"Can" and "can't" : Six different pronunciations - learn the difference!

[@LonelyWolfJuggler]

I from Brazil and I am learning english alone, because I love english, Then, when I hear musics in English I understand very little, when I watch movies I understand little, when I hear dialogues I understand more or less. Then I found this video of yours, and I understood perfectly ALL your video! because you speak SLOWLY, this is a key for me to understand. :D I am very happy now, Thanks a lot! You're a great teacher. I will watch everyone of your videos. :)

[@valerigr1]

You are a wizard! You know how to speak in English so that every word is understood!

[@salvadorhpo2030]

best explanation ever. 10 minutes with your video and I learned more than 4 years of college. THANK YOU.

[@shuntaro211]

I haven't ｋnown that native speakers pronounce 'can't' in such differnt ways.It's very useful for me. Thank you so much!

[@sammimiller6714]

I would have never thought this was something that would warrant a 'learn the difference' video. As a native English speaker, it is not the slightest bit difficult. But it does make sense from watching this.

[@sarinas3892]

It was the most complete explanation I saw about the difference between the pronunciation of can and cant, thank you very much

[@khonglaaikhac1]

This video is very helpful. I usually get complicated to distinguish can and can't when listening to AE conversation. Now it's little bit better. Many thanks

[@huynguyencong5642]

Brand new knowledge. I don't know about it until watching this video.

[@Baironecanemarrone]

Thanks teacher, your lessons are effective and pleasant. Study english with you is like come back in a time in my classroom at high school! Sweet time.. The best internet english lessons are yours. You are helpfull and friendly, thanks for all. Fabio

[@samurai50062]

This topic is very common. Is really difficult to understand can and can't. Thanks so much it was very helpful, very clear explanation

[@watchingthings2253]

Best video about this stuff I have ever seen. I could never grasp the difference until now. It´s a pity the single-track audio’s quality. I have remastered your video duplicating the audio’s track to a stereo audio and removing the background noise for my own sake. But, I can send this stereo video back to you, if you deem appropriate.

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

Yeah, the audio isn't the greatest. One of my earlier vids. haha. Thanks for offering to send me your files but YT doesn't let you replace a video with an edited version. I would need to upload it as a new video but this is the one that is indexed and linked to from many blogs already so people would keep coming to this one anyway. I think. haha.

[@luigir9265]

Awesome video and explanation. It helped me a lot to clarify these sounds. However, you missed yet another difference between "can" and "can('t)". When one says "I can", the k sound is usually unaspirated, while when one says "I can('t)" it is aspirated more often than not, and the more emphatic you want to be, the stronger the aspiration. If you listen to your video you'll see that you do that all the time. However, when the word "can" stands alone or when you want to emphasize it, it'll be aspirated too (as in 17:48, when you said "someone who can" with an emphatic aspiration. In this case a marked "n" in the absence of a glottal stop or a flap made the difference from a "can('t)" ). Quite complicated...

[@jorachim]

Very useful video I am an American English student from Venezuela

[@Jarrettfan]

Very helpful, especially bec he speaks slow enough and you dont get intimidated bec of his friendly style.

[@MusikeXavier]

Best explanation of this topic ever!

[@nguyenhuyvu9164]

I must say this video is fantastic! Thank you so much.

[@amanysaber7776]

Super wonderful lesson, thank you very much .

[@franciscotorres5916]

I thought I was wrong about the "d" sound. I was sure it wasn't a "d" the sound produced when saying "can't either". Thanks for the fine explanation.

[@stevefification]

I like your explanation! Very thorough and eyeopening. Best explanation of the "can" and "can't" pronunciation I have ever heard.

[@jonathanpoon7024]

ten thumbs up! very professional explanation! only linguistic experts can explain that way, very very excellent! thanks for your great video!

[@hipopotamito2000]

This is the greatest and clearest explanation of can and can't pronunciation. Besides, this teacher disclosed the bad explanation about the pronunciation of T turning into D that almost all teachers do (even though they are not following their own rule in their explanation)

[@joansalvado1044]

A clear and knowledgeable explanation on an elusive issue. I've found it very useful.

[@mniksirat67]

Your teaching is great!

[@jackyw77777]

It's so complicated. I wonder if you native English speakers never have any problems when you say "can" or "can't" like this. For example, you call your friend to make an appointment and he says "I can't", but you think it's "I can". Then you go to meet him but he doesn't show up. Anyway, thanks for your clear explanations. This is the best version explaining the difference between "can" and "can't".

[@reidamiao]

Your videos are very helpful. One of the best so far.

[@Cthulch]

Very interesting. Tricky. Confusing. However, incredibly interesting.

[@Mrjimmyluo]

i like the point you are taking in the video about how to improve your english ,find a teacher who know how to pronoun the word correctly .and also can teach you the phonetic alphabt............that only way how to get better when you studying on speaking... thanks for video!!!

