen 💨
bat 🫀 – pat 💨
base 🫀 – pace 💨
big 🫀 – pig 💨
boat 🫀 – pout 💨
ban 🫀 – pan 💨
bit 🫀 – pit 💨
bark 🫀 – park 💨
buy 🫀 – pie 💨
best 🫀 – pest 💨
💄 Step 2: Practice Mouth & Tongue Position
Both /b/ and /p/ are bilabial sounds — you use both lips — but they differ in voicing and air.
For /b/: close your lips, build pressure, then release with vibration in your throat.
For /p/: same lips, but release with a puff of air, no vibration.
🧪 Use a tissue or small paper in front of your mouth:
Say “pen” — the paper should move 💨
Say “ben” — the paper should stay still, but your throat vibrates.
🎧 Step 3: Drill & Shadow
Start slow and shadow the minimal pairs in Step 1, then shadow the following tongue twisters.
💨 Voiceless /p/ Tongue Twisters
Peter packed purple peppers 💨
Pick a pink pen for Patty 💨
Please play piano properly 💨
Patty paints perfect pictures 💨
Penny puts pepper on pasta 💨
Paul parks perfectly near the pub 💨
Peter’s puppy prefers popcorn 💨
Pam’s parrot picks people’s phones 💨
Polite pandas pass paper plates 💨
Place the pot on the proper plate 💨
Voiced /b/ Tongue Twisters
Bob bought big blue balloons
Betty baked banana bread
Ben brings books before bedtime
Bella’s brother bakes brownies
Bobby bounces big balls
Billy’s blue bike broke badly
Babies blow bubbles before bed
Barry’s boat beats better boats
Becky borrowed Bill’s briefcase
Brave boys build big bridges
🔄 Now let’s mix things up!
Ben bought a big purple pen for Patty, but Peter preferred the pink one.
Penny baked perfect banana bread before Bob brought the plates.
Bella picked up Peter’s paper, but Billy blamed Ben for the problem.
Bob and Patty played piano, but Pam’s puppy barked behind the bench.
Barry’s parrot bit the baker, but the baker blamed Billy.
Paul’s brother brought pepper for the pasta party on Friday.
Becky painted big pink boats before Bob baked banana pie.
Peter bought a broken plate, but Ben believed it was better.
The polite panda passed paper to Bob before bedtime.
Betty and Patty baked a big blueberry pie, but Billy broke the bowl.
Next steps?
1- Practice everything in this blog for at least 3–4 days.
2- Repeat the words out loud, exaggerate the differences, and shadow native speakers.
3- Focus on vibration vs puff of air.
4- When you speak English, pay attention to how you pronounce B and P — and fix it in real time.
Questions?
Leave them in the comments section below the article or ask your Intenso coach!
