HOW WE REALLY SPEAK ENGLISH: 5 Advanced Pronunciation Tips

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Here are 5 English pronunciations tips for when you should listen and not read. Have you ever noticed how what English speakers say is different to what they write? For example most people will say "hambag" and not "handbag". In this video we take a deep dive into these weird differences between the written and the spoken and we explain why it happens
0:00 Don't trust your eyes
00:16 Can vs Can't
02:47 Elsa Speak - a word from our sponsors
04:28 Who'dja and other informal contractions
07:18 Schwa deletion
08:32 Assimilation and the phantom M
10:49 Elision
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[@LetThemTalkTV]

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[@nHans]

I can't tell you how happy-and vindicated-I feel because you addressed this! I'm an ESL speaker who grew up in India. I studied *Sanskrit* in school. Guess what: Almost every one of the pronunciation tips that you mentioned-particularly assimilation and elision-is actually a formal rule in Classical Sanskrit. Sanskrit grammar was formally codified 2,500 years ago. The purpose of this vast and comprehensive collection of rules-known as *_sandhi_* rules-is exactly what you stated. Which is, to make the spoken language smooth-flowing and effortless by avoiding tongue-twisters, oral gymnastics, hard attacks, glottal stops and such. All my life, I have observed that when native English speakers speak smoothly and naturally-without trying to artificially articulate each syllable individually-they instinctively and implicitly apply the Sanskrit _sandhi_ rules. Even though they're never studied Sanskrit. Something, eh? Unlike English, however, Sanskrit writing is phonetic-so you write as you speak and vice-versa. That is, the written text is authoritative and tells you exactly how to pronounce the words _after_ the _sandhi_ rules have been applied. So if you pronounce something as "hoojya," you'd write it the same way, not as "who do you." (Schwa deletion is rare in Sanskrit, but very common in Hindi-a language from the Sanskrit family that's widely-spoken in India today.)

[@anndeecosita3586]

I’m American and a large percentage of people here are dialect speakers and pronounce can’t as cain’t so there isn’t as much confusion between can and cain’t. Also a lot of people say tryna for trying to, I’mma for I’m going to.

[@UnschoolingtheSpitz]

Great point-here in the South, we say caint for sure

[@sebastianardila7263]

Which of the 35 countries in America do you live in?

[@HermanVonPetri]

I'm a native English speaker but I always find many enjoyable quirks of my own language from your videos. There are so many things that I take for granted and never notice until they are pointed out and I find it fascinating. You've also helped me break the prescriptivist attitude that was instilled in me by schooling in my youth. It's much more rewarding to acknowledge the many ways in which language evolves and adapts than to sit around and stuffily complain about someone not using it the "right way."

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

It happens to me as well, when watching videos about Spanish. So much enterntainment.

[@frankgradus9474]

by a strange quirk of fate

[@LetThemTalkTV]

That's very kind of you to say. Though I have a few ounces of prescriptivism within me so beware...

[@HermanVonPetri]

@@LetThemTalkTV And quite understandably so. You have to master the rules before you're good enough to break them. I now understand that what my teachers were giving me was a firm foundation on which to build and develop further.

[@matthewbartsh9167]

You need both description and prescription or you end up with "literally" and "figuratively" meaning the same thing according to the dictionary.

[@dayane2117]

Hi, I'm Brazilian and I wanted to say that Your videos are helping me a lot with my studies in British English! Thank you very much for helping me ❤❤❤

[@criscanseco8417]

In Spanish there's this rule: before b or p, allways m (tampoco, tambien). So i guess they took the next evolutionary step with grammar. It makes sense! Thank you

[@patricianorton3908]

I spent my language formative years in Boston MA. Although spoken throughout New England, (our ‘accent') in addition to dropping the "er" sound off of so many words and substituting the "a" or "ah" or "uh", we have another peculiarity. You’ll frequently hear what we did with those dropped "er"s. They are put onto words ending in "a". Examples are as follows: operata' gutta' chowdah' cluttah". Then we take those dropped "er"s and put them on to words ending in "a" (sort of a swap). You’ll hear: Cuber, Alasker, Nebrasker etc. I really think I should write a story called "My misadventures with the letter "R" !!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Interesting

[@WGGplant]

That's also a common feature of older Bible Belt accents. "🎶I come from Alabamer wif my banjer on my knee🎶"

[@dancinggiraffe6058]

@@LetThemTalkTV I had a friend whose husband was from the Boston area. she said she had great fun asking him to pronounce things such as “Carla’s collar“.

