IPA reference · consonant
m — bilabial nasal
Lips closed, soft palate lowered, air escapes through the nose.
How to make the bilabial nasal
Close the lips and hum.
English reference points: man, hum. If you speak English natively you already produce this sound — the work is recognising it and placing it where the target language wants it.
Languages that use it
| Language | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| French | main | hand |
What this means for learners
In French, Portuguese and Polish, a written m after a vowel often marks nasalisation of that vowel rather than a consonant of its own.
Teaching this sound
Describing a sound in words gets a student roughly half the way there. The other half is hearing it produced correctly, immediately after producing it incorrectly, with both versions available to replay. That is the argument for recording during the lesson rather than after it: the student leaves with your model of m attached to the actual words they got wrong, not to an abstract chart.
Frequently asked questions
What sound does the IPA symbol m make?
m is the bilabial nasal. Lips closed, soft palate lowered, air escapes through the nose. In English you can hear it in: man, hum.
How do you pronounce m?
Close the lips and hum.
Which languages have the bilabial nasal?
Among the languages covered here: French (main, “hand”).