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Proper Pronunciation Guide
filling
[fɪ lɪŋ]
Tips:
Pronounce the first letter “i” as the short vowel
/ɪ/ —like the vowel in the word “sit.”
Pronounce the letters “ing” as /ɪŋ/.
Practice Sentences:
He spilled some coffee while filling his cup.
He was feeling rather full after filling up on doughnuts.
The dentist said she would need another filling.
She enjoyed filing her nails.
They were filing their papers for divorce.
Definitions:
(verb, present participle) To increase the volume of something inside a container to its outer or upper-most limits.
(noun) Sometimes the substance or material that is used to fill something as, for example, the material that a dentist puts into a decayed tooth or the stuffing that is put into a pillow or the packing material in a box.
Notes:
Speakers frequently mix up the pronunciation of the words filing, filling, and feeling. How can the spelling of each of these words tell us how to pronounce them? In the word “file” the letter “i” is known as a “long i,” which is pronounced /ɑ͜i/—like the name of the letter itself, because it is followed by a single consonant letter and a “silent” letter “e.” Consequently, the letter “i” in the present and past participles of this verb, filing and filed, is also pronounced /ɑ͜i/ because it is followed by one consonant letter. In the word “fill” the letter “i” is known as a “short i,” which is pronounced /ɪ/ , because it is followed by two consonant letters—in this case a double consonant “l.” Consequently, the letter “i” in the present and past participles of this verb, filling and filled, is also pronunced /ɪ/ because it is followed by two consonant letters. The letter “i” is also pronounced /ɪ/ when it is followed by a single consonant letter with no silent “e” after the consonant, such as in the name Phil (short for Philip) and the words sit, rib, slip, if, whim, and so on. The two consonants following the letter “i” may be pronounced as one sound, as in fill, filling, dinner, and lick, or they may be pronounced as two different sounds, as in film, list, pink, and wind. In both cases they cause the letter “i” to be pronounced /ɪ/ . In the word “feeling” the double letter “e” is pronounced /i/—like the name of the letter “e.” The reason that the pronunciations of “feeling” and “filling” are frequently mixed up is not because of their spellings but rather because of a confusion about the articulation of the two vowel sounds /i/ and /ɪ/ , which are very close to each other in the mouth. They are both high, front vowels, meaning that the front of the blade of the tongue is close to the palate for both vowels, the first being a tense and long vowel and the second being a lax and short vowel. For many foreign speakers of English these two vowel sounds tend to blend together, and one may be substituted for the other. Thus, they may confuse pairs of words such as sheep/ship, leave/live, these/this, and feeling/filling. To avoid embarrassment be especially careful of the words peace, sheet, and beach.
fɪ lɪŋ]