I think the most notorious of our English reductions is pronouncing "have" as "of", resulting in so many people incorrectly writing "could of" or "should of" when they mean "could've" or "should've".
Very true, I notice this error all the time. It happens of course because "could've" and "should've" are contractions and so the full word "have" is reduced.
@@margaritakleinman5701 Isn't it more that you're just hearing "of" then? The same reduction rule in 'to' applies to 'of' doesn't it? United State of America, tends to sound like 'v America.
@@ARUCARDFTEPES So when people say "should've" or "could've", it will sound like "should of" or "could of". But of course it wouldn't be correct to write it that way.
Ok I'm a native English speaker and I guess I never realized how I pronounced my tos until watching this video. I still say its pronounced like too and two though, it just depends on how fast you're speaking which is why saying it by itself sounds the same as the others
I remember listeting to native speakers pronouncing To and think that it definitely wasn't a "TU" sound, but when I asked my teachers, they said it is pronounced TU. That was confusing. Thanks Rachel to show me I wasn't crazy! 😅🤪
As a native speaker, this video is hilarious and super informative. You don't really notice the nuances of spoken English until someone points it out directly, and it's done really well here. I will share this video with my fiance who is a non-native speaker. She's 100 percent fluent, but wishes to sound more native in American English. I'm sure she will love this channel!
I was a straight A English student living in Germany and worked in the USA quite some time. So my English is above average. Your videos still show me how much there is to explore, learn and understand. Also you do this in such an excellent and interesting way that I caught myself putting down urgent work whenever your videos push. Thank you so much for the excellent work
@@douggta6 Just in case you were not kidding, a "Straight A Student" refers to a student who always gets "A" grades on a specific subject class, in this case an English class, it doesn't have anything to do with him being straight or gay. And being gay or straight refers to an orientation not a preference.
I agree. Here's an example: Person A: Why didn't you mow the lawn? Person B: [annoyed] I was _going_ to! I think "to" is also pronounced "tu" if it is followed by another vowel sound: "Shall I compare thee _to_ a summer's day?" You say "tu" because "tuh" is too similar to a's "uh".
@@KingsleyIII i wonder a little... because most vowel sounds will tend to shift towards an "uh" sound in normal speach, but when one vowel sound is immediately followed by another vowel sound, does that always translate to the first vowel sound being more clearly annunciated?
In, "which movie are you going to?" the "to" is pronounced the same as two and too. In, "we're going to the movie" it's pronounced [tuh]. So it's pronunciation depends on where the word is found in a sentence and the emphasis desired.
I discovered gorgeous Rachel on video series called 100 most common words in American English , believe it or not those videos saved my English pronunciation ✌ i can't stop thanking you teacher ❣
I thought of two exceptions. When “to” is before a vowel (some of your examples did this, so I expected you to touch on it) and when “to” ends a sentence and represents half of an infinitive, but the verb isn’t spoken because it’s implied: “Are you gonna bring extra flashlight batteries on the camping trip?” “I don’t think I need *to.* It’s only one weekend.” That “to” would be /tu/, no schwa
I wish I could find someone teaching reductions in other languages like you are doing here for English. Not knowing impairs understanding. Thank you for these enlightening videos.
This is the only place I hear this information. I am so grateful for bringing relief to my mind. As I feel that there's something different, but I cannot specify it as I was taught the rule only. No one ever explained that this was not the rule in spoken English. Thank you!
I love your teaching method that focuses on subtle differences of your native language. I love English, and I love the way you make videos with animations. It's easy to understand and digest. Most people think the details are minor, but I'm on your side. I believe many correct little things create beautiful English, not just decent one.
I have to confess that I was using TO for all of the DUH pronunciation After this video my tongue feels more freely less stress out ! Thank you so much for helping us out , you nailed it !✨✨
As a native speaker of American English, I do most frequently use reductions of to when speaking. However, I think there are times (not very frequent) that we do pronounce to as tu. It occurs most frequently when we are enunciating for clarity of comprehension. I work with a lot of non-native speakers of English, and therefore probably enunciate more frequently as a result. I find it interesting that we use reductions without realizing it. It’s similar to how often we use contractions (like the first word of this sentence). Thanks Rachel for helping people learn English how we actually speak it.
So I might've missed it in the video, or maybe the American accent does this differently, but I don't believe this reduction applies if the word after "to" starts with a vowel. You can actually hear this at 11:02 in "Let's get to it." But a fun and informative video overall. I do like exploring these little weirdnesses that we commit without even realising.