[@GustavoPinho89]

​@@WGGplantjust like the Ginger Billy and his new "Tesler" 😂😂😂😂

[@MissPrekrasnaja999]

Ha! I am from Belmont, MA! How about our «paaak the caaah in the hubaaaah 🤷‍♀️

[@ksw961]

i always struggle with pronouncing English words when speaking quickly, this was very helpful!!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Glad you thought so

[@ericb9609]

Another great example of elision: "asked", is pronounced "ast", the K sound being dropped

[@user-om2ti8jj1f]

Thank you for another helpful lesson, Gideon! You're a great teacher!

[@pedrosmotaj1897]

These phenomena were also addressed in BBC's Tim's Pronunciation Workshop years ago. Thanks Gideon, for bringing them back!

[@davidlinehat4657]

you're such a great teacher! I'm a native English speaker from the mid-Atlantic eastern coast of the United States (Maryland) and I'm utterly enthralled.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Thank you my fellow teacher

[@litigioussociety4249]

For numbers, twelfth or twelfths is pronounced various ways by English speakers. As for iced tea, no one ever says the D fully, and because of ice cream it gets misspelled all the time.

[@anndeecosita3586]

It’s a regional thing in the USA to use the term iced tea. A lot of Americans I know never say iced tea. They say either sweet tea or unsweet tea.

[@litigioussociety4249]

@@anndeecosita3586 The video was about how "iced tea" is pronounced not whether it's used. For example, most English speakers mispronounce the early, modern English word "saith." It's supposed to sound like the name Seth, in line with said or says, but despite not used in conversational English, most speakers pronounce it say-ith.

[@Johan-vk5yd]

7:18 Excellent explanation! I’m currently becoming aware of the frequent contractions in my native languague, swedish, and I grow a strong compassion for our newcomers, having to catch the meaning listening to the spoken language.

[@angelbear_og]

I'm American and have only ever said "siksth" (or "siksths"), regardless of how difficult! I probably usually say "fiths", but it seems like the singular "fifth" or "fith" more or less 50/50 (fiddy/fiddy? 😜). Neither have I ever once in my life said "hamball" or "hambag" lol! 🤣 I mean, outside of speaking about a literal ball (or bag) of ham. 😂

[@tim1724]

Same here. Some of the examples in this video are universal across all varieties of English but a few of the ones he mentioned are a lot less common in American English.

[@frankgradus9474]

Thanks awfully ! That's a huge help, as always.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

Good to see you again gaffer. Greetings from Casablanca

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Best wishes to all in Morocco at this difficult time

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

I appreciate your kind words Gideon. You are a salt of the earth.

[@alicerossi_ap]

Wow Gideon, you're back with an amazing video lesson, cheers!

[@ld3418]

Thank you. Love your posts.

[@gonzogorf7019]

Fantastic stuff, many thanks!!

[@Baujahr90erAG]

I never searched your videos but man are they interesting to watch. Helps me a lot to improve and people give me compliments that i sound fluent

[@bastiannicholls7692]

I found this lesson absolutely amazing and really really useful. I'd love to see more things like this.

[@2014andon]

Really good video! I liked the examples of pronunciation from older movies and the big-think series. I think you're very original in your content, keep it up!

[@NoName-gb9ow]

Thank you!!!!

[@isabelatence7035]

Hello Gideon, great to see you... I was really surprised, while I have difficulties with maneuvering numbers, you show interesting examples to put into practice, Elsa is excellent, I love watching flash old films, thank you and have a great week🙌🎉

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Thanks for all, have a great week yourself

[@isabelatence7035]

@@LetThemTalkTV thanks Gideon

[@nblmqst1167]

Fascinating.

[@nonnativeme]

09:42 I never thought that 'hambag' exists in English. This is new to me, and it's really interesting. 👍

[@frankgradus9474]

It does. It isn't just linguistic humbug.

