How to Pronounce the L Sound: Light L vs. Dark L

By Julie Cunningham, MA, CCC-SLP, licensed speech-language pathologist

My free course, English Pro Lite, has 45 video lessons on American English pronunciation. Start the free course.

 

*Continue your Dark L pronunciation practice with my additional pronunciation lessons on the Dark L and Light L consonants: How to Pronounce the Light L and Dark L Sounds; How the Dark L Influences Vowels; Your #1 Go-To Guide to the Dark L; How to Pronounce the L /l/ Consonant; Advanced English Pronunciation Practice: The Dark L.

 

Light L vs. dark L: what's the difference?

Short answer: American English has two L sounds. The light L comes at the beginning of a word or syllable, as in love and release. The dark L comes after a vowel in the same syllable or at the end of a word, as in ball, milk and pillow. For both, the tip of your tongue comes up behind your top front teeth. For the dark L, the back of your tongue also pulls back and lifts toward the soft palate.

	Light L	Dark L
Where it comes	Start of a word or syllable, or in a cluster like gl	After a vowel in the same syllable, or at the end of a word
Tongue tip	Behind the top front teeth, or just past them	Up behind the top front teeth
Back of the tongue	Low in the mouth	Pulls back and lifts toward the soft palate
Lips	Relaxed	Relaxed, never rounded
IPA symbol	/l/	/l/ or /ɫ/
Also called	Clear L	Velarized L
Examples	love, light, language, glass, release	ball, hill, milk, help, able

Below, I show you how to make both sounds, step by step. After the lesson, you'll find dark L word lists and the most common L mistakes.

There are a few sounds in American English that are consistently tricky for most of my clients, but one that also deserves a spot at the table is the L sound. I’ve found this sound to be especially tricky for my Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese clients.

 

The Light L

The American L has two pronunciations depending on where it is in the word. When the L is at the beginning of a word (like in love and look) or at the beginning of a syllable (like in elongate and release), it is called the light L. The IPA transcription for the light L is /l/. 

Of the two pronunciations for L, the light L may be easier to pronounce correctly because the tongue positioning is a little less complicated. To make this sound, place the tip of your tongue behind your front teeth or at the bumpy ridge just behind your front teeth (called the alveolar ridge). Alternatively, the tongue tip can also come out past your front teeth.

The tongue should be in a narrow shape to allow the airflow to travel around the sides of the tongue. The tongue retracts back into the mouth, and the back of the tongue drops low into the mouth. The light L may feel like it is being made towards the front of the mouth.

 

The Light L

 

Here are some example words for the light L: love, light, live, language.

 

 

The Dark L

When L is at the end of a word (like in ball and able) or at the end of a syllable (like in pillow and dollhouse), it is called the dark L. The IPA transcription for the dark L may be /l/ or /ɫ/, depending on who has written the transcription. The dark L is usually the more difficult L to pronounce correctly because of the tongue positioning. Related video: How to Pronounce Difficult Words in American English - Dark L [Student Request Part 9].

 

The Dark L

 

The tongue positioning for the dark L starts out similar to the light L: the tongue tip is up behind the top front teeth (but it does not pass the front teeth, like the light L can), and the tongue is pulled back into the mouth. But the difference is what is happening with the back of the tongue. The back of the tongue should lift up slightly towards the soft palate as you make this sound, and you should feel a bit of tension in your throat and tongue. It is still back in the mouth, but there’s a slight lift upward. You may even feel like the dark L is made in the throat, not in the mouth.  

 

Focus on the back of the tongue - if you don’t pull it back far enough, you won’t be able to produce the correct sound. The dark L might feel and sound a bit strange at first - and it is! 

 

Here are some example words for the dark L: ball, hill, able, real.

 

 

Another difference with the dark L is there is a small vowel inserted just before the L, but it is not transcribed in the IPA. Listen to how I say those example words again. Do you hear a small UH sound before the L? I’m really saying this: ba-uhl, hi-uhl, a-buhl, rea-ul. You should also hear the intonation change in my voice as I say those words: my pitch drops down at the end.

 

What about the lips? The “oh” substitution

Since the dark L does not exist in all languages, some of my clients will substitute the closest sound they have in their native language for the American dark L. That’s usually the vowel sound OH, like in “baw-oh” for ball. There are two articulation errors that are being made in this case: 1) The tongue tip has been lowered and the tongue base has been fully raised (which is the opposite of the tongue positioning for the dark L), and 2) the lips have usually been rounded to make the OH sound. 

