Flap T: Really a D Sound? American English Pronunciation

[@Patrickallan100]

Thanks for the video. As a Brazilian portuguese speaker, I've always been a little confused about it, but now I get it perfectly.

[@ricardomachado6792]

Everybody in Brazil thinks this sound is an R , but it isn't. Is kinda Lidle.

[@fgalvezr]

¡Gracias!

[@rachelsenglish]

Wow! Thanks a lot @fgalvezr, I appreciate it! :)

[@FlavourlessLife]

As a Briddish person, this drives me up the wall!

[@MRTOWELRACK]

It's funny how Americans often deny pronouncing 'T's like 'D's. As a Canadian, I can tell you that "water" isn't pronounced like "wodder" but then Canadians are accused of saying "aboot", Australians are accused of pronouncing words the laziest by often slurring syllables together, and the British (especially those of Manchester) are accused of cutting corners by skipping syllables. Considering that many Canadians say "courter" instead of "quarter", "Chrono" instead of "Toronto" which consequently further butchers the Mohawk origins of the original word, "Tkaronto" meaning "where there are trees standing in the water", as well as "klometer" instead of "kilometre", Canadians' pronunciation isn't amazing either.

[@whatsgoingonyall]

The US is number 3 in the world according to its population number (300 million people) so American accent is the most spoken English in the entire world. I'm from Asia, still learning English and it's very rare for a student here to learn English with a British accent. Let alone Australian, scottish and etc.

[@MRTOWELRACK]

Christine Han Just because Canadians created Hockey, we still gotta play by the rules. Well not exactly, language changes and what is deemed correct can entail many interpretations. Many Americans say "nitch" instead of "neesh" when pronouncing "niche" which is an example of when not going along with the crowd can serve you better, say "neesh".

[@marwanaldoual2503]

Christine Han as a none native learner of English I don't want to sound neither British nor American, I am not obliged to say it like American people

[@Nullllus]

You mean, Bri'ish?

[@ruimeireles1695]

Finally I see some explanation about this! I am Portuguese and I use the Portuguese "soft R" sound in words like daddy (PT: dáry) or better (PT: béra), but had never seen this being addressed before. What I see everywhere is that the pronunciation of "better" should be "bedder", while for me it is clearly a completely different sound. Thanks for pointing that out. The funny part is that native English people always have a hard time pronouncing the soft R in my language... but apparently they have the sound in their language after all, they just don't notice it.

[@hardline_fc]

sometimes it sounds like soft t, sometimes it ain't. like "better", you cant say berrer. stil understandable for me.

[@Woodsaras]

@@hardline_fc you absolutely can say 'bereR'. This is american english you dimwit

[@ndjxisjenxjix9525]

same thing happens to spaniards. We do have the same sounds as the j in jeans and the th as in there, but we dont notice it. We make that sound when there is no word before a /y/ sometimes and when a there's a d between vowels as in codo

[@quiquinguereiro]

Totally true - they do have this sound in their language, it just never crosses their minds that they actually do have it and the only thing they should do is to apply this existing flap T sound to the "r" letter whenever they bump into a word spelled with "r"

[@htsaul1569]

I'm a native portuguese speaker and I never noticed that a flappy t sounds like a R, but paying attention it really does. Thank so much, you're the best english's teacher of whole youtube.

[@flavio9576]

Esse som do inglês soa parecido (não igual) em palavras como "caro" ou "parar". Mas não é o caso em palavras como "quatRo" ou "tração".

[@phoenicius]

To me to sound actually as a R sound

[@rachelsenglish]

Hi Pedro. Thanks for backing me up. :) It is impossible to represent the sounds completely accurately, but we try! I am trying to work on my idiomatic expressions.

[@aiquesono]

I was soooo confused....everyone says it's has D sound but I always hear it and pronounce it like an R. My native language is Portuguese btw

[@usermel4075]

Guys, for her it is a /d/ sound, she said that, and it is because in her language the /r/ sound is completely different than ours. However, for us it resembles more to an /r/ sound. I speak Spanish, by the way.

[@flawyerlawyertv7454]

Sim, você está certo, esse som é igual o nosso R em caRA maRA saRA etc..