[@Ijsmk]

I have learned more English from you than I have learned in school! :D

[@guihsjbv]

Thank you so much for this video. I finally can hear some differences between the pronunciation of those words. It's still difficult for me to pronounce it, but at least I can hear it. Keep it up with your videos, the are really helpful.

[@geovane4309]

the bestest video about this topic that I've ever watched 👌🏼

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

Thanks!

[@jorgegil6339]

Great help ! Thanks.

[@13Frajola]

Best explanation about that stuff I' ve heard. Glad I met you. Thank you!

[@josericardosancheztorres251]

I'm learning English. This video is clear, useful and fun. I really laughed a lot with "I Can not Speak English", but it's true. For example, I say "I can speak English" because it is true, I really can not speak English; I only speak these words... However, thank you!

[@DANIELRODRIGUEZ-iy1kd]

Great video, excellent explanation between sounds the words "can and can't" thanks Syl god bless you.

[@liao0351]

This teaching is so great!

[@harvins]

Thank you ! It really helps me a lot!

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

No, this is never a problem for us. We can hear the difference easily.

[@ryuweehyun9517]

Who am I? Where am I? What am I learning? World is confusing. By the way, best video ever.

[@SouthernYoo]

your a person, on Earth and learning English pronunciation.

[@sergelitalien8715]

awsome .. you are very, very good at what you do (Qc french canadian)

[@renatoeugeniooliveira5516]

Many thanks I would say you have a gift - teaching.

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

+renato eugenio oliveira Thank you so much!

[@grigliz80]

Thanks very much!

[@АнастасіяМоісеєнко]

Thank you for your lessons! The are very useful and grate!

[@yunqianggan2906]

Thank you very much! I've learned a lot.

[@josetroconis4]

Great video! Clearly explained! Thanks a lot!

[@duantrantv]

Thank you a lot.

[@keydarkman]

Very good your videos they help me to learn english, greetings from Perú.

[@denisseortiz6110]

Excelente video. El mejor

[@mohamedkamel2488]

Very good.

[@mrsoo9687]

love it now i know the difference, thank u , god bless you

[@TakehopeURL]

Thanks a lot. I can hear every words !

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

Takehope Thanks for watching!

[@peneaslokbere7126]

Thank you so much! Happy, its was gotting wonderful videos! Greetings from West Papua

[@amenamanpray]

Thank you v much! Very helpful. Especially as you said in listening.

[@nguyenclc]

thank you very much! this video is very helpful!

[@purnomomu638]

Clearly explaining.cool.

[@98765432170269]

dear sir,thank You very much for helping us to learn English,what more lessons other than yours. deepani bandara,sri lanka

[@anacristinacuevassanchez3950]

It´s a great explanation! I would like to see the monolog written-

[@patricioleiva8641]

We have a sound for flap T in Spanish, it's similar to our Spanish r in "pero"

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

For people whose native language is not English, it's not always easy to pick up on all these other cues when you're not familiar with them.

[@marcosrmartin3613]

I like explanation.

[@rockedlim]

Thank Mr. saludos de Perú

[@GiopNguyen]

Thank you very much ! It's really helpful for my English. But there's small thing, the sound of the video seems too low, and only comes from left speaker, can you fix them ? My English is not good enough to listen in such low voice ! ^^

[@davidvelasco3712]

just incredible!!!

[@petertran6006]

Useful video

[@furiokun001]

Thank you so much. I've learned so much with your videos. There are many about pronunciation but I trust yours the most. Do you have and if not, could you make a video explaning how to pronounce the article "the"? Thanks in advance.

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

Thanks Julio. I'll put that on my to do list. What would you like to know about "the"?

[@MM-zm1xw]

Nice! Thank you!

[@GlobalWarmingSkeptic]

What's even stranger is that the object "can" is pronounced differently than the verb "can" in everyday use. As a verb, you get the "kn," but with the noun, you will get very clear and distinct pronunciation (not sure if that's in the video, but find that interesting).

[@TheEngineer2548]

i like this video

[@PhucNguyen-wj5lg]

thank you so much! ^^

[@OMarceloCosta]

Thank you!!

[@alexeysubbota]

Cool, really!

[@gabrielederosa5023]

Thanks a lot. It has been a very interesting video. I've been studying english for 5 years . I'd like to have some Englsh proninciatio lessons. You're a techer. what can I have to do for getting some online lessons?

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

Gabriele De Rosa Hi Gabriele! I'm so sorry to take so long replying to you. Please check your email. I've replied to your message.

[@douglasmarinho3653]

The best class about the can and can't ever!!! Thank you so much Mr. I don't know how to call you haha

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

Thanks! My name is Syl.

[@douglasmarinho3653]

​@@SlowEasyEnglishso thanks Syl!

[@shockey1977]

you are the master¡¡¡

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

+shockey1977 Wow. Thanks!