[@ursulastaempfli759]

@@frankgradus9474 It is sloppy pronunciation. Why glorify this shit?

[@Meandmy980]

As a person trying to improve my accent, your videos are helping me quite a lot sir. Thank you. And about the "Iced" word, i usually don't say the "d" letter, for example: when I'm ordering a coffe from starbucks which is called "Iced White Chocolate Mocha", I'm going with "Ice White"

[@LetThemTalkTV]

I confess I've never tried an "Ice white". Maybe I should

[@Phulanitos]

Thank you so much for the lesson!!

[@dudablack2426]

Gideon, I love your classes ❤️🩷❤️ thanks so very much

[@LetThemTalkTV]

That's so kind of you to say.

[@topsyturvy1982]

Really helpful video, thanks 😊

[@anndeecosita3586]

Great, interesting video

[@flaviosouza4449]

This channel is so AMAZING. Clever and funny. Greetings from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[@giuseppescrima6330]

Thank you so much Gideon for this video. I've struggled a lot to understand the different pronunciations of CAN and CAN'T and right now, thanks to your lesson everything is clear. In my opinion, you are one of the best online teachers. You are never banal and the way you teach English allows people to understand difficult things without too much effort. Thank you again

[@LetThemTalkTV]

That's high praise indeed. I appreciate it.

[@barneylaurance1865]

You might like Dr Geoff Lindsey's video on "weak forms" in English. I think the biggest difference between the pronunciation of CAN and CAN'T is that CAN is reduced to a weak form, and CAN'T is not.

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thanks.

[@annamiller9153]

Omg your explanation is amazing. I adore you😊

[@cezarmonteirodk]

Gideon is the best teacher ever. ❤

[@martinlaino7136]

Gideon, my man! This is so useful! They don't teach you this stuff at school (as a non native English speaker). Masterpiece of a video! Very much appreciated! Cheers! Looking forward to your next video!

[@maritzajimenez6690]

Thank you very much, for helping us so muchh to learn having both fun and serious information. I notice i'm really improving with your classes every day.

[@dpakmagar9722]

Hello Gideon, would really appreciate if you could do a video on rules of assimilation. Thanks in advance.😀

[@ericcartier2233]

excellent! u have the x factor when it comes to pedagogy!

[@KGchannel01]

Thanks for pointing out silent and vocal shewa in English, this would have helped me grasp the same concept when studying Hebrew!

[@amherst88]

As my Irish teacher used to say, 'it's a good thing we get one for free' and I'm very glad the one I got for free was English -- I would hate to have to learn this language! Thanks as always for making me laugh out loud at things I do every day and never paid any attention to ❤

[@chrvberg]

Funny, I ever felt glad about being German because there's no situation where I have to learn it. Except after a stroke, maybe.

[@mayaayam4444]

Iced tea 😊 thank you for the explanations

[@user-pg4gt5zx2i]

your video is oversaturated with extremely useful information. this forces the brain to turn on extra voltage

[@rickebuschcatherine2729]

Thanks a lot, I think I will understand better tv show without the subtitle with that video, but I have to see it en few times to memorise, thanks a lot !

[@Abdi_sulaiman]

I used to elsa speak for free trial. And the best thing i could is immensely easy used it.

[@Sauvageonne]

I feel better about saying "chépa" in French instead of "je ne sais pas".

[@LetThemTalkTV]

I like it

[@illogicmath]

In Spanish we can't have a word with the sounds nb, np, mv, vr, and so on. Same in Italian. Imported words, of course, but not "native" words

[@editorinformal873]

Good teacher of BAD " Inglish " I wonder what Professor Higgins would think about your lesson.

[@muai09]

Bad? Absolutely not, more like practical English. You won't be speaking 'classroom speech' in real life.

[@Middle-Road.Kim.K]

I caught out an ad that used AI voice-over with the word 'can'. It was talking about can openers but kept saying /kən/ and not /kan/. It made me giggle, the robot talking about its brilliant "k'n opener". 😂 Also, living in the Pacific NW I still pronounce the full "si-ck-th-s" for sixths and while we may drop the 'd' in grandpa, there's no 'm', it's "gran-pa". A lot of producers will scout talent for newsreaders, radio hosts and other talking heads from the PNW as we speak with minimal deviation from "standard English" ie: lack of regional accent and *very* phonetic.

