How to Practice the Flap T -- American English Pronunciation

[@rachelsenglish]

:) You're welcome.

[@luiskastle5248]

Oh, God! Thank you so much Rachel for uploading these wonderful and pedagogical videos. They're really very important for all non-native English speakers (like me) who study English and sometimes come across with these difficulties !

[@carlosbruce1155]

You're the Best of all teacher english❤

[@rachelsenglish]

Thank you Carlos!

[@rachelsenglish]

This is a good question. Those should officially be True T's, but it's not uncommon to hear native speakers drop a T or D between two consonants (like 'exactly' and 'grandma'). You're right that the past tense verbs will then sound the same as the present tense---but context will usually define that anyway.

[@ahmedmahmoud6220]

You are one of the best American English instructors to explain the grammar of flap "t". How accurate you are in teaching grammar. I am an Egyptian English teacher. I criticized alot of American English instructors'way of teaching flap t until I found your video for teaching this grammar by chance. From Egypt, I want tell you "God bless you". Accept my long comment .

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks a lot Ahmed!

[@ahmedmahmoud6220]

@@rachelsenglish my pleasure, Miss Rachel.

[@ahmedmahmoud6220]

@@rachelsenglish my pleasure, Miss Rachel.

[@Pithoth]

I realized that for Spanish speakers, or at least in my case, T sound have 3 variations. Real T is the same as the one that you explained. Flap T in some words sounds like really soft R for example matter, party, water and in other words sounds like a D, for example brother, this, breathing, weather. Words like Culture, picture, fortune sound as a Spanish speaker use SCH or something like that, Lol, this is a hard one to explain. Loved to learn the silent T pronunciation :) And finally, happy to understand the Stop T Thank you Rachel!!! You're the best!!!

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks SO much for the note. You are clearly doing your studying!!! Keep up the awesome insights! Thanks for being part of the Rachel's English community. It's people like you all around the world that make this community so special to me. THANKS FOR BEING HERE WITH ME 😍

[@celestedz5321]

I am arab and I've always wondered how come that it's a "d" in the transcription while I hear it as an "r". Now it's clear for me. Thank you sooo much❤

[@rachelsenglish]

Is it the American R your hearing, or a Spanish/Portuguese/Arabic R? If it's not the American R, then it's right! The other R sounds just like our T and D between vowels.

[@nocturnallsnake4228]

To say the flap D is an R is the same as to say AW is O or I is AI or E. They are not the same. If one thinks so, then he did not understand what R, O and I sounds like.

[@jukaja26]

I need some help with this flap T rule, how is it that it applies to the word /atom/ but not for the word /atomic/ I really hoe I can get an answer from you

[@teocantsleep4611]

@@jukaja26 Flapped t only appears on unstressed syllables. Examples: PaTERnal. PAttern. PAtio. PaTRIcia. I cannot think of one example where a flapped T is on a stressed syllable. THIrty, but not on thirTEEN. You see?

[@ramzy-6566]

amazing video, Thank you.

[@rachelsenglish]

Glad you liked it Ramzy!

[@melinadesenna]

Such an amazing tip on how to pronounce the flap T!!! I knew how it sounded, I could produce the sound sometimes but there were words such as "party" that would always give me a headache. It has really helped me!!!

[@razannasri8022]

I'm from Syria in Arab World and I love ur lessons

[@sallahbllam]

You are amazing Rachel

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Sallah!

[@aliousow1439]

I’m from Senegal 🇸🇳 thank you 🙏🏾

[@rachelsenglish]

Hello there and thanks for watching Aliou!

[@abshiraxmed5376]

Because I stay often with your videoes and ptonunciation presebtayions thanks to rachel prof

[@NoHealerJustPain]

Yes, this is a spark in the dark. After this no one must not have any doubt on this topic. Thank you so much *** :)

[@starffgamer1258]

Hi Rachel, this is the amazing video thanks.

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Ghanshyam!

The Flap T is my favorite sound in English. Rachel, you DA BEST!

[@lavanyaan2158]

I'm learning English in ELSA app. Because of that, I came here. Thank you so much for your valuable teachings 🙏🙏

[@rachelsenglish]

You're very welcome @lavanyaan2158!

[@ustadali8280]

I am really happy for learning English from your video.

[@rachelsenglish]

That's great Ustad! Keep it up! :)

[@meinukey]

As a native Spanish speaker, the flap T is pretty natural to me as it sounds almost 100% identical to one of our 'r' sounds. Words like "water", "better" and "ladder" are easy because of the preceding vowel, but when there's an English postalveolar approximant 'r' sound (which is completely inexistent in Spanish) before the flap T like in "thirty", "party", "forty", it's exactly the opposite of natural. In such cases it's a bit easier for me to pronounce it like a soft 'd' ("thirdy", "pardy", "fordy") which, while not exactly right, sounds very similar and causes less frowny faces on native speakers lol.