[@GayMaleYouth]

Quite insightful. And i got to know ways to say "can't" i didn't know before. Of course i knew how butter et al was pronounced, but the can't/can thing was new to me, at least, part of it was, while part i already knew. And oh this tee shirt's mine too. :-P

[@mohammedshihabudheen4027]

very useful

[@nadiaelmaach7829]

this video it helpful useful

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

nadia el maach Thanks!

[@carlanunez693]

It is a good presentation, but I need more examples can y can't , can you tell me please?? regards ;)

[@QYChen-fu9hr]

u are great!

[@ginitaperez511]

Waoooo Thanks a Lot!!

[@Ana_crusis]

In British English (unlike americans) we pronounce 'can' as /kæn/ and 'can't' as /kɑ:nt/ . This means it's much easier to hear the difference.

[@albertcharles9471]

Hi Syl, first of all, Congratulations for your videos, and also i thank you so for them, it's been very helpful for me, I live in a country that speaks Portuguese, and the 'flap' sound occurs in some words in Brazilian Portuguese with 'r'. Also i have a question with words that finishes with 'd', such as 'dad, dead, bad, bed, fed', etc..So there i go. Is also common to use flap sound in words that finishes with 'd' as well as 't' as you emphasized in the words like 'bat, put', and so on ?

[@HidayatFebiansyah]

actually, you don't need to buy any adaptor, just change the property of the left track to be mono, or copy it to the right track, depends on your video editor.

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

Yes, I'm sorry about that! At the time that I made this video, I didn't realize that my camera only recorded on one channel if I used a mono microphone. Most cameras and computers will split the sound over the left and right channels, but not mine. Soon after, I bought an adapter that fixed the problem.

[@kauancorte541]

You are awesome!

[@PhilipSpencer74]

It's a good explanation, but probably too complicated for beginning students.

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

Maybe. If they don't understand the first time, then can come back after a little while and watch it again.

[@yigitcan5479]

What about the words like wanted to or granted ? Should we omit the t and pronounce like waned , graned?

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

These words can also be pronounced by nasalizing the vowel and following it with a flap 't'. I should do a video about that someday.

[@aryaaseman2344]

Thank you so much , your clips are amazing effective , How can i be your student ??

[@ChandraSekhar-uz6kf]

Hi. Can you tell how to pronounce I can’t do that and I can do that properly. People are not able distinguish this when I am speaking. Could you please tell me how to pronounce above sentences.

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

Teaching pronunciation by video is extremely difficult because I can't hear how you're saying it so I can't tell you what to correct. However, maybe one way would be to use "cannot" instead of "can't" if people have trouble understanding.

[@georginaana24]

Thanks to you I can speak 'can't' correctly now! Sorry not Sorry (for the pun) LOL :D

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

Glad to hear it!

[@jorkao]

supongo me entenderas (cuestiòn de hermandad de paises..), un tip rapido para distingirlos: al odio suenan casi igual, pero al tu decir can`t debes hacer una parada glotal, de modo que el aire se interrumpe en tu garganta y que sientes como una parada brusca,

[@aleksandardinic6465]

l am try understand what you want explain all students here. and it was really helpful thanks for that. and l have one question you are sayed if you l only lisent and watching your lesson l can't never learnt english for example l need find l teacher but l think your lesson relly good and l can learnt a lot and improve my English. my native language is slavic language that is verey diffrenc than English but l will continute to learning. l hope you can understand my writing. sorry for mistike.

[@kooziejr]

I don't think the video fully explains why this would never happen (I didn't actually watch all of it but I am assuming). We change our tone/pitch of our voice when we say "I can go" or I can't go." I can go is usually more high pitched and energetic whereas I can't go is duller and less enthusiastic. Like any language there are a lot of non verbal cues (even on the phone) that allow us to comprehend. In any case, we can hear the difference between can and can't but it's emphasized by nonverbals

[@jujusaed2536]

omg your laugh is the same as my grandpa, same teeth! thank you very much, your videos is very helpful and you make it easy for me.

[@ahadmirzaei5914]

goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood

[@Reupload-Kanal-Von-Lukas-Heil]

And some people say English is a an easy language

[@muhammadmuchtarsodiq7771]

thanks for good explanation.. but, can u speak more loudly..

[@1mannyeong]

Butter! not Budder haha so funny! But I'm still hard to pronounce "can't" T-T..

[@abrahamhaile6063]

I understand sir"thank you for that but I can't write English what's happening tell me please

[@SlowEasyEnglish]

+abraham haile The best way to improve writing is to write a lot! Unfortunately, spelling is all up to memorization.

[@maurocarvalho1148]

I never thought about weak "can"/kn/ is a question, such as "/kn/ you speak English?"

[@phandiem91]

it's helpful for me... but i can't hear you clearly... can you fix that problem, please? thanks