Pronouncing /s/ Pronouncing (ed) Pronouncing /t/ Pronouncing (ing) Pronouncing (the) Pronouncing /r/

Pronouncing 's'
Regular plural nouns (e.g. names, parents) and 3rd person present simple verbs (e.g. she sings, he learns, it runs) all end in 's' but there are three different ways of pronouncing this letter.

verbs wishes judges closes

nouns buses watches experiences

verbs jumps bites drinks

nouns parents cuffs maths

verbs sings needs loves

nouns clothes mums names

Voiced and unvoiced sounds

If a sound is voiced it means that there is a vibration in your throat when you say the sound. If place your hand over your throat and say the sound /z/ or /m/, for example, you can feel your throat vibrate or buzz. When you say an unvoiced sound, on the other hand, like /s/ or /t/, you can't feel any buzz or vibration in your throat.

Rules for pronouncing 's'

Here are some rules about how you pronounce the final 's': If the word ends with the sounds the final s is pronounced

If the word ends with any other voicless consonant, for example: the final s is pronounced

If the word ends with any other voiced consonant, for example: the final s is pronounced

How to Pronounce -ed in English

The past simple tense and past participle of all regular verbs end in -ed. For example: base verb (v1) work past simple (v2) worked past participle (v3) worked

In addition, many adjectives are made from the past participle and so end in -ed. For example:

I like painted furniture.

The question is: How do we pronounce the -ed? The answer is: In 3 ways - / Id/ or / t/ or / d/ example with ed: wanted / Id/ voiced /d/ /p/ /f/ /s/ unvoiced /S/ /tS/ /k/ wash watch like play voiced all other sounds, for example... allow beg washed watched liked played allowed begged / d/ no end hope laugh fax ended hoped laughed faxed / t/ yes

If the base verb ends in one of these sounds: unvoiced /t/

example base verb*: want

pronounce extra the -ed: syllable?

* note that it is the sound that is important, not the letter or spelling. For example, "fax" ends in the letter "x" but the sound /s/; "like" ends in the letter "e" but the sound /k/. Exceptions The following -ed words used as adjectives are pronounced with /Id/:

aged blessed crooked

dogged learned naked

ragged wicked wretched

So we say:

an aged man /Id/ a blessed nuisance /Id/ a dogged persistance /Id/ a learned professor - the professor, who was truly learned /Id/ a wretched beggar - the beggar was wretched /Id/

But when used as real verbs (past simple and past participle), the normal rules apply and we say:

he aged quickly /d/ he blessed me /t/ they dogged him /d/ he has learned well /d/ or /t/

The glottal stop //

In both British and American varieties of English, a /t/ which comes at the end of a word or syllable can often be pronounced as a glottal stop // (a silent gap produced by holding ones breath briefly) instead of a /t/. For this to happen, the next sound must not be a vowel or a syllabic /l/. So football can be /fbl/ instead of /ftbl/, and button can be /bn/ instead of /btn/. But a glottal stop would not be used for the /t/ sounds in bottle or better because of the sounds which come afterwards.
Examples and Observations:

"Glottalization is a general term for any articulation involving a simultaneous constriction, especially a glottal stop. In English, glottal stops are often used in this way to reinforce a voiceless plosive at the end of a word, as in what?" (David Crystal, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Blackwell, 1997)

"We often make this stop--it's the sound we make when we say 'uh-oh.' In some languages, this is a separate consonant sound, but in English we often use it with d, t, k, g, b or p when one of those sounds happens at the end of a word or syllable. . . . We close the vocal cords very sharply and make the air stop for just a moment. We don't let the air escape. "This glottal stop is the last sound of these words: o words: light . . . flight . . . put . . . take . . . make . . . trip . . . report o multisyllable words: stoplight . . . apartment . . . backseat . . . assortment . . . workload . . . upbeat o phrases: right now . . . talk back . . . cook the books . . . hate mail . . . fax machine . . . back-breaking