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks for sharing @meinukey!

[@FazbearGamingVR]

well done Rachel. I loved the way that you explained this topic I LOVED IT!!!

[@ayamwrahet2465]

The best videos I have seen ..

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks again!

[@kyiphyunyein543]

I always liked your video in you tube.You are amazing 😘 I want to see you face to face

[@Authentikal]

So Far the best Video for the flap T , congrats and thanks.

[@inglescomojorge8552]

Hi, great video. I'm from Brazil and students here usually have a hard time pronouncing the final T as in "what" and "it", for example. They do it because we usually pronounce /t/ as /tʃ/. So they make mistakes, they see "what" and might say "watch" instead.

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks for sharing Jorge!

[@ebtsamhussien6134]

You are the best 👌

[@8XSaintX8]

Thanks Rachel for the hard work. Personal note: I cant hear on myself the 'd' sound in party or butter, etc. I clearly hear the the 'r' sound as in MARY.

[@Fnatic2010]

Wow thank Rachel. I work as a tourist guide for American tourists in my country and this summer I noticed that i was pronouncing water very different that american english speakers. As it so happens I was pronouncing it the british way. This video really helps. This is what I was missing. Also there is one word I really struggle to pronounce like the way Americans do which is the word "Earth". And after inquiring a bit from friends. I found out that all of my friends don't pronounce it exactly right. Can you do video on how to correctly pronounce this word? In my native language, we trill our R and there is no equivalent sound of "th".

[@abdalrahmannassan6466]

thanks a lot, the lesson was very useful.

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Abdalrahman!

[@everardos]

Hola que tal! Soy de Mexico tambien y cuando llegue a este pais me costo un mundo decir esta t por que la profesora siempre me corregia diciendo que no usara la 'r' y que la lengua no debia de tocar el paladar. Finalmente lo aprendi pero Rachel si que se ha saltado la barda, mi tia, explicado todo a la perfeccion. Saludos mil!

[@Andrea-px9sn]

Hola Everardo. Yo escucho una r cuando la t o doble t, o d esta en el medio: lérer ( letter) círi (city).¿ A donde va la lengua exactamente para pronunciar la r, si no se coloca en el paladar? ¿Puede ser que vaya detras de los dientes de arriba para sonar mas suave? Saludos

[@sjl4554]

Thank you! I've been speaking UK English in America for two years just realized

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome SJ!

[@ayoubbrown_]

Thank you so much ma'am

[@wladimir_cm569]

LOVE YOUR VIDEOS... CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THEM!! :-) How about a NY accent Video(s), Videos like: verbs and nouns, to use, The use ... to proGRES, The PROgress so on ... Luv ya Wlad from Brasil

[@Renanquedinha]

Very nice video.. I used to have difficult to speak the flap T

[@abshiraxmed5376]

Oh thanjs dear rachel for teaching specifications and the process for pronunciation smoothlesbess In weekend I want you prepare how to the "module"

[@vtcc17_95]

+Rachel's Englis thank you so much this is exactly what i need !

[@mostafanoman]

Thank you Rachel I did not know this before .Now, I'm sure that it'll be a peice of cake to practice it .^_^.

[@Golkonda_Hyderabad_India]

Thanks for helping

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome @Golkonda_Hyderabad_India!

[@alinn2630]

GREAT

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Ali!

[@amaachamine1417]

It’s never been as clear as today for me, my best regards,

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Amaach!

[@asdAcidBurn]

you're amazing rachel

[@luisromero851]

Hi Rachel: Definitely the Flat T sounds is like an Spanish " r" it is not the same but very close, enough to be understandable for American native speakers.

[@user-un9sj4gn2v]

What's difference?

[@duygusalmi]

ahaha the finger mimicking the tongue 😝 😝

[@HemisphereRight]

I love your videos! You do the best!

[@MuhammadAhmed-wh5kv]

Thank you so much, that was so helpful :)

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Muhammad!

[@mrhanybaraka3348]

oh! Rachel ,please I want of you all videos about phonetics English

[@carolinacamaran4875]

Thank you very much Rachel, this video is amazing!

[@rachelsenglish]

carolina camaran You're welcome!

[@LinhHLe]

brilliant mam

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Linh!

[@fahemzoldyck1729]

Rachel, U Rock !