[@cassiotell5741]

thanks I nener knew that can´t n can difference.

[@aram5642]

Excetra is my all-time favorite ;-)

[@mcampero02]

Congrats. This type of lesson is one of the most useful in daily life. I've always wanted to understand how to pronounce the words "softly" and "his" in the song "Killing me softly with his song". Also, should we pronounce SAMWICH? Thanks!

[@rickebuschcatherine2729]

Oh yes, I've learn that contraction of have after an auther verb in an interresting show : Slow Horses.... you always have it and the Apple TV give you the english subtitles in the classics snoopy ( good to understand the typical vocabulary for kids in american english) and some other show... Slow horses is a excellente series about spies, or as they always say in the show, spooks... and also so much words a French didn't no, not only about MI5 but of advenced langage at work ( the first episode stats in an Arport !) and also vocabulary at the streets, some words like laptop, desktop, concourse, spooks and so on! and for once, Slow Houses is an british show!

[@iainmc9859]

All so true ... but proven more by the exception than the rule. English, a language that never survives beyond first contact.

[@jonathansgarden9128]

As a Native American English speaker I’m astonished I never noticed this before

[@sasvaricsaba]

Loved the video ❤ Im always having trouble with the word "months" when i'm speaking. Although every dictionary writes the pronunciation with all the sounds /mʌnθs/, can any of the rules mention before be applied to it?

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Me too! Months is difficult. In the London accent many people say "mumfs", including myself.

[@renat1786]

Nice vid. My favourite one is 'sandwich' -> 'samich', but i'm not sure if it's a real example of phantom M or just over exaggeration

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Yes, you're right. I could have included "samwich"

[@bacca71]

or 'sanwitch.' (American, New England witches at least).

[@OceanChild75]

Great video, as always! 💛 I am very fond of your pronunciation videos, they are really helpful! I’ve noticed several English speakers pronounce the name "Seth" "Seff", which kind of surprise me but after this video I guess it makes sense!! #IceTeaTeam for me, but then again I was #HandbagTeam until 20 minutes ago! 😅

[@tim1724]

There are several accents in England where the "th" sounds have been entirely replaced with "f" or "v". This is called th-fronting and there's a good article about it on Wikipedia.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Thanks I'm glad you like them. In London and a few other places the th can become a f.

[@WGGplant]

@@tim1724 It happens in some American accents as well, but it only happens at the end of a word.

[@user-om2ti8jj1f]

@@LetThemTalkTV So "three" and "free" or "thought" and "fought" are homophones in those accents? I've also heard about h-dropping in England, but I don't understand this phenomenon, it creates a mass of homophones: harm & arm, heart & art, heel & eel, heat & eat, hill & ill, hall & all, howl & owl, hat & at, whore & oar, hell & L, hand & and, head & Ed, he & E, how & ow, his & is... It's a hell (not an L) for non-native speakers to comprehend it!

[@manjirabanerjee7169]

Thank you Sir G for this wonderful lesson.I was wondering if you could help me pronounce the following phrase : Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori ... Well ,it's needless to mention that this happens to be one of the most remarkable poems by Wilfred Owen. As a matter of fact I hear people pronounce it differently; is it 'dulche' or 'doolke' ? And what about the 'et' and 'est'? is the 't' pronounced in both words? Thanks.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Thanks, I no expert on Latin pronunciation

[@lorenasmartevents5354]

Just loved this vid! Been pronouncing can & can't wrongly for over 20 years! Just because one of My American English teacher's told me that "Can" should be pronounced : Kn. And can't should be pronounced "ken "(....However, one of My brittish teachers told me that the correct pronunuciation of "Can" Is Kn...AND the negativo form Is Kont...????? So I mispronounced that word like florecer. And now, that an expert (you) explained this, I said, mmh, that makes Sense! Ty so much for uploading this lesson.It's a real treasure for me! Gracias.😉

[@brendanward2991]

As far as I can tell, here in Dublin no one ever drops the _t_ from _can't_ . But in unstressed _can_ (eg "I can do it") the _a_ is pronounced as a schwa.

