Hello there!
How are you doing today?
Welcome to a Go Natural English episode where we're going to talk about a question from
a Go Natural English audience member, Abdelkrim.
Abdelkrim asked, "Can you talk a little bit about the flapped "T"?
Well, this is an excellent question.
Abdelkrim, it sounds like you're studying linguistics.
Maybe you're really interested in pronunciation in the English language and this is a really
important point for understanding American English.
So, if you want to talk to Americans, or if you want to sound more like an American English
speaker, then this answer is really important.
Now, Abdelkrim asked for a lot of examples and exercises, and I'm going to do my best
but remember these English tip videos are really short.
I try to keep them between two and five minutes.
The shorter, the sweeter.
But if you want more examples, more practice, and more support, then you should join the
Go Natural English premium course at gonaturalenglish.com.
Now, here are some examples: We have words that I mentioned before in another
video such as "water," Another example would be "pretty."
"Isn't it a pretty city?"
Now that's another example -- "city."
So, we have the flapped "T" when you have a "T" between two vowels.
So, "Pretty -- P-R-E-T-T-Y."
"Y" would be considered a vowel in this case, makes the "T" sound like a "D" -- this is
what we call the flapped "T" in linguistics or pronunciation.
So, what it means is that the "T" in American English sounds like a "D."
Now, in British English, it's a bit different but as you know, I'm an American English teacher
so I can help you out with this flapped "T" sound.
So, it's "pretty."
Now, you may want to say "pretty" and that's OK.
It's not incorrect but that's more of a British accent.
So, if you want to understand and sound more like an American, you should say, "pretty"
and you should expect people to say "pretty" and know that that word is spelled with a
"T" even though it sounds like a "D".
Same thing for "city".
You might be tempted to say "city" and that's OK but what sounds more natural in American
English is "city."
It's not "city."
It's "city."
So, a "D" sound is softer than a "T" sound.
The flapped "T" is soft like a "D".
So, I'm currently in Tokyo and I would say that Tokyo is a pretty city.
Oh, but I have an even better example -- ooh "better" -- B-E-T-T-E-R.
Not "better" but "better".
A better example -- I just thought of a better example which is actually "thought of".
Now this will blow your mind because when we say words, we have to consider the linking
between two words.
We don't just say individual words like "pretty" -- "city."
We link words together into phrases, sentences.
So, if you have a word like "thought" that ends in a "T" and then the next word like
"of" which begins with an "O" -- so, "thought" vowel, "T" at the end, and the next word vowel
"O" -- when you say them together that "T" at the end of "thought" becomes a flapped
"T".
"I thought of -- duv, duv -- I thought of a better example."
So, those are some flapped "T" examples.
I hope that they were helpful.
There are many examples of these in American English, so remember, if you want to learn
more, if you want more practice and support, come visit me at gonaturalenglish.com and
you can learn more about the premium course.
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Bye for now.