You also hear it in words and syllables that end in t + a vowel + n. We don't say the vowel at all, so we say the t + n: button . . . cotton . . . kitten . . . Clinton . . . continent . . . forgotten . . . sentence." (Charlsie Childs, Improve Your American English Accent. McGraw Hill, 2004)

"Nowadays younger speakers of many forms of British English have glottal stops at the ends of words such as cap, cat, and back. A generation or so ago speakers of BBC English would have regarded such a pronunciation as improper, almost as bad as producing a glottal stop between vowels in the London Cockney pronunciation of butter . . .. In America nearly everybody has a glottal stop in button and bitten . . .." (Peter Ladefoged, Vowels and Consonants: An Introduction to the Sounds of Languages, Vol. 1, 2nd ed. Blackwell, 2005)

/r/
RP is non-rhotic, which means that the letter r is usually "silent", unless it is followed by a vowel. Here's how it works:

In words like car, tower, inform and first, r is silent (r is not followed by a vowel). In words like red, foreign, print, r is pronounced (r is followed by a vowel). R is also pronounced at the end of a word, if the next word starts with a vowel, for example: number eight, far away. Most RP speakers also insert an r in phrases like: the idea(r) of, Africa(r) and Asia, law(r) and order. This r is not in the spelling; they just use it to separate two vowels.

The following pairs sound exactly the same in RP: or/awe, court/caught, sore/saw, farther/father, formerly/formally. In General American, they all sound different.

How to Pronounce "the" in English

Normally, we pronounce "the" with a short sound (like "thuh"). But when "the" comes before a vowel sound, we pronounce it as a long "thee". vowel sound we write A the apple we say thee apple

E I O U

the egg the ice-cream the orange the ugli fruit

thee egg thee ice-cream thee orange thee ugli fruit

It is important to understand that it is what we say that matters, not what we write. It is the sound that matters, not the letter used in writing a word. So we use a long "thee" before a vowel sound, not necessarily before a vowel. Look at these cases: we write the house the hour the university the umbrella with consonant (h) consonant (h) vowel (u) vowel (u) we say thuh house thee our with consonant sound vowel sound

thuh youniversity consonant sound thee umbrella vowel sound

Emphatic the [thee] When we wish to place emphasis on a particular word, we can use "emphatic the" [thee], whether or not the word begins with a consonant or vowel sound. For example: A: I saw the [thuh] President yesterday. B: What! The [thee] President of the United States? A: Yes, exactly.

Pronunciation of the /-ing/ ending in English

words with the -ing ending similar words and expressions putting put in king kin madding madden anything any thin helping help in calling call in wing win rowing row in knowing know win know when morning more nan costing cost in

I hope youve noticed that with the correct pronunciation of the // sound you feel the vibration in your nose. Sentences with examples that show the importance of the right and clear pronunciation of this sound. We charge no roaming fees. Im aiming for my day off. Are you wedding? I dont like this taxing. Gorges got a degree in accounting I can feel the sting. We charge no Roman fees. Im amy for my day off. Are you wait Ann? I dont like this taxi. Gorges got a degree in accountee. I can feel the steam.

Word Stress in English

Word stress is your magic key to understanding spoken English. Native speakers of English use word stress naturally. Word stress is so natural for them that they don't even know they use it. Non-native speakers who speak English to native speakers without using word stress, encounter two problems: 1. They find it difficult to understand native speakers, especially those speaking fast. 2. The native speakers may find it difficult to understand them. In this lesson we look at the most important aspects of word stress, followed by a short quiz to check your understanding:

Understanding Syllables for Word Stress What is Word Stress? Why is Word Stress Important? Where do I Put Word Stress? Word Stress Rules Word Stress Quiz

Rules of Word Stress in English

There are two very simple rules about word stress: 1. One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long words.) 2. We can only stress vowels, not consonants.

Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put the stress. But do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions. It is better to try to "feel" the music of the language and to add the stress naturally. 1 Stress on first syllable rule Most 2-syllable nouns Most 2-syllable adjectives 2 Stress on last syllable rule Most 2-syllable verbs example to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN example PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy

There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: the words export, import, contract and object can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable. 3 Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end) rule Words ending in -ic Words ending in -sion and -tion example GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic teleVIsion, reveLAtion

For a few words, native English speakers don't always "agree" on where to put the stress. For example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy. 4 Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end) rule Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy Words ending in -al example deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy, geOLogy CRItical, geoLOGical

5 Compound words (words with two parts) rule For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part example BLACKbird, GREENhouse bad-TEMpered, oldFASHioned to underSTAND, to overFLOW

Sentence Stress in English

Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Like word stress, sentence stress can help you to understand spoken English, especially when spoken fast. Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat". You remember that word stress is accent on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is accent on certain words within a sentence. Most sentences have two types of word:

content words structure words

Content words are the key words of a sentence. They are the important words that carry the meaning or sense. Structure words are not very important words. They are small, simple words that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the sentence its correct form or "structure". If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still understand the sentence. If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not understand the sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning. Imagine that you receive this telegram message:
Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE Click here to hear

This sentence is not complete. It is not a "grammatically correct" sentence. But you probably understand it. These 4 words communicate very well. Somebody wants you to sell their car for them because they have gone to France. We can add a few words:
Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE Click here to hear

The new words do not really add any more information. But they make the message more correct grammatically. We can add even more words to make one complete, grammatically correct sentence. But the information is basically the same:
Content Words Will you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE. Structure Words Click here to hear

In our sentence, the 4 key words (sell, car, gone, France) are accentuated or stressed. Why is this important for pronunciation? It is important because it adds "music" to the language. It is the rhythm of the English language. It changes the speed at which we speak (and listen to) the language. The time between each stressed word is the same. In our sentence, there is 1 syllable between SELL and CAR and 3 syllables between CAR and GONE. But the time (t) between SELL and CAR and between CAR and GONE is the same. We maintain a constant beat on the stressed words. To do this, we say "my" more slowly, and "because I've" more quickly. We change the speed of the small structure words so that the rhythm of the key content words stays the same.
syllables 2 1 CAR 3 1

Will you SELL my

because I've GONE to FRANCE.

beat

beat

beat

beat

t1

t1

t1

t1

Sentence Stress Rules > See also: Word Stress I am a proFESsional phoTOgrapher whose MAIN INterest is to TAKE SPEcial, BLACK and WHITE PHOtographs that exHIBit ABstract MEANings in their photoGRAPHic STRUCture.

Rules for Sentence Stress in English

The basic rules of sentence stress are:
1. content words are stressed 2. structure words are unstressed 3. the time between stressed words is always the same

The following tables can help you decide which words are content words and which words are structure words:
Content words - stressed Words carrying the meaning main verbs nouns adjectives adverbs negative auxiliaries Example SELL, GIVE, EMPLOY CAR, MUSIC, MARY RED, BIG, INTERESTING QUICKLY, LOUDLY, NEVER DON'T, AREN'T, CAN'T

Structure words - unstressed Words for correct grammar pronouns Example he, we, they

prepositions articles conjunctions auxiliary verbs

on, at, into a, an, the and, but, because do, be, have, can, must

Exceptions

The above rules are for for what is called "neutral" or normal stress. But sometimes we can stress a word that would normally be only a structure word, for example to correct information. Look at the following dialogue: "They've been to Mongolia, haven't they?" "No, THEY haven't, but WE have. Note also that when "be" is used as a main verb, it is usually unstressed (even though in this case it is a content word). To make progress with sentence stress fast, try the world's #1 pronunciation program, Pronunciation Power.

Linking in English
When we say a sentence in English, we join or "link" words to each other. Because of this linking, the words in a sentence do not always sound the same as when we say them individually. Linking is very important in English. If you recognize and use linking, two things will happen: 1. you will understand other people more easily 2. other people will understand you more easily There are basically two types of linking:

consonant > vowel We link words ending with a consonant sound to words beginning with