[Music]
hello hey ethan
can you hear me i can't hear you okay
great how was your day today sorry i
i still can't hear you wait you can or
you can't
i can't oh i thought you said i can hear
you
now i can hear you oh i'm sorry i said i
can't
hear you now that you mention it some of
my students tell me they often confuse
can with khan when they watch american
tv shows
that's true i've heard them say that a
lot how about we make a lesson on that
i think that's a great idea
[Music]
hey there so as you just saw a lot of
learners have trouble seeing the
difference between
can and can't especially in american
english
so let's see how your listening is now
when i say i can't hear you what do you
hear
and it's not just hard to understand the
difference for learners
can't is also challenging pronounced
with an american accent
so if you have ever suffered from
confusing can
and can't if you watch this lesson until
the end
you will master how to hear the
difference between them and also
how to pronounce them and for those of
you that are new here
i want to invite you to join our global
community
by hitting the subscribe button and the
bell down below
that way we can help you to understand
fast speaking natives
to be understood by anybody and to
connect to the world
like this fan who told us that watching
our lessons has helped
them improve their comprehension by 50
in this comment thread on youtube this
user said i usually use cannot
instead of can't just to avoid confusion
then someone made a funny reply i used
my british accent in this
only case if you do the same thing
that's great
it shows that you're using different
strategies to make yourself understood
which obviously is the most important
thing
however if you'd like to modify your
accent
and you want to learn to say it in a way
that's closer to how natives say it
we'll do that in just a bit in this
comment
this person says that the problem is
when you're watching an american tv show
and you don't know if they said can or
can't that's so true
so let's start with what you know this
is pronounced
can and this can't
however that's just the strong form of
those words
in context can is usually reduced to the
weak form
kun for example i can help you you can
sit here
can i use your phone we use the strong
form
can when it's in the last position i
can't do it but
she can or in short answers yes
i can or when you use it to contrast it
with something else
or add emphasis you can't go out what
you can do is stay home and study for
your exam
if i could do it you can too or finally
in the noun form
a can of beans now can't is always said
in the strong form
meaning we don't reduce the vowel sound
to a schwa
this is the basic pronunciation of this
word can't
however it is estimated that only one
out of ten times
people will say can't fully announcing
that t
at the end here's an example where i use
a true t
to fully pronounce t she can't come with
us
if i say it this way it sounds a bit
unnatural or like i really want to
emphasize that she cannot
come nine out of ten times names will
save this tea
a bit differently there are three
possibilities
we see it as a stop t we drop the t
altogether or we turn it into a ch sound
and this is probably what confuses you
because when you don't hear that clear t
it becomes very similar to can can
not by the way works exactly like can't
but you'd hear that in very formal
contexts
you could also say cannot when you want
to add extra emphasis
but we natives don't use it so often so
if you are in doubt
say can't instead and if these
subtleties that i'm pointing out make
you feel a bit stressed
or even scared you are not alone this is
challenging stuff
and that is exactly why we developed our
real life native immersion course
to help learners like you constantly
understand the most difficult aspects of
native pronunciation
what we're seeing today is just one
small aspect for you to master
so that you can have advanced
comprehension and speak clearly though
so as a gift for you today i want to
give you free
access to our power learning mini course
which will give you
a taste of our method you can sign up
now by clicking up here
or down in the description so now what
is the stop t
the stop t happens when we don't
completely finalize the pronunciation
of the tea with a true tea my tongue
touches the roof of my mouth
behind my teeth watch as i say these
words
hat eat what
all right but i usually would say those
words with a stop t
in that case my tongue stays down and i
cut off the t
at the back of my throat watch again
hat e what
now i'll say them again but practice
saying the stop t
in the same way as i do it might be
challenging for you
but keep practicing and eventually
you'll be able to do it
[Music]
hat eat
what all right and now that you have a
better idea of the stop t
let's go back to can't compare
can't with a true tea and can with a
stop t
can't can can't
can't again the error is stopped and you
don't hear that
sound at the end i'll say a few
sentences first with a true tea
and then with a stop t i can't
understand
i can't understand i can't believe it
i can't believe it i can't tell you
i can't tell you i'll make it even more
interesting now
first i'll say it with a true tea then
with a stop t
and then i'll say can pay attention to
the differences
i can't go i can't go
i can go also notice the difference in
pitch
i can't go i can go now the other
possibility i mentioned
was dropping the t
this is especially true if the next word
starts in a vowel
so again i'll say the following examples
first with a true t
and then with no t at all i can't always
i can always i can't even
i can't even i can't often
i can often alright so now i bet you're
scratching your head and asking yourself
but if kant is said with no t then how
the heck is it different from can
in the affirmative the answer is because
as i said earlier can is almost always
pronounced in the weak form
kun when used in a sentence when we say
can't with no t can't
we use the strong form can
okay but now i know you're saying but
you said can
can be pronounced strongly when it's in
the final position or
when it is used for contrast yes there
are going to be some cases where it
could be
rather ambiguous however that will
happen
very rarely and when it does it can even
trip up natives
however most times the context will make
it clear
if the speaker is saying can or can't
grammar also helps
if you ask me can you help me and i say
sorry i can't help you the word sorry
indicates i'm saying
no lastly there's a third possibility
and that's when the t turns into a ch
sound
luckily this is quite easy this simply
happens when
can't is followed by you can't you do it
you can come can't you this doesn't mean
that you can't say it with a stop t
can't you do it or even a true t can't
you do it
note that in this case it gives a bit of
extra emphasis
by the way this t plus y becoming out
sh sound like in can't you is a great
example connected speech
if you want to learn more about how to
understand more types of connected
speech
and even use it when you speak then
check out this lesson by clicking
up here or down the description below
alright now let's review what we've
learned so far
answer true or false to these two
questions
can can be weak or strong
right it's usually reduced to kun
but we also saw some cases where we
pronounce it strongly as
cam can't has a strong form
but the weak form is more common
in this case you don't need to worry
about it reducing
just remember that how we pronounce the
t can change
with a stop t can with a drop t
plus a vowel can't even for example or
we turn the t
into a ch can't you
now that you know the differences let's
put your ears to the test
i'll say a sentence and you'll have to
choose either can
or can't based on what you hear
we can't park here we can't park here
[Music]
we can't park here you can come
you can come
[Music]
you can come you can buy it here
you can buy it here
[Music]
you can buy it here tim can't go with me
tim can't go with me
tim can't go with me i can't eat that
i can't eat that
i can't eat that now get ready to speak
english
let's put your pronunciation to the test
i'll show you an image and you'll say
either can or can't
based on what you see
[Music]
you can't swim here you can pay with a
credit card here
you can't use your cell phone here you
can't drive fast here
you can exchange money here you can use
the internet here
you can't take pictures here
now let's use it in real life next time
you are watching a tv series or video
listening to a podcast or speaking with
a friend take a moment to pay attention
to this
even pause and listen a couple times ask
yourself did they say can or can't
was can said in a strong form or it's a
weak form
how is the t pronounced or not
pronounced in can't
there you have it as promised today you
learn to tell
can and can't apart you've tuned your
ears to the difference
and you can also now pronounce can't
with much more confidence
and now it's time to go beyond the
classroom and
live your english ah yeah
yeah i know what have you been doing
lately i've been learning portuguese
oh yeah i remember you mentioned that
how's that going well if i'm being
completely honest i kind of feel stuck
in a rut you know
what do you mean it just doesn't feel
like i'm making any improvements you
know what i mean
i used to get so excited to watch the
lessons do the activities and stuff
but frankly now i'm brought to tears i
think i'm going to throw in the towel