[@CelesteL]

As some of you may already know, in Spanish, the consontants combinations are either "nv"or "mb"and "nf" as well; hence, these pronunciation tips are great towards acquiring fluency as they make sense for native Spanish speakers. Side note: It's easy-peasy to write and read in Spanish (while conjugations are not) :) All of your classes are much appreciated! Greets from Buenos Aires. Celeste

[@brendanward2991]

I waiting for _library_ and _February_ !

[@markedis5902]

Having worked in the Long Island Iced Tea Shop, I can confirm that it is “Iced Tea”.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

sounds good to me.

[@samujacintho]

I'll try to not elide any letters here: YOU ARE A F(luffing) MONSTER! As a non-native, I have to say that all of your videos are precise, masterful and mostly necessary! Thank you for all the content and for the effort you put into your work.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

That's very kind of you to say, many thanks

[@najibsagrajos7590]

You take us to the bottoms of english ocean , and through the corridors

[@bartmannn6717]

I just realized how much I do this in my own language as well, skipping consonants and slurring vocals to become a sort of schwa. And I'm German! So "Das ist nicht so schwer." becomes "Dəsəsnichso schweə."

[@maxelkjaernersting]

Watching Gideon explain something, even though I do not really need it, for the thousandth time, LOL

[@frankgradus9474]

Same here. This man is a tower of strength, the salt of the earth.

[@zuziakras1632]

We all do not really need it! :))))))

[@KarlaWagnerEU]

As a global public speaker, my audiences are not necessarily native speakers. I've avoided much of what you so systematically lay out for us; but unconsciously so. I'm confused these days by a plethora of text messages, emails, and sundry electronic communication that reverses words such as can & can't; because speech recognition is common. For example, bluetoothed individuals evading texting whilst driving laws by dictating their texts. This antipattern has induced quite a bit of misunderstanding. Poor commnuication (on top of emotional immaturity) was a major factor in my leaving IT. Thanks!

[@fluffdumpling8515]

I never leave the "t" off. I also never hear anyone do it. Maybe because I am in Ontario, Canada.

[@WGGplant]

Question. Do you fully pronounce the t, or do you just articulate the t without making a sound. Many North American speakers use something called "unreleased plosives", where we put our tongue in the position of the t sound, but we don't actually make the noise required to say the sound.

[@fluffdumpling8515]

@@WGGplant Fully

[@WGGplant]

@@fluffdumpling8515 Interesting. There are people who say it like that as well. Though that pronunciation is becoming less common.

[@adscri]

Must be a very strange, isolated corner of Ontario.

[@fluffdumpling8515]

@@adscri Hardly!

[@stephenlee5929]

Native speaker here, I think this is really important, when we look at trying to make English spelling more consistent. I used to get in so much trouble at school (in the 70's) for changing 'th' to 'f' and not pronouncing various 't's.

[@ursulastaempfli759]

Oh my God.

[@aidanb.c.2325]

You forgot the negatives, such as wouldina, couldina, shouldina. Now, what about the difference between gonna and gonnoo? Great vid, as always!

[@owlieo.3432]

I loved seeing Lucy here ❤

[@thesilencer6736]

Do you teach dialect classes?

[@usvalve]

It's certainly true that pronunciation changes dependent upon context. My objection to this video is that it implies that there are standard ways in which it does so - "extended RP" if you like. As a native speaker I might say HAN'BAG, but most certainly not HAMBAG! Certainly people say "I haff to", but also "I hav to". And drop the T off "can't" at your peril if you have American vowels - "I caern do that" and "I caern' do that"!

[@user-xe7oh6fu1s]

The vowel of "can't" in British English is that of "aunt", which makes it unable to be confused with "ant".

[@patricianorton3908]

In addition to the can/can’t pronunciation, if I’m speaking very rapidly I say "kn" instead of can. "Yes, I kn do it".

[@user-xe7oh6fu1s]

@@patricianorton3908 It's literally impossible to drop the vowel completely in this case or else there would be ZERO vowel or syllable by definition left in this word, which wouldn't sound like English. Think of the German word "knacken", of which you may pronounce "can" like the ending syllable "cken" rather than the initial digraph "kn".

[@durium3113]

I've heard British English-speakers on KZbin who pronounce "ant" and "aunt" the same, rhyming them with "haunt." These are probably regional accents.