[@noorthaeer9485]

God bless you ❤️

[@aligarbazannah]

Thank you

[@razannasri8022]

thank u very much

[@basketballhub6644]

thanks! it's very useful for me.

[@jamalovo]

thanks

[@NerdsImagination]

i'm from mexico and i was in the same trouble, so, i just practiced a lot! saying a lots of flap t's until i realized i was able to say that's "d". just try to say the words with the real d and try to say them fast, and the you will be able to say the flap t correctly. :)

[@mahshidhaghighi8675]

Thank you love👏👍🌺🌺🌺👍🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

[@quasasawds]

By the way thank you it's very beneficial lesson for us.

[@rachelsenglish]

My pleasure @quasasawds!

[@quasasawds]

@@rachelsenglish BTW is this possible to get rid accent in English totally?

[@tooma8238]

Hi Rachel....How pronouns WARRANTY and GUARANTEE.....Thank you

[@ahmedam77]

That video really helped me a lot, thanks for the effort, I really appreciate that but still I have to practice a lot

[@Grandmaster__Gee]

Yeah i did it, i recorded raps and uploaded special thanks to rachel's english!

[@rachelsenglish]

You're very welcome @Grandmaster__Gee!

[@brendasilvadesa2045]

❤️

[@michellekgross5627]

Wav file for listening: linguistics.ucla.edu/people/hayes/103/Charts/English/otter.wav "otter" Here's how Bruce Hayes characterizes it: Not a phoneme. Occurs as the normal variant (allophone) of /t/ and /d/, when the preceding sound is a vowel, diphthong, or /ɹ/, and the following sound is a stressless vowel. Bruce Hayes calls it a Tap (ɾ) and has a chart with sound files linguistics.ucla.edu/people/hayes/103/Charts/English/ChartsForEnglishBroadTranscription.htm#_ftn3 and practice for his Linguistics classes. Other phonetics professor may also do so, but none has the video files that show the mouth movement, which is so important to learning. Thanks, Rachel! I feel that the Tap is a bit different from the Flap, but the Flap is not part of the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), so lacks a symbol of its own; however, American linguists often use D to differentiate from ɾ .

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome and thanks for sharing MichelleK!

[@SAULCID1]

great video!

[@3lomair]

amazing rechel keep on this success,,,

[@razannasri8022]

u r great !!

[@silviashusband497]

¡thank you Rachel!.. good vibes : )

[@viankanj7945]

Thank you so much 💖💖

[@AlanaAylin19]

No matter how many times native speakers in English tell me that it isn't a "R" sound, in my native language Portuguese it is a "R" sound. Although, I have heard native speakers pronouncing "later" and the "t" sounded as a light american "D" to me. I can't make that sound. It's frustrating.

[@zeinabmore5437]

💚💚

[@yipengshi1030]

Hi Rachel, I have a question about using flap T. I know we are supposed to use flap T when it is between two vowels, but how about two consonants? I feel I always have problem during this situation. Example: just go; worked for two days; walked through the building Should we totally drop the t at this situation? I feel a lot of past tense verbs fall in this category. If I drop the t, then the past tense verb doesn't sound like its past form. (i.e. the 'ed' sound) Thank you!

[@marcouscangaolea1264]

wow ultra awesome

[@mrhanybaraka3348]

Oh!!!!! it's a amazing

[@kumzukimchen2414]

Can you please make a video on fortition and lenition, dissimilation and assimilation. I came across in some articles that fortition is related to dissimilation and lenition to assimilation. For the love of God I'm quite confused. P.S please with examples in English language. Thank you.❤

[@CP-nc6fw]

I guess the most difficult case of Flap T might be "for you to do". It was a TV show. The voice of actor was like "for you ru do". So I tried practice that but somehow I pronounced to "for you ru ru" or "for you du ru". I felt my mouth system seemed like malfunctioned in that case.

[@kozmayer]

Hey, Rachel! Thank you very much for the clarifying video! I’m always learning with you. Could you also pronounce the word hypothesis? Sometimes I hear native speakers pronounce it as a flap T, and other times as a real “th” as in “thank you”. Which one sounds more natural to you? Thanks in advance! Lílian

[@rachelsenglish]

Hi! I would say you want to say this word with an actual TH consonant sound (in fact, I actually haven't heard it with the 'flap' sound before). Here is a link to hearing how native speakers say this word using YouGlish.com: youglish.com/pronounce/hypothesis/english/us?

[@longjamranjit1682]

Me'm we are following you.

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Longjam!

[@SidneyZurhytt]

I also made the same question a while ago, it's a nice one, Literally is hard to pronounce correctly...

