Author name: Curt Ford

English isn’t known for having lots of consonants in a row, but it can happen. And when it does… we may still not pronounce them all! Think about this common phrase: “next step.” In very careful speech it might sound like [nɛkst stɛp], but that sequence of [kstst] makes me feel like my tongue has […]

When we’re telling a story about ourselves, we often mention something we said to someone. And a very common way to express “said” is simply the word “like.” “He was, like, ‘It’s 20 degrees outside!’ And I’m, like, ‘No way!’” Not everyone approves of this use of “like,” but it’s very common. Perhaps because it’s

“Probably” has several different sound shapes – that is, it can pronounced in different ways. You can often hear the full pronunciation, with three syllables: I should probably… Probably many things… Probably the only place [pɹɑ́bǝbli] But that sequence of two [b] sounds can be a little awkward when you speak quickly. So it’s very

The common word “something” can have several soundshapes. The last consonant may change from [ŋ] as in “thing” to [n], as in “thin.” In very quick speech several sounds may be lost, and “something else” may sound like this: something else [sʌ̃ʔm̩ɛls] You may hear this when someone offers you something to drink: Do you

This is a pretty extreme example. In isolation, it could reasonably be understood as “this could be” (but it isn’t!). Can you guess what else could be squeezed into this soundshape? You’ll hear it three times. [ðǝsgǝbi] Click ‘solution’ to hear the example in context.

In North American English we often don’t pronounce ‘t’ clearly at the end of a word, especially if the next word begins with a consonant. Let’s listen to how a very common phrase like “it was” might sound. Often the /t/ in “it” will be replaced by a glottal stop. and it was… and it

It’s common to use a contraction “it’d” for “it would.” Since -t and -d at the end of a word are often left out when the next word begins with a consonant, this speaker pronounces “it’d be” as simply [ɪbi]. it’d be nice to have [ɪbináɪstǝhæv]

Listen to this clip (you’ll hear it three times): [ðǝčykn] In the context of a cooking show, I might interpret this as “the chicken” (though that vowel doesn’t sound quite right). With more context, though, it’s easier to recognize these words: so many different jobs that you can choose from […ðǝčyknčyzfɹǝm] Listen for how the

Can you understand this little phrase? You’ll hear it three times. In isolation, it’s almost impossible to understand, even for native speakers! If we hear the entire sentence, though, we have a better chance of decoding the words. After listening to the phrase in context, click on “transcript” to see what was said. So if

What did you do? [wʌʤudú] It’s common for [d] and [j] to blend into [ʤ]. Here the group of three consonants /what did/ all blend as well, so that “what did you” becomes [wʌʤu].