[@user-xe7oh6fu1s]

@@durium3113 In American English "ant" and "aunt" sounds exactly the same, and so "can"(stressed) and "can't"(elided).

[@marieparker3822]

Leaving out the 't' in 'can't'. Maybe it's because you're a Londoner, Gideon. I'm a Glaswegian (from a long time ago), and I always probounce the 't'. My mother wouldn't tolerate any glottal stops. Btw, I pronounce the 'h' in 'whale', 'while', 'when' et al. Apart from this, Gideon, you are fab.

[@clwho4652]

I (who speaks with an American accent) found when I say "can't" fast I pronounce the t with a soft t, soft d, a soft click, or a glottal stop, and the n being pronounces so fast it's almost not there. "Can't do" becomes "cando" but the n is still just a sliver.

[@frankgradus9474]

Don't fret - it's your wonderful can-do attitude that really matters.

[@clwho4652]

@@frankgradus9474 "Can you fly?" Yes I can, I cando anything! * jumps off building * Weeee! * splat *

[@frankgradus9474]

@@clwho4652 Goodness gracious me ! I meant a can-do attitude within reason. If we reason with destiny gonna lose our touch, mind you.

[@revoakes8984]

I'm not British, so don't say "kahn", but "kant" (as in Kansas, not as in Immanuel Kant). In fact I normally DO say the "t" in can't, though often use "canNOT" instead. The unstressed "cn" is true for me, however. When young I worked very hard for years on precise pronunciation/enunciation, and still don't normally pronounce things as your first groups of words describe, unless occasionally as a kind of joke. Some of the multi-consonant elisions have certainly taken root in my speech. My HS Latin teacher insisted that no one could pronounce "absurd" but would actually say it as "apsurd". I didn't agree, but this did make me more aware of such speech matters. I really enjoy your videos, and learn a lot from them! Oh, and btw one of my very fave elisions is "Ima" or "imma", as in I'm going to".

[@TomTom-yu1xp]

Bernie Mac on his show, sitting down to lunch: "Now that's what I call a sammitch!"

[@durium3113]

I find it odd that in England, Immanuel Kant's last name rhymes with the American pronunciation of "can't," while in America, "Kant" rhymes with the British pronunciation of "can't."

[@bacca71]

And how about the original German: "I. Kant" was German with a German surname. Which is pronounced in German to rhyme with the American "can't. "

[@durium3113]

@@bacca71 Whenever I have heard Americans refer to Kant, they always say it he German way. This is perhaps a legacy of German immigration in the nineteenth century or the influence of German academicians in American higher education prior to World War I.

[@bacca71]

@@durium3113 Think you're onto something there. Thanks.

[@amiryazdani2318]

❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@viviandarkbloom8847]

To The Waterfront, Some Like It Hot: who coulda said I woulda found such classics on a contemporary language learning channel? Thank you, teacher. I promise I won't write them down anymore.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Who'da thunk it!

[@vm_c137]

I always struggle trying to pronounce the "TH" sound when it appears after words ending in "T" or "S". What could I do to improve it?

[@LetThemTalkTV]

try pronouncing it as an "f" instead

[@vm_c137]

@@LetThemTalkTV Won't it sound wrong? Like: She iS THinking -> She iS Finking?

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Of course if you can master the TH that's best but the F is used in some accents such as the London accent. So it's a good second choice. I'm from London and people tell me that I say "mumf" instead of "month" (I didn't even notice).

[@t.vonaschide4961]

Talking about elision I noticed that I tend to drop the “L” before consonants in words such as “alright” and “talk”. Does someone else do such a thing as well ?

[@WGGplant]

This is very common. The dark L sound gets dropped throughout the entire English speaking world. Some Americans in the west and in urban areas even drop the l if there's no consonant. Like in the word "goal". It gets pronounced as "goaw" or smth like that.

[@k.chriscaldwell4141]

I'm a native American English speaker. I made it through college writing "Wensday" for "Wednesday." No one caught it. I didn't realize "Wensday" was wrong until in the early 00s, when Word flagged it. Oops. I spelled it as I had learned to pronounce it. What's with the silent "d?!" Only many years after that did I learn that "filthy" is not spelled as I pronounce it, "thilthy." I think "thilthy" sounds better, so I'm sticking to it. Anyone else?

