G Words for Speech Therapy (Word Lists and Activities) - The Pedi Speechie (2024)

If you’re a speech-language pathologist looking for a quick list of initial and final g target words to practice during therapy, this article provides the perfect starting place! You’ll also find excellent ideas for making speech therapy more fun with a variety of engaging games, resources, and articulation activities for teaching the g sound. This blog post provides a list of initial and final g words, and it also suggests a variety of strategies for teaching correct placement. If you’re interested, you may also want to check out this article on eliciting k sounds.

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Correct Position of the Tongue for the G Sound

The g sound is a lingua-velar stop sound. It is a voiced sound, meaning the vocal folds vibrate during production. The correct production of g involves the front of the tongue (the tongue tip) being placed behind the front lower teeth. The back part of your tongue is lifted, or raised, during g production. It makes contact with the soft palate. This forms a seal. Air pressure builds up behind the tongue. When the soft palate seal breaks, we hear an explosion of air as it is released into the oral cavity.

Reference: Peña-Brooks Adriana, and M. N. Hegde. Articulation and Phonological Disorders: Assessment and Treatment Resource Manual, PRO-ED, Austin, TX, 2007,

Common G Sound Errors

Sometimes, students with articulation disorders or phonological disorders have difficulty producing the g sound. The g sound is considered to be a “back sound”. Young children may substitute sounds made in the back of the mouth (like velar sounds, k and g), for sounds made in the front of the mouth (such or t or d). This is a phonological process called velar fronting.

A child might also completely leave off endings sounds, such as the g sound. An example would be saying “dah” for “dog”. This is a phonological process known as final consonant deletion. Read about more phonological processes, which can impact the intelligibility of a child’s speech.

See Also

245+ G Words, Phrases, Sentences, & Paragraphs Grouped by Place & Syllable600+ G Words Lists for Speech Therapy Articulation - Speech Therapy Store6615 Words that Start with G

How To Teach the G Sound in Speech Therapy

If you are a speech language pathologist working on this target sound with a student, there are many different ways to elicit production.

Articulation Tools for Teaching the G Sound

There are a few tools a speech therapist may like to have on hand when teaching the g sound to young children in speech and language therapy. Typically, these tools include a typodont, a mirror, and a tongue depressor.

A typodont is a helpful tool because it can be used to show lingual placement. I often tap behind the bottom front teeth on a typodont to remind my students to keep the tongue tip down.

A speech therapist might consider using a mirror in speech therapy in order to provide extra visual feedback.

A tongue depressor might be helpful to help assist with keeping the tongue in the correct position.

Strategies for Teaching the G Sound in Speech Therapy

A speech language therapist might find it beneficial to try giving this sound a silly name. It could be something like “your gulping sound”.

Need some ideas for tongue placement? Velars (k and g) can sometimes be elicited by having your student lay on his back. This can help get the tongue into the correct position.

I often have to place a lot of emphasis on inhibiting tongue tip elevation. Frequently, I give several reminders to my students when I see the tongue tip lifting. I will use descriptions like “this is your tongue DOWN sound”. I also often say things like “touch your bottom front teeth”.

Simple reminders such as, “Uh oh! Your tongue tip went up!”, paired with a hand motion are a great way to help students understand how to place and position the front of the tongue and the back of the tongue.

Many students find auditory bombardment helpful. This involves reading a story, or a list of words, to your student. The list includes the target sound. The student needs to listen to, but not repeat, the words.

SLPs may wish to use the word lists included in this post for auditory bombardment.

Finally, school SLPs may wish to incorporate minimal pairs into articulation therapy sessions.

Speech Sound Word Lists for the G Sound

The following word lists contain words with the initial g sound, medial g sound, and final g sound. These articulation word lists allow the SLP to easily work on a target sound in speech therapy. Quickly pull these word lists up during your speech therapy session and pair them with the game or activity of your choice. These lists are helpful for a student with an articulation disorder. To practice at the sentence level, have students combine words and generate sentences.

Initial G Word List for Speech Therapy

Here is a list of initial g words (g at the beginning of a word) to use in speech therapy:

1. go
2. goose
3. guess
4. gown
5. guy
6. gulp
7. gum
8. goal
9. golf
10. gull
11. gallon
12. gallop
13. garage
14. garden
15. golden
16. goldfish
17. goodbye
18. goalie
19. gorilla
20. gallery

Medial G Word List for Speech Therapy

Here is a list of medial g words (g in the middle of a word) to use in speech therapy:

1. begin
2. piggy
3. foggy
4. again
5. digging
6. eager
7. muggy
8. soggy
9. dragon
10. sea gull
11. jogging
12. biggest
13. nugget
14. wagging
15. Yoga
16. sugar
17. wagon
18. Oregon
19. magazine
20. together

Final G Word List for Speech Therapy

Here is a list of final g words (g in the final position of words) for speech-language pathologists to use in speech therapy:

1. bag
2. beg
3. big
4. bug
5. dig
6. dog
7. egg
8. fog
9. frog
10. leg
11. mug
12. peg
13. pig
14. hug
15. plug
16. shrug
17. twig
18. wag
19. wig
20. hot dog

Speech Therapy Activities for the G Sound

Speech-language pathologists need effective materials to target a variety of speech sounds. Here are articulation activities that a speech therapist can use to target the g sound in speech therapy.

G Words Speech Therapy Articulation Picture Cards

School SLPs will love these articulation speech sound mouth cards, which target a variety of specific speech sounds, including the g sound! For each speech sound, a mouth visual is provided. Target sounds are provided in initial, medial, and final word positions. This visual cue is very effective when trying to teach a new sound in speech therapy!

To assemble, simply print out the cards, laminate them, then cut them out. Assemble them together using a binder ring for easy storage. Print them out and send them for home practice to help a child practice with parents or caregivers. These cards offer a fun way to target articulation objectives in speech and language therapy.

Velar Fronting Minimal Pairs

Minimal pairs can be a fantastic way to target velar fronting in speech therapy! These minimal pairs are extremely easy for busy speech-language pathologists to use because every piece needed for a successful session is included on one organized page.

No more searching through endless cards, trying to find minimal pairs that fit your student’s needs! Auditory bombardment lists, an auditory discrimination activity, and minimal pair words are included on each page. This resource is also included in a Minimal Pairs Bundle.

Digital K and G Articulation Activity

This no print k and g articulation activity is perfect for teletherapy or in-person speech therapy sessions! Target k and g speech sounds at the word level while catching fireflies! After your student says a target word, tap the screen and the firefly will “move” into the jar. It is a simple, yet motivating articulation activity. This resource targets initial k, medial k, final k, initial g, medial g, and final g words. It is also available in a bundle.

Articulation Games for Speech Therapy

Want to try some fun games to make articulation drill more exciting?

Here are some of my favorite suggestions:

1. Let’s Go Fishin’– this game makes it easy to practice the word ‘go’ each time a child catches a fish!
2. Gator Golf- practice the words ‘gator’ or ‘golf’ with each turn
3. Gobble Monster Game– have your students practice the word ‘gobble’ before each turn

More Articulation Words for Speech-Language Pathologists

Are you in a hurry and need this article summed up? To see the g words, simply scroll up. Next, make sure to try out these best-selling g sound articulation resources:

1. speech sound mouth cards
2. velar fronting minimal pairs (also available as part of the Minimal Pairs Bundle)
3. digital k and g articulation activity for teletherapy

Don’t miss these other articulation word lists!

• S Word Lists
• L Word Lists
• F Word Lists
• K Word Lists
• TH Word Lists
• R Words for Speech Therapy
• Z Word Lists
• V Words for Speech Therapy