 

As described above, the tongue positioning for the dark L is made with the tongue tip up and the tongue pulled back into the mouth, which is the opposite in the sound OH. The lips are not used for the dark L; rather, the lips stay neutral for this sound. You can even smile as you say the dark L, and it will still sound correct.

 

Here are some words that are said with the correct dark L and the substituted OH sound. See if you can hear the difference:

 

 

You may not be able to hear the difference yet, but if you practice with a mirror you should be able to see the difference in your lip and tongue placement. Make sure you aren’t rounding your lips when you say the dark L, and look (and feel) for your tongue tip to come up to the back of your front teeth. 

 

The dark L is one of the hardest consonants to make automatic. It takes repetition, not just understanding, and there's a full drill set for it in the consonants course in English Pro.

 

Another handy tip to help with the dark L: add the vowel UH at the end of the word to train your tongue to come up to the right spot. Then slowly fade out the UH as you become more consistent with the correct tongue placement.

 

Ball + uh

Tall + uh

Call + uh

 

 

Dark L words

Say each word slowly. Keep your lips relaxed, bring the tip of your tongue up behind your top front teeth, and pull the back of your tongue back.

Where the L comes	Dark L words
End of a word	ball, call, feel, school, real, tell, cool, smile
Before a consonant	milk, help, film, cold, world, self
End of a syllable inside a word	pillow, dollhouse, always, almost
-le and -el endings	able, table, people, little, apple, travel, level

For comparison, these words start with a light L, or have one at the start of a syllable: love, look, language, glass, play, release, hello.

Common L mistakes

• OH instead of dark L: ball sounds like "baw-oh." The tongue tip drops and the lips round. Keep your lips relaxed and your tongue tip up.
• Dropping the dark L: feel sounds like fee, and cold sounds like code.
• A light L at the end of a word: ball and feel sound thin, as if the word stops too soon. Pull the back of your tongue back, and let a small UH sound come before the L.
• Mixing up L and R: light sounds like right, and long sounds like wrong. For L, the tip of your tongue touches the ridge behind your top front teeth. For the American R, the tongue tip doesn't touch anything.

To see the dark L up close and in slow motion, with ultrasound images of the tongue, see my complete guide to the dark L. For dark L practice in phrases and sentences, try my advanced dark L practice.

Light L and dark L: common questions

What is the difference between the light L and the dark L?

The light L comes at the beginning of a word or syllable, as in love and release. The tongue tip comes up behind the top front teeth, and the back of the tongue stays low. The dark L comes after a vowel in the same syllable or at the end of a word, as in ball and milk. The tongue tip is up too, but the back of the tongue pulls back and lifts toward the soft palate.

What is the IPA symbol for the dark L?

The dark L can be written /ɫ/, an L with a small wave through the middle. Many dictionaries just use /l/ for both L sounds, because which L you use depends on where it comes in the word.

Is the L in milk light or dark?

Dark. It comes after a vowel in the same syllable, right before the K. The L in help, film and cold is dark for the same reason.

Why does my dark L sound like OH?

When the tongue tip drops and the lips round, the dark L turns into an OH vowel, so ball sounds like baw-oh. Keep your lips relaxed (you can even smile) and bring your tongue tip up behind your top front teeth.

Is the L silent in walk, talk and calm?

In walk, talk, chalk, could, should and would, the L is silent. In calm and palm, many Americans don't say the L and some do. Both are fine. See my guide to silent letters in English for more.

How can I practice the dark L?

Add the vowel UH after the word, as in ball-uh, call-uh and tall-uh. The UH helps your tongue tip come up to the right spot. Then slowly fade out the UH. Practice with a mirror, and check that your lips aren't rounding.

Thanks so much for watching!

For a program built around your speech, see my one-to-one accent training.

 

******************************************************************************************************

Interested in more American English pronunciation practice? Be sure to check out some of my most popular online resources (all free!):

• Dark L and Light L exercises: Free, downloadable and printable pdf

See the rest of my free printable exercises.

 

 

This is one of the top pronunciation challenges for native speakers of Filipino/Tagalog, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Portuguese. See my guides for Filipino/Tagalog, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Portuguese speakers.

Light L and dark L are easy to mix up until you've drilled them a few times. For more free accent training on sounds like these, try English Pro Lite, my free course.