[@ayoubbenabbou9064]

Same with Arabic

[@Klaatu-Gort]

Same thing in Spanish

[@flawyerlawyertv7454]

José Ramón :)

[@LuisOcampoM]

You are such an amazing teacher! My native language is spanish and I've improved my pronunciation a lot because of you! thank you sooooooooo much!

[@FranciscoTornay]

From a Spaniard, fluent in American English: yes, spanish flap "r" (represented in IPA with the symbol you mention) is the __exact__ same sound, using the same muscles and the same tongue position, as the flap d/t

[@FranciscoTornay]

Wikipedia, e.g. uses the IPA r-like sound for the flap t (which they claim, should technically be called "tap", rather than "flap") en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flap_t

[@FranciscoTornay]

Francisco Tornay Also in this (more complete) entry of the Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervocalic_alveolar_flapping

[@FranciscoTornay]

I still think so. I'd say it does work for university.

[@riordonez]

Totalmente de acuerdo con Francisco, lo que pasa en que en español hay ere y erre, Ese sonido corresponde a la ere para ser más claros, como en la palabra coro, no en corro.

[@lvinicios777]

+Ricardo AYALA PORTILLO entonces son casi lo mismo sonido, no?

[@papateachme]

You sound like Sarah Silverman. That added to the fact that you rock makes me naturally a fan! :D

[@jhessetomarfortinmorazan3329]

Papa, I´ve learned a lot with you.

[@Anas-mv6qw]

Ooooh papa what are u doing here?

[@clayzakai8203]

sorry to be so offtopic but does anyone know of a method to get back into an instagram account? I was stupid lost the account password. I would love any tricks you can give me!

[@carlosbode8830]

@Clay Zakai Instablaster :)

[@clayzakai8203]

@Carlos Bode thanks for your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Takes a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@quiquinguereiro]

Hi! I am a native speaker of Spanish and I also teach Englsh as a second language, I am a certified ESL teacher. Considering my linguistic background I can guarantee that the flap T sound sounds exactly like our "r" in Spanish, it is exactly the same.

[@kr3533]

Nice to hear it. As an Spanish speaker this is like a gift to my soul xD

[@YoussefOver]

That's same in arabic

[@federicopineda5011]

Then potty and party are pronounced the same way?

[@laracroftvideos]

This is one of the coolest features of American English imo. Makes it sound so much more relaxed and casual. I can't stand the pronunciation where every T has that gigantic explosion of air following it British style.

[@savary5050]

Same lmao

[@rachelsenglish]

That's called a Stop T. I have a couple of videos on it --- try searching "RachelsEnglish T pronunciations" :)

[@MaryDona-k6p]

I am from Iraq. This is the first time I have discovered this wonderful channel. Thank you and i will follow it

[@rachelsenglish]

You're very welcome and thanks for sharing @MaryDona-k6p!

[@erbaseni]

Thank you for the explanation. I am Spanish speaking and I had the impression of the flap T being really an R. This video answered all my questions.

[@ScipiumAfr]

You gave me THE answer of all answers with this video Rachel!. Thank you

[@JustTonio]

So clarifying, Rachel. You're good at teaching! (well, we already knew it) Thank you very much.

[@elyasz8022]

Thank you very much. To be honest you corrected my American D.T properly. Besides you expose the secrets behind these practical American sounds. May God bless you. I love America.

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Elyas!

[@appleadam001]

Very useful video. As you said , most of Korean people recognize "tt" from the word "matter"as R sound . Even some of English teachers explain it as R sound. I hope Korean students in their class watch this video.

[@giovanifm1984]

As a Brazilian Portuguese speaker this advice help me a lot! is the exactly same sound as our "flap R"." Thank you Rachel!

[@tomyman1]

Gracias desde Argentina

[@PedroSantos-mk3pm]

I speak brazilian portuguese...my friends used to speaking 'you may be kiring me' for 'you may be kidding me'...I think that's easy speak kiring or kidding but the real sound is not japanese, portuguese or whatever...it is like poetry or 'music that you speak'...your sound for 'daddy' nobody can imitate 100 per cent, the sound beautiful, unique...as it is in 'party' or 'cut it off' or 'u2 bloody sunday...it is...language, you know.... But u dd in 'daddy' is almost a perfect transcription..