Wow, good catch! Interestingly, we would connect the "to" with the next vowel with a "w". So, "to it" is pronounced "to(w)it". Other examples are "to(w)engage" and "to(w)add". So instead of a reduction, we run into a different weird English rule, haha.
@@nyanSynxPHOENIX This is true. Interestingly, though, we still do the usual reduction if the following word starts with a "w". Try, for example, "I want to attempt to walk to work." When I say this, the first "to" is not reduced - though it connects to "attempt" with a "w" sound - and the second two are reduced. If I deliberately reduce the first "to", it makes it sound like I am saying "wattempt".
Note on gonna/gotta: they're grammar sensitive. "To" can be a helping verb *or* a preposition. Because "going" and "got" are verbs that can be used with either "to" (I can't think of a situation where "want" would be followed by a preposition), the reduction only happens with the helping verb. For example, "I'm going to do it" (where "to" is a helping verb) can be reduced to "I'm gonna do it". But "I'm going to the house" (where "to" is a preposition) would not be reduced to "I'm gonna the house". Or "I got to do it" can be "I gotta do it". "I got to the house" could be "I got ta the house", but wouldn't be "I gotta the house".
That's amazing. I once asked an american friend: "How do you pronounce the words *I* and *my* ? He pronounced both words with a full and clear [aɪ] sound. And then I pointed out that in spoken english these two words are often reduced and americans pronounce them like My [mə], I [ə] I'm gonna sell [mə] house [ə] don't know.
Even as someone from the south, I don’t really shorten I, and it definitely is not shortened to a schwa. However, I do feel the “i” in “I” (sorry, no phonetic keyboard) can almost become “yeu” making the full sound “ayeu”
As a Brazilian, I like my favorite English teacher on this level! Of course I had several internet important English teachers, one in each earlier levels! I think this level is toward the fluency!
Hi Rachel. Don't worry if some say you're teaching "lazy" 5:53 English. The reason why they think that way is because they do not live in an English speaking country and have not been exposed to real spoken English. More often than not, they watch BBC or CNN to learn English in their countries. These channels tend to use more formal English. Before coming to Canada, I myself didn't know that native speakers of English reduce some words and link them. The reason for all this mess is that English textbooks do not teach reductions and linking at all, so students don't know about them. Keep up the good work!
As a native American English speaker who has lived abroad for a couple of years, I find these videos interesting. I wish they existed when I was living in the French speaking area of Switzerland. That said, as someone whose occupation requires both regular public speaking and formal business conversation, I disagree with the way that the video characterizes "tuh" and "gonna" as formal spoken English. For instance, many of the examples of public speaking included in the video were of American politicians making speeches intended for the general public, and they were trying to appear "folksy." Barack Obama is one of the greatest political orators of the last 50 years, if not longer. His speeches don't all sound like the clip here. His choice of pronunciation was very deliberate on his part. It's important to understand that the distinctions being made are highly dependent upon factors such as the audience, the content and the region in which you're speaking. For instance, I absolutely say "I'm gonna run and grab a sandwich - dja wanna come wi me?" But 10 minutes earlier, I might have told a client that "I'm going to ["too"] revise your document before I leave to ["too"] get [with a pronounced "t" at the end] lunch." I'm not the teacher here, but I'd personally recommend that people start by learning how to speak formally, and moving more relaxed once they know better how to read a room as to the appropriate level of formality.
Already 4.3 subscribers... You've come along way Rachel. Most useful English learning Channel on RU-vid. Learnt a lot from you, Rach. When God wrote that I would be fluent in English, I owe you my "American" accent.
As a pretty fresh ESL teacher, I love watching these videos. It was interesting trying to thinking during this one when I ever would pronounce “to” as “too, two” during speech, and the only times I do it are when I am drawing the word “to” out to think or if my sentence is ending with “to”. I loved watching this, and I hope this will help me when I’m teaching in Vietnam this upcoming semester :)
Dialect in each language is natural…no one speaks the language correctly in my opinion. The English language is more difficult to master as it is not a phonetic language. And even in phonetic languages there are dialects. There is no wrong or right in the English language, especially nowadays. I get your point, but it will impossible to have everyone speaking identically. Even the Ancient Greek that has rules and is a purely phonetic alphabet, had dialects from region to region…
As a Russian mother tongue I would say that we have similar processes in the Russian language: assimilation and reduction but native speakers never heard about them. I was thrilled when I learned that we have a shwa sound in almost every word because of heavy reduction of unstressed vowels. It was funny to figure out that there are three different vowels in the word moloko (milk) (shwa, u -sound like in the English word cut , and o) while native speakers consider them to be a and o : malako.