[@LacusFalconis1]

Elision makes my favourite pronunciation practice sentence somehow lose its difficulty: "The sixth sheik´s sixth sheep´s sick."😁

[@serendipity4505]

Over the years, I had quite a few students (native English speakers) who said 'bomfire' not 'bonfire'. Probably because of the association with Guy Fawkes, some even spelt it 'bombfire'.

[@robertwiniarski]

Effects become fx

[@DM-ul5yc]

It's hard for me to pronounce "similarly" and "regularly". Is it SIMILALY and REGULALY?

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Yes, those words are difficult.

[@cmtwei9605]

So how do the southern British say Sussex nowadays? S followed by another s in a different syllable is clumsy. Sasix?

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

SIXTHS: "I'm one of the most difficult words to pronounce!" Virtually any Slavic word: Hold my vodka, tovarish.

[@AndreiBerezin]

Whats so difficult with our words?

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

@@AndreiBerezin 10 consonants per vocal, just for starters.

[@AndreiBerezin]

@@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115 there's no such word in our language, sorry

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

@@AndreiBerezin I researched again, and should have said "georgian" or "caucasian" language, but most of slavic languages are maze for most of latin speakers.

[@AndreiBerezin]

@@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115 how can you mix Slavic and Caucasian languages? How's that even possible?

[@hurch1915]

Where I'm from, we say "can't" in a way that rhymes with "paint" (or ain't). There's no way you're going to confuse "can" with "can't".

[@frankgradus9474]

Where is it, squire ?

[@felaperez6480]

Well come back, Gideon. 🙂

[@LetThemTalkTV]

I never went away.

[@ritaroad]

Growing up in Chicago we would say, we lived on the nort side of the city. People claim the correct pronunciation is Chicawgo. To me that’s just crazy. At least in school the nuns at St. Sylvester’s would have scolded us if we said, coulda. If I said, can I have a glass of water they would reply, yes of course you can. However, if you’re asking me for a glass of water it is, may I have a glass of water?

[@tbessie]

I was born and raised in California, and I almost never do any of these things (maybe one or two), even in casual speech. I wonder if that's because I have always striven to speak very clearly, or because I've traveled a lot and lived in France for a few years and tried to speak very clearly when speaking English, or due to my classical singing training... or what?

[@barbarasnyder9268]

I think some of these things are British English. I'm a Californian too and don't do these things either.

[@allo1824]

Same, I'm also Californian

[@chrisherne6454]

I am not sure who this 'we' is you are referring to. As I spend my time in a business environment where being precise and unambiguous is important, and because I had a reasonable education in the grammar and spelling of my mother tongue, I speak correctly without glottal stops most of the time. Of course, I do relax the rules depending on the social group I am in, but I think this is a fairly well-documented effect among humans, where their accent and active vocabulary changes with their current social group. I can think of more than a few jokes about it. My tip would be to understand purer ideals of English both spoken and written and try to master them for use in professional life, and not to stress about your accent and dialect when among friends.

[@leopard36cat]

Woulda danced beneath the moonlit sky, Shoulda dared to chase the unknown, Coulda painted skies with vibrant hues, Oughta let the heart be fully shown. Musta listened to the whispering wind, Guiding towards a different fate, Woulda held onto love's tender touch, Shoulda risked the heart's fragile state. Coulda travelled far beyond the horizon, Oughta embraced the thrill of the chase, Musta lived a life unrestrained, With every step, a new embrace. But time, a fickle and elusive friend, Allows no rewinds or fast-forwards, Leaving us with fragments of regret, In the realm where the mind wanders. Yet amidst the coulda, shoulda, woulda, A lesson of wisdom lies concealed, For in the tapestry of our existence, Every choice has its own revealed. So let the winds of the past carry away, The burden of shoulda, woulda, coulda's might, Embrace the present with open arms, And step forth, bathed in life's pure light. For in the dance of moments yet to come, The musta's find their rightful place, And as we journey through this tapestry, We'll leave behind no trace of waste. So let us not dwell on the roads untaken, But celebrate the choices we make, For in the realm of endless possibilities, Our hearts and souls will forever awake.