[@science_sahla_mahla]

FINALLY!!! someone talks about the "r" sound and arabic native language!! THANK YOU so much that helps me a lot!! i can finally sleep deeply lol

[@rachelsenglish]

Great!

[@asmaasoum4825]

Thank you so much Rachel I watched the video many times. As an Arabic and French speaker I had this issue. I say it sounds like R in Arabic too :)

[@Soaad77]

Me too I am an Arabic person ,yet I can't say either it's an ر sound nor د sound in Arabic which we don't have. But it's in between them. As if we start to pronounce the soft د then shift it to ر. It's so close to ر but not soft ر there's so soft sound of د at the beginning.

[@luuchoo93]

This was a fantastic explanation. I’m a Spanish speaker who’s been trying to imitate this American “flap T” sound, and I keep reading that it sounds like a “d” but it sounds 100% like a Spanish “r” to me, and I haven’t been able to replicate the “d” sound instead so I go with “r”. I’d love to know how to perfect this, because Americans use it all the time. Thanks

[@YoussefOver]

I'm Arabic speaker and i have same your story with flap D

[@TheMJFILHO]

The best explanation on the flap t I've ever seen so far!

[@pavelpopov2570]

I'm very happy that I came across your videos! They are very very useful!

[@tahannitahanni1344]

Ratchel thanks so much for your explanation . and you will always still my best teacher

[@juanmanuelmoramontes3883]

Completely true, I'm a native Spanish speaker, and it's basically the same sound as in Spanish not trilled «r» sound, that's why when a native English speaker tells me it sounds like a «d» I literally see no connection, mainly because the standard «d» sound in Spanish goes a little bit lower than in English and sounds less stopped, so yeah this was a great explanation, keep up with the good job!

[@Woodsaras]

Same. I find it super weird and annoying when they say that... But seems logical when they don't actualy have R's. They have that american R.

[@robertmora4483]

beatutiful voice she has !

[@CreePathe]

Thanks, Rachel

[@campos2]

you're the bessst EVER Rachel , this is a really explanation !!!! :) And is true I am brasilian and in Portuguese que D sound is represented as a R sound as in Radio. "ra"sound. I am CharlesCampos and thanks so much for this channel ! :)

[@vincentkim8054]

Can you teach us the different pronunciation between were and war. You are the best teacher ever.

[@vousereu]

As an American I also hear in other Americans and in my own speech the flap d sound at the end of words like should, could, etc.

[@user-dk9nqo2oi]

Is water pronounced warer?

[@amyfranklin38]

GREAT EXPLANATION!

[@rachelsenglish]

Glad you think so!

[@bobbie5646]

Thank you very much! Rachel. Very helpful!

[@esmeraldaclaros2824]

It was a very helpful video, thank you

[@gabrielmello3476]

You are the first teacher I see saying that it is like our R sound here in Brazil. Or one of the pronunciations of the letter r here. Thank you very much, you are great.

[@rachelsenglish]

You're very welcome Gabriel!

[@NoahAlexander-vl4kp]

As always, so helpful! thank u

[@rachelsenglish]

My pleasure!

[@marianovalentin9399]

The best. Thanks Rachel!

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Eco!

[@lyllies4143]

Wonderful!!!! Aaaaahh you are soooo smart!!!! Amazing!!!! Learning English in a whole New level. I am using a notebook to write all your lessons key points, but IT is not possible!!!!!Everything you say is Important and must be written down, resulting in delicious hours of writing and studying your vídeos. They are soooo manyyyy, I have a long way to study all of them. They are very straight foward, calculated and amazing. I must say I am a fan of yours and though you do not know me , I Call you my English Teacher.

[@rachelsenglish]

+Lillian Carolina Ulloa Maradiaga Wow! You are an amazing and dedicated student. I'm so happy you are getting so much from the videos. Keep up the great work!

[@hugoalloa]

In Spanish "d" and "t" between vowels sound like a "strong r" that's why I call it "strong r" to state a difference with the "alveolar r" For me this is the best way to explain this, orally speaking. Thanks!!!

[@marcocarrillo9198]

Excellent explanation! Thanks you.