I was thinking about this topic so long ago about why there's no video on this topic But After all, we've our best English teacher who knows what is in our students' mind Thank you ma'am for this amazing topic Thank you very much
Thanks a million to contribute not only my listening but also my speaking in english. You're a true inspiration for me and I appreciate all the things you have teached me so far. Greetings from my country, Turkey. Love your content. Keep going :) ❣
It’s always interesting to listen to your videos, even though I’m a native English speaker. This lesson reminds me of practicing liaison in French. We never really think about the fact that we also do something similar in English. When you learn by listening. As you grow up, it’s done naturally without any thought.
Has a native speaker I totally thought 'to' was dropped in a lot of sentences like "needa go now". or I thought it sounded more like "tuh or ta". so this is super interesting. Watching your videos make me feel sane because I would talk to other native english speakers and they did not believe me when I said they would pronounce things not like they were.
I think a lot of native speakers may think they're pronouncing some words as they're written, but are not. I remember awhile back, someone telling me that nobody ever really pronounces the word "for" as "for", that they don't really pronounce the "o". I began to pay attention and I realized it was true, no one actually says "for"! It sounds more like "fur".
thank you so much Rachel, im from Vietnam, i have a friend in the USA and she will go to Vietnam to travel, Your videos will help me to communicate with her better. Wish you all the best, thanks
Thanks Rachel - all really interesting. Worth adding that most of this also holds true in British English, except that we are less keen on 'gonna' and 'wanna', etc.. Also, we almost always reduce 'to' to 'te' (rather than 'de' or 'duh'), and - interestingly - we Brits do give it its full "too" pronunciation before any word beginning with a vowel. e.g. I'm going "too" Africa, then I'm going too-w-America, then I'm going "te" China. 🙂
British speaker here too, but with a weird foray into American as a child and back to British, lol. I found this so interesting, but I did find that in the practice sentences, I pronounced a much shortened " Tu" instead of te or de, except for one (of course, because what is English except a mass of exceptions?) I think, as a native English non American speaker, it is really interesting to hear the American accent taught.
thank God that you exist, you just save me from problems, I had problems how to understand native English speakers, because the written words and pronunciation of a word in English are very different, it is difficult to understand when speaking native speakers, and your lessons give us a positive, thank you for your diligence
This definitely depends on dialect and accent. The reduction definitely isn't wrong, but in my dialect and accent (Scottish English) I typically don't schwa my tos. It's a slightly shorter [u] but it still has the rounding and positioning it would normally have. My twos are pronounced normally, and my toos are typically a little longer with more emphasised rounding.
@@LunaLasceria She also keeps saying "native English speaker" or "native speaker" without any reference to dialect. This could be seen as an implication for it being the case across all dialects of English with this video just focusing on American examples.
Most Americans pronounce like you say and anyway American English is really Irish English so as Canadian English is some sort of Scottish English. To when reduced is with an oo as in good or a u as in put. Two reduces staying long but the u is the same as in bush, would… t’wo is t’would without the d.
Great vid! I also think there tends to be a slight but noticeable difference between 'two' and 'too', not in pronunciation per se, but where 'too' is often held out for about a half beat longer. You can hear this lengthening with John at 1:05. Having practiced a couple of languages where vowel length is important (Ancient Greek and Japanese), I've become used to tuning in for that distinction.
I was tought "to" is short, "too" or "two" is long. Such simple explanation is good enough for me. My language has a special sign for prolonging the sound of the vowel, therefore everybody here understands what is a short vowel and long vowel without need to make 10 minutes video.
In the playground example - the reduced 'teh' puts emphasis on the playground as the location of travel. Pronouncing it 'too' puts emphasis on the action 'going'. For example, we are going 'too' the playground for the grand opening, not watching from a distance
The same is true for the littel word "of", I noticed. I'm a German native speaker trying to figure out the pitfalls of American English. Your videos seem to be targeted towards a more experienced audience, which I like. Subscribed!