[@johnygibony3855]

I believe my pronunciation to be near-native although I do struggle with that sound in some positions. Especially when there are 2 flap T's close to each other or when an R comes right after the sound. The word 'auditor' is a nightmare to me...

[@prow0938]

you also say the flap t or d when its followed by an r? I always say forty like fordy but i dont flap it

[@sdoc2466]

What area of roof of mouse is allowed to be touched in American English Flap-T?

[@rachelsenglish]

Keep it towards the front.

[@sdoc2466]

@@rachelsenglish Thanks. I am practicing in that way referring your mouth on your lesson video. I feel improved but PROPERTY is still too difficult. PROPERTY is even difficult a little in just T sound. In upside down dimension, my tongue can not avoid and does not go through on top of mountain, and does collides with rear part of Alveolar ridge mountain and becomes FLAP there(Imagine a mountain and an airplane). If I try tongue to move forward very intentionally avoiding the mountain, I can not control the touch strength on between teeth and alveolar, it becomes normal D or light L because of too much power moving forward. This is more difficult than REGRETTABLE because I think big mouth of PRO causes long vertical distance between PRO and PER , and horizontal distance is also long between P"ER"(it's pretty back and close to roof) and "T"Y. Not only three dimensional distances but also Rs in each syllable cause chaos in the mouse and my consciousness. Would you give me some advice about this to improve my flap T of PROPERTY?

[@ganirintiniano]

Gracia*

[@Monanyc]

Very difficult

[@abshiraxmed5376]

That means how to pronounce or sound the word "module" correctly

[@michaelluvu7117]

Thanks for the video but I have a question in words like forty or thirty or party it's not a flap it's true D sound I guess right? And can I say words like or is it right if I say words like city party sweaty or later with true D without flap D and one last thing can I say words like terminator or fighter or animator or elevator with a flap D or true D what is the most way? THANKS

[@rachelsenglish]

Hi! I would describe all of the words you list as using the Flap T actually. If you use a True D sound for any of them, it will sound a little heavy and will make the rhythmic contrast between the syllables a little less clear!

[@michaelluvu7117]

ohh okay thanks a lot

[@andredsoares39]

In Portuguese, a word with this same sound is: arara or aranha or Arábia.

[@cannyd.6823]

how to pronounce -ting sound like writing?

[@rachelsenglish]

Hi! In 'writing' you'll hear a Flap T leading into an unstressed IH as in SIT vowel followed by an NG consonant. Here is a site where you can hear native speakers use this word: youglish.com/pronounce/writing/english/us?

[@cannyd.6823]

Rachel's English You are the best Rachel 😘

[@mahaaidros5532]

what about the 't' in the expression "what's up"?

[@rachelsenglish]

It stays a true T.

[@vladvlasov7304]

Rachel, could you do me a favor? Quickly pronounce "go to me" and "go to the house". Do you pronounce the T sound in "to" the same way or not in each example?

[@kong165]

Cool :)

[@ArnaldoGomesify]

how it´s pronunciation .. " batter , better, bitter , butter " ? Thank.

[@BartoszMotyka]

I have a problem with that sound sometimes... Cause like I can pronunce better but bitter is a problem for me. I also have a problem with hospital sometimes... So weird... For me it's the hardest sound in American accent

[@banderdreams7660]

Me too unfortunatly

[@RehAdventures]

Same, I have recently been told that I pronounce my double t sounds like a British person. So bitten sounds like bit-ten rather than bit(d)en. It’s not too big of a deal, people still know what I’m saying. They just think I have a stick up my butt for talking like I was born in the UK.

[@sarbjeetkhosaUcan]

Hello Teacher, Could u tell me please which words start with stressed syllable with "T" and can't be Flap T.

[@worldwide8323]

Difficult 💔

[@sherryagradecida5668]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@rachelsenglish]

❤

[@janaosama474]

Do the words “saturated” and “outlet” contain a flap t tho?

[@rachelsenglish]

The second T in 'saturated' is a Flap T. Both Ts in 'outlet' can actually be Stop Ts!

[@Hajjat]

It sickens me every time I open the news and read about Syria, I hope your situation gets better soon!

[@pglgreg00]

It's a good explanation, except that in the superimposed phonetic transcriptions, flap t should not be written [d] (because as you explain, a flap is not a d).

[@saifes2475]

Mrs rachel excus me but My tounge must punching at same spot as my (Arabic r) or another spot ? Bcz i make a fast D at same spot , i mean alveolar ridge, and i can't make the same sound 😢

[@protin2627]

Flap D and the D in Vietnamese are the same

[@mortadahasaad530]

I always make it sound heavy and ugly i cant help it and id dint understand how i make it sound soft please make a video showing the tongue PLEASE!