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@shashiraidas8943]

Rachel is a perfect teacher for those who know little bit English

[@MartuitaM]

Yes... I'm spanish, and I've always thought this was like the Spanish "r" in the middle of a word. After watching that Rachel uses a "d" and paying close attention, I think this "d" and Spanish "r" are very similar, but not exactly the same. The "daddy" example is great, because I can do that "d" sound without using my Spanish "r". It's different to me, but I didn't notice it's the same in water, better.. etc.

[@yasscat5484]

thanks a lot you're the best teacher ever

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks!

[@USTesla_OfficiaI_Live]

Thank you for sharing your videos Teacher!

[@ossamaalbitar9559]

Thanks alot! You are my rock in American accent.

[@rachelsenglish]

Happy to help! :)

[@carolkotowiski]

In Portuguese, the "r" in "seringa" sounds really close to the "t" in "matter". Thanks for the tip, Rachel!

[@everardos]

Thank you so much for clarifying this Rachel. Great video as usual. Kudos!

[@camilo.decaro]

My native language is Spanish and for me the flap t or d sounds exactly as the flap r. For example, I pronounce like this: city (ciry), body (bory), better (bererr), what are you doing (warar you doing)

[@gardan4452]

Camillus Andrew no, i hear a sound totally diferent y también hablo español.

[@cionm7077]

He is just simplifying it. Yo tambien hablo espa.

[@williandias1337]

I speak portuguese and for me it is exactly the same sound as r. No difference at all.

[@awadmansour9339]

The same in Arabic!

[@Shahad-ku7yz]

Same in arabic too

[@caerostirolla435]

I had that doubt concerning to the D/R sound because my native language is portuguese. There is no doubt anymore! Keep up the good work, Rachel! We learners thank you a lot.

[@leoleko4832]

Thanks. I'm from South America but it helped me with my Englishes classes.

[@rachelsenglish]

That's great! Keep it up!

[@pedrixmt]

excellent explanation. Thanks

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Pedrix!

[@FM-ft8pe]

Thank you for sheding some light on this topic, I had the same question about the [r] vs [d] sound for the flap T, now I know what is going on. Big like 👍

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Fouad!

[@saxophonexsb1407]

Thank you very the thorough explanation. Keep up the good work.

[@ramzy-6566]

great video for flap T.

[@rachelsenglish]

Glad you liked it!

[@danielvargas-machuca8814]

I bilingual person, I wanna let every Spanish speaker know that the flap t represent the "r" sound.

[@wilmermaldonadoruiz6005]

Rachel, Thank you very much for your lessons. I´ve learning a lot. Your clarification about the flap T for spanish was a very good idea because I was really confused since I heard an R. Good job!

[@luanha7498]

it very easy to speak english fluently when i follow you.

[@AndrewDaniele87]

English is my native language, I've always found we pronounce these with a rolling R (I'm looking this up after watching an Italian lesson where they compared the double T words in English to how the rolling R sounds in Italian)

[@sergioquintana0]

Love all of your videos

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Sergio!

[@naarabrabo5094]

I love watching your videos. I'm from Brazil and I understand well. thanks.🤗

[@tico1804]

Hi Rachel, I han't seen your videos before. They're absolutely awesome, you rock.

[@Americandream2]

God bless you for made this video it was really helpful.

[@fatimahannan4852]

thank you Rachel you are GORGEOUS

[@rachelsenglish]

Thank you!

[@matheusribeiro2739]

thank u so much. fast and direct

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Matheus!

[@chouaibchetehouna3707]

thnx so much my online teacher i really engoy & benifit from ur vdo thnxxxxxxxxx ;)

[@andressalazar100]

T or D becomes a Flap T between vowels only when the second vowel is not stressed because for example, it doesn't work when I say "attack".

[@katakouzina]

yes. she has made a podcast about the t sound, and she covers that. she uses the word attain. i think it is the 3rd podcat

[@ReParkerPlolz]

Extremely useful this one. Awesome.

[@PedroSantos-mk3pm]

I would like add that there are 2 points about D flat or not and Tflat or not: 1) it is impossible represent the real sound of lots of words in all languagesin the world... 2) your pronounce and teaching technique is unique and perfect, master!!!!! More: could you list commun 'idiomatic words'...think, though, daddy, total, cut it off, Katy... we see that theese words or sentences bring a tremendous charge of emotiom on them.. It hard to explain...but theese kind of words are learnt by heart..

