/ŋ/

The /ŋ/: the nasal at the back of the mouth

The /ŋ/ is made by raising the back of the tongue to the soft palate and letting the air out through the nose. Spanish has it without our noticing, in cinco or tengo, but never on its own: in English it's a full sound that closes words.

How it's made

• 👄 Mouth: slightly open; no air comes out of it.
• 👅 Tongue: the back rises and touches the velum.
• 🔊 Voice: voiced and nasal — it never starts a word in English.

You hear it in: sing · long · going · thing · young

⚠️ The typical Spanish-speaker mistake: adding a /g/ at the end. Sing isn't singg: the tongue stays up and is never released.

By the end you'll be able to: end words on a clean /ŋ/, with no extra /g/.