Thank you so much for this video! I've been waiting for years for something like that. It's a pet peeve of mine, since we Brazilians tend to use "chew" for all of those words, and it was a surprise for me when I first realized native speakers are not aware of all the different forms the word "to" can be pronounced.
8:17 With the two Ts next to each other I think the first /t/ does still get realized, as a glottal stop. If you actually do just run them together it sounds strange.
My greetings and big respect to Brazil! 🇧🇷 I really dream about visiting your beatiful country someday. Yet, I make fun English lessons, podcasts and live vlogs 😊 Have a great day! 🙌
Rachel, I’ve been watching your videos for about 10 years and I always learn a new thing with every video, you’re an amazing teacher! By the way, I wanted to ask you if there is a difference between these three phrases in spoken English - I wanted - I want it - I won it I hope you can help me, because I find these three very tricky and I’m not sure if I should pronounce the differently
Hi! Whenever I need to figure out the difference between words like this I use Dictionary.com - then, if I have questions about pronunciation - I use YouGlish.com to hear native speakers pronounce the words in different situations!
@Claudio Cast, "I wanted" is, in my standard American accent, pronounced [ai-wah-nud]. "I want it" is [ai-wah-ni'] with a glottal stop replacing the final "t" sound. "I won it" is [ai-wuh-ni'] or [ai-wuh-nit]
@@randybugger3006 Thanks for answering my question! So basically “I want it” and “I won it” sound the same, and “I wanted” sounds different because of the voiced final D, right?
@@oidualclaudi0 the difference between "won it" and "want it" comes down to the vowel in "won" being pronounced as [uh] and in "want" being pronounced [ah]. To a native speaker these two sounds are very distinct from one another but my suspicion is that non-native speakers have a harder time distinguishing between them. I experience a similar failure of differentiation between [k], [kh] and [q] when I'm listening to speakers of Arabic.
Fascinating! . . . However, there is a very simple solution: pronounce the Ts! And, lo and behold, the problem goes away. So, Claudio, come to England, and you'll hear that your 3 examples sound TOTALLY different! Best of luck. : )
Rechel, I love the way you make your videos, I love the style you convey information. I love the topics, I love design and stuff. I love your voice tone and charisma. I love you
Been living here for over 10 years and still struggle with pronunciation at times. Your videos are amazing to improve AmEn pronunciation and loosen up a bit foreign accents
You're the best american accent teacher ever!! I'm really trying to get an american accent and your videos help a lot. The academy must be so amazing, really wanted to enter but we don't even have international credit cards in Cuba 🙄. Hope I can enter one day. Thanks for helping so much with your lessons ❤
My kids give me grief about gonna, wanna, gotta because their mother gave them grief about using it. We tried to get them to enunciate this more clearly, but I was never all that committed.
Hi, Rachel, awesome video every week you bring a new challenging video about pronunciation, and reduction, and all the people getting reap the benefits of watching your videos thanks.
I totally agree to these...during my college days I could speak a good written english but not that fluent in speaking the language...I live in the Philippines but I speak about 75% english than my native tongue (english is our 2nd language)...I also attended an american accent short course to further my knowledge and I found out this reduction is true to any language (correct me if I'm wrong). We as Filipinos also use words in a short form- "too lazy" to pronounce everything, eg. Instead of saying "mayroon" (do have) -we say "meron" which means the same thing... 😂
It's true. In isolation, we pronounce them all the same. But in actual use, it's more like "tuh" or even " t' " - just the "T" sound. I personally don't use the "D" variation; always a hard "T", irrespective of the preceding word. With phrases like "want to go there" or "need to go there", I sometimes pronounce the "D" and "T" separately, or both "Ts" with a subtle separation, but most often, "want to go" becomes "wann' t' go", with the "N" in "want" having a harder, slightly prolonged sound, and "need to go" becomes "needh t' go", with the "D" in "need" voiced, but very softly. With a phrase like "let's get down to it", or "own up to it", or "what are you up to (today/right now/later)?" I do pronounce "to" as I would if saying it in isolation - "tu". Or if I'm speaking emphatically, the "to" is "tu". Someone mentioned elsewhere, how "should have/could have/would have" often become "should of/could of", etc. ... not something I personally do; I will use the contracted form occasionally ("should've"), but almost always voice it with a pronounced distinction, "should have", and never "should of". I'm a native speaker, but have been occasionally told by other native speakers that I pronounce things "too properly". I'm also very frequently told that I have an accent they can't place. It's kind of funny.
@@rachelsenglishMy pleasure! You make English language so simple yet so beautiful making the viewers feel like" what the heck,why couldn't I figure it out myself" You have the gift of teaching the mindless morons and real smart learners with equal ease. You really are special and unique. Hats off to you Rachel!! So long... See you on the other side..
This series is so useful!! I figured that the same thing comse to "What are you doing?" in spoken English; it always sounds like "What DO you doing?" to me.
Outstanding!!!!!This video really distinguishes you from other You Tube teachers as a very knowledgeable and superb teacher. I love this video very much. It is so helpful and valuable. Hope you keep teaching us for a long time. It will make me confident You Tube has pretty high quality, trustable, reliable, and authorities teachers like you. You are actually better than that. Thank you so much !!!!!!!!!!!
In German the vowel combination "au" is taught as just being a+u but it actually sounds like "ao" but Germans will not admit it. They think they are saying "a+u".
Thank you Ms. Rachel. I already know English since I was little considering that I grew up here in the Philippines. Although, with your FREE lessons, I was able to fix my accent and learn how to say words sounding more like Native American. Thank you so much. I love you. I wish you more blessings and a good health. ☺
Rachel, I remember your mother from one of your videos (on how to pronounce 'what') from ages ago, but I'd never seen your father! It was good to see them here! Btw, thank you so much for today's lesson! ❤
That is interesting! I have heard this from native speakers and never paid close attention. I often pause when using the word "to". I am not explaining that correctly, but I trip over the word occasionally. I am not explaining it correctly, I think.
🤣 I’m a TEFL instructor so I found this very helpful but I gotta admit that I always use wanna, gonna, and gotta in everything but formal writing. Thx!
The consonant at the beginning of "to," unless there's special emphasis almost always assimilates to the sound immediately before it. If it's a vowel or a voiced consonant, it'll typically be the "d" sound. After an unvoiced consonant it'll tend to be the "t." When the word before ends in a "t" that sound will essentially become a glottal stop and then "to" will start with the unvoiced "t." And by emphasis, I usually mean ending the sentence with "to." "I *want* to."
As a child of the south, I learned to NEVER use what you term as "lazy English". Words like "hafta" and "gonna" were improper and only used on the playground.
These are always so interesting and makes me rethink the fundamentals, especially useful when teaching elementary English. After watching, I was thinking about when you might actually pronounce "to" fully, and I think the only time we really do is if it is alone, or is at the end of the sentence. Though it is uncommon for a sentence to end in a preposition, if "to" is the last word said, it usually is fully pronounced, I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong!
I don’t pronounce a lot of words in a sentence, not just the word to. My words seem to blend together like one big word. I cut off the end and beginning of certain words, to transition from one word to the next, smoothly, and without a lot of mouth movement. Yet, I just did a conscious experiment in my head, and silently read sentences. My head voice did the same thing. I guess I’m just so used to hearing it spoke that way, that I subconsciously do it in my head - where there is no mouth movement. It just flows better together, like poetry, or a song.
The word “ too” can be confusing for foreign speakers. Just teach them to use “ also”, although for native Americans, “ also” is a word used in written language more than in spoken language
@@rollmeinrice heh, you said the alternative that is better than ‘also’ in that sentence Ngl, I never really see people say also at the end of a sentence, especially in modern American English. It’s always ‘too’ or ‘as well’
Reductions happen in all languages. My father complained he didn't understand even though he had studied Spanish. I pointed put that they smeared (didn't know it was called a reduction) words just like when we say "Wha cha gonna do?" There's only one word that is like what you learn in classes. I stsrted to pick up on the "rules" of reductions as I listened to native speakers but I wish I had been taught this in class.
I'm teaching English in Japan and most students have a pretty basic level so I always pronounce all words as if they were individual because I've noticed students think it's too difficult with reductions, at least in the beginning. Maybe it's wrong, maybe I should start the reductions immediately...?
A lot of the reductions are acquired by listening and practice .. Introduce them gradually as they get deeper into the language. I am a non native advanced English speaker, some reductions are done naturally, others are acquired in a lot of sentences, practice helps, imitation a bit perhaps ..
I never noticed Americans did this but now I can hear it everywhere and its really interesting. I'm not American but I'm still a native English speaker and here we do pronounce the whole 'to' but it has more of a 'tu' sound and 'too' is always noticeably longer.