[@averri1]

Fantastic explanation.

[@yayangoesgaga]

Omg Rachel you just made my life so much easier thank you so much

[@magicienthomas8622]

I’ve always been wondering about the stop d at the beginning of words compared to flap d. Thanks!!

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome and thanks for watching!

[@EXPLORINGPIPING]

bt after 2015 we move onto American English like cnn news channel in India, thank you ma'am. I have started speaking American after watching you sweetes accent.

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@ahmdkhdr1984]

Thank you. That was a very useful video.

[@PabloFernandez-rp8ie]

Thanks a lot for videos Rachel! Byee

[@ritchie544]

thanks Rachel...love you!

[@mibraheem5107]

Very useful! Thank you.

[@jmhc1991]

Definitively, the best explanation about that so disconcerting sound!

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks! :)

[@AITK88Skeever]

You are the best!

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks a lot!

[@AITK88Skeever]

OMG you actually saw my comment!!!! Are you on Wechat? That can be an amazing platform for you, you can grow to the top super fast! Using all your existing videos. Will be glad to help :)

[@magnaetaemin]

Thx u Rachel

[@md.sharifulislam5307]

You are really good teacher.I can't but thank you for giving the lesson.I am requesting you to make the video of all consonants sound with IPA symbole.

[@elibertomartinez7573]

thanks for the explanation.

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@bestyav5529]

A french would confirm it’s not a “D” but “R” ..you helped me a lot Madam

[@tonidesouza5521]

Yes, In portuguese, they sounds like a R! Nice lesson!!

[@TomDoesUtube]

Oh Man ...Completely Excellent!

[@rachelsenglish]

Glad you like it!

[@simoboy2008]

Finally , I can right now understand the reason why people in South Carolina pronounces T as R ( D sound ) .Large thanks Rachel

[@АлександрКнязев-ц1с]

Thank you, Rachel. This video is the answer to many questions :)

[@gilmardias5937]

The sound of ' r ' in Brazilian Portuguese in the word ' para ' is very similar to American flap ' d ' but not the same. One of the reasons is that the American flap ' d ' tongue movement is a fast, forward and upward one toward the " d " sound while the Brazilian ' r ' is an upward one only. If you try to slow down the " d " in " daddy " the " d " sound will become clearer while in the " r " in Brazilian Portuguese " para " will remain " r " .

[@joanarodrigues9755]

Definitely!

[@alaaaltekretea6990]

Thanks a million for this lesson

[@怪兽宇]

thank you

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@Evelyn__Garcia]

Very helpful.Thank you

[@rachelsenglish]

Glad to hear that Lannuzzi!

[@g2hector]

Hi Rachel, I am a native Spanish speaker and I always hear an r sound in the middle of the word water (american pronunciation)and it all has to do with what linguists call an alveolar tap, and what americans call a "quick d sound". Do not be surprised if some hispanic tells you that's not a D but a soft R.Thanks for sharing

[@dyyt]

Flap T was my problem but, with you it has become easy Thank you

[@natydisney1379]

Rachel, as Jouber Brito Brito, I'm in love with you too!!!Thanks for the excellent videos!!!You are awesome!!!xoxo

[@captainkebe1373]

2:58 yess YES that sounds like an R sound to me i can't believe it's a normal D sound :D and i am turkish..

[@arsmedia6792]

This is a very interesting and useful video, Rachel! Is very difficult for Spanish mothertongue to differenciate between D and T. I tried to watch some films for this, but the problem was I couldn't search for specific audios, so I downloaded an app called Pronuntia. It's very useful too. And now I'm practicing through Skype with some friends. Kind regards, teacher!

[@ahmedmahmoud6220]

I suggest you read the script of the film and after that watch the film. That will help you more in understanding the pronunciation.

[@marumidesun]

Thank you Rachel! It's a very helpful video as always. By the way, I'm a native Turkish speaker and it has a D sound to me.

[@erimas44]

Yes that's totally true, I am Arabic when I use "r" it seems like the flap "T", thank u for yer recommendation.