IPA phoneme /n/

In English, both in Received Pronunciation and in General American, the IPA phonetic symbol /n/ corresponds to the initial consonant sound in words like "nice" and "know" and the final one in "one" and "can".

Common words
Initial pronunciation of /n/:
 * knee - knife - knock - know - name - near - need - never - new - next - nice - night - note - nothing - now - number

Final pronunciation of /n/:
 * again - begin - between - can - down - even - happen - man - mean - own - question - run - then - turn - when - woman

Middle pronunciation of /n/:
 * as "n": company - country - end - enough - interest - many - money - understand
 * as "nn": announce - annual - channel - connection - dinner - funny - manner

/n.n/ vs /n/

 * /n.n/: meanness, unknown, unnatural, unnecessary
 * /n/: cannot, innate, innovation

If a word cannot be separated in two components (such as mean-ness or can-not) then there is no doubt that the pronunciation is /n/.
 * announce, annual, connection, dinner, funny

Assimilation
Before /k/ or /g/, /n/ can optionally be pronounced as in an alternative pronunciation of income as. There are no minimal pairs in which the difference is and  or

In many words the combinations "nc", "nch", "nk" and "nq" represent /ŋk/, as in uncle, anchor, ink and banquet. In many words "ng" represents /ŋg/ as in finger and kangaroo.

Before /p/ or /b/, /n/ can be pronounced [m] as in an alternative pronunciation of input as. There are no minimal pairs in which the difference is /np/ and /mp/, or /nb/ and /mb/.

Before /f/ or /v/, /n/ and /m/ may be neutralized and pronounced [ɱ], a labiodental nasal. This explains common misspellings such as.

Assimilation may occur across word boundaries: "in case" pronounced [ɪŋ ˈkeɪs], "in place" pronounced [ɪm ˈpleɪs] and "in front" pronounced [iɱ frʌnt].

Lack of assimilation
The following words are shown with /nk/ in most dictionaries.
 * With "nc": conclude - conclusion - encourage - include - income - incorporate - increase - unclear
 * With "nch": melancholic - melancholy
 * With "nk": mankind - painkiller - unkind
 * With "nq": enquire - inquire - unquestionable

The following words are shown with /ng/ in most dictionaries.
 * congratulate, engage, engrave, ingrained, ingredient, sunglasses, ungrateful

The following words are shown with /nb/ in most dictionaries.
 * cranberry, rainbow, sunbathe, unbearable, unbelievable

The following words are shown with /np/ in most dictionaries.
 * gunpowder, input, unpack, unpleasant, unpopular

Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1
Preconceived ideas and other interferences from L1 obviously interfere in many cases with how students perceive - and pronounce - sounds/words in English. The following section aims to point out some of the most typical difficulties teachers and students may encounter regarding pronunciation.

Spanish
Assimilation is normal in Spanish. Not only [ˈimput] as a Spanish word is more common than [ˈinput]. The latter can hardly be pronounced.