Free pronunciation test

One passage. All 44 sounds of English.

This 80-word passage was written to carry every consonant and vowel sound in English at least once. Read it aloud on the right, and get a real, per-word clarity verdict — the same scoring every other page on sayit uses.
  • Free
  • No card
  • ~30 seconds to read
The passage

What you'll read

Peter felt a quiet thrill of joy as he cheered near the shore, sure the old wooden boat held the truth of its journey home. His father, calm and thoughtful, watched every bright taxi pass the church, their headlights catching gold dust in the silence. A young girl from the village had made the whole trip, though she was taught to measure carefully about the narrow path near the cave, where zebras once roamed and a heavy door stayed shut.

Reference

Which words carry which sounds

24 consonants
ppath, bright
bbright, boat
ttaxi, truth, taught
ddoor, made, gold
kcave, calm
ggold
ffather
vevery, cave
th (thin)thoughtful, truth
th (this)their, though
ssilence, dust
zzebras
shshore, sure, shut
hheld, heavy, whole
chchurch, catching
j (journey)journey, village, joy
mcalm, roamed
nnear, young, wooden
ngyoung, catching
lold, gold, wooden
rroamed, door, cheered
wwooden, watched, once
20 vowels
long e (see)Peter, zebras, she
short i (sit)village, trip, catching
short e (bed)every, held, heavy
short a (cat)path, taxi, and
ah (father)father, calm
aw (thought)taught, shore, door
short u (cup)young, dust, shut
er (bird)church, journey
schwa (about)about, carefully
long a (made)made, cave, stayed
long i (bright)silence, bright
long o (gold)gold, boat, roamed, whole
ear (cheered)cheered, near
air (their)their, carefully
What you get

What the result shows, and its limits

What it shows

A clarity verdict on every single word in the passage, your IPA next to the target IPA for anything flagged, your pace, and how much of the passage you completed.

Its limits

One 80-word passage cannot test every sound in every possible position (start, middle, end of a word) or under every stress pattern — it's a fast diagnostic, not a full assessment. For the sounds it flags, the 44-sound guide and minimal pairs give you focused practice on exactly that sound.
Questions

Straight answers

Is one passage really enough to test my pronunciation?

It's enough for a fast, honest diagnostic — every sound appears at least once, most more than once. It isn't a substitute for ongoing practice, which is exactly what the rest of sayit is for.

What counts as a good score on this test?

There's no pass/fail line. The point is which specific words get flagged, not the headline number — open any flagged word to see your IPA next to the target IPA and the one fix that would help.

Will my accent be marked as an error?

No — sayit flags sound contrasts that change what a listener would understand, not the accent itself. See the accent guides for detail specific to your first language.

Can I retake the test?

As a guest, you get one scored take on this device. Create a free account for unlimited retakes and to track whether the same sounds keep getting flagged over time.