Now let’s move a bit further back in the mouth. We’re still talking about stops but instead of bilabial stops. We’ll move towards the alveolar ridge.

THE SOUND

The T-sound /t/ is produced when air is briefly stopped from leaving the vocal tract when the tip of the tongue presses against the alveolar ridge (hard spot behind the top teeth) while the sides of the tongue press against the upper side teeth.

The sound can be aspirated when the air is released as a puff of air. The aspiration for a /t/ is greater than the aspiration for a /d/, especially when it is the first sound of a word or the first sound of a stressed syllable. At the end of a word, the T-sound may not be aspirated (a.k.a. it doesn’t need to be), which is why at ends of words like SPOT, it may seem like a native English speaker doesn’t fully finish the sound

The 't sound' /t/ is unvoiced (the vocal cords do not vibrate while producing it), and is the counterpart to the voiced 'd sound' /d/.

THE SOUND IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS.

Here's the sound in different positions of a word.

BEGINNING OF THE WORD - take, tomb, Pterodactyl, top, temper, tip, toothbrush

MIDDLE OF THE WORD - star, planter, retro,

END OF THE WORD - , Pete, put, boat, trident

SITUATIONS THAT SEEM LIKE THE SOUND BUT AREN'T

nation - remember it’s the T-sound, not the letter that we are talking about. In nation, the sound is actually a SH-sound.
booth - in this case, the T is a part of the TH and is a separate and distinct sound.

WHY IT MAY BE HARD

It can be hard to know WHEN to pronounce the T-sound and when not to. Furthermore, in some accents like the General Canadian English accent and the General American English accent, we don’t always pronounce the T-sound ourselves.

Let me explain.

kitten - In this word, North American English speakers will often use a different sound instead. It’s called a glottal stop /?/ and is a sound produced the the obstruction of air at the level of the vocal cords. Basically, instead of pronouncing kitten, North Americans will say “ki.en” like there’s a pause or stoppage of sound.
water, later, butter - In this word, North American English speakers will use a flap t or /ɾ/ which looks like an ‘r’ but without the top line, it just curves. This distinction is a North American English pronunciation difference - so if you’re learning one of the many British English accents for example, they do in fact pronounce the T-sound. It just depends on where you are in the world and the conventions that the region adopts for English pronunciation. Pay attention on how native speakers in your region say words where the T-letter appears between two vowels. This is the specific context that will let you know. This is actually the explanation of why sometimes the T-letter is pronounced like a D-sound instead.
For example, butter (BUDer), university (uniVERSidy), pretty (prih-dee), water (WAder), computer (comPUder), Twitter (TWIder) all fall into this category.
trick, trial, true - When the T-letter comes before a R at the beginning of a word, you may notice that North American native English speakers may not actually pronounce the T like a T-sound. Instead, it sounds more like a CH-sound. So....instead of TRUE it sounds more like CHREW. This is actually because the CH-sound is a combination of the T-sound and the SH-sound, so it still shares properties of the T-sound but it isn’t a pure T-sound.
interview, wanted, counter - When the T-letter comes after an N, it can sometimes be overlooked and not even pronounced when the speaker is speaking quickly. So instead of INTERVIEW, you get INNERVIEW

WHAT TO DO

So let's say you do have trouble with your T-sound. What can you do about it.

Well here are the features of the T-sound.

Place of articulation - The tongue tip firmly touches the ridge behind the top teeth
Manner of articulation - Airflow is temporarily blocked by the tongue before is allowed to burst
Voiced or unvoiced - voiceless (this means the vocal cords do not vibrate while producing the T-sound).

TIPS & EXTRA CONSIDERATIONS

1. Think about the position of the letter to help figure out the pronunciation.

If the T appears as the last sound of a word, it does not need to be aspirated (a.k.a. you don’t need to release the T-sound. It just stops)

Example words and phrases include: hot, a lot, stop it, wait, right, eight, late

If the T appears between two vowels, it may not be pronounced as a T but may start to sound like a D-sound or a flap T /ɾ/.

Example words and phrases include: later, butter, water

If the T appears immediately after an N, it may skipped entirely.

Example words and phrases include: interview, international, splinter, wanted, counter

In consonant clusters that start with a T-letter, it may instead be pronounced as a CH- sound.

Example words and phrases include: traitor, trade, tried, trick, trample, truck

2. It’s important to remember that in consideration #1, I am writing about nuances to English pronunciation where I live - Canada. Depending on where you live, that regional accent may in fact have different pronunciation rules - these are the subtle things that distinguish a Canadian English speaker to an American English speaker to a British English speaker.

HOPE IT HELPS!

I’m breaking down every single sound down for you so that you can learn how to produce each sound in English accurately. Sometimes, we’ll have easier sounds and sometimes we’ll have harder sounds.

If you’ve grasped this sound, then great! But if you’ve got a tip that might work for others, or you took a while to produce this sound correct but something clicked for you, let me know down below in the comments. My goal is to have a community know what to do when they’re stuck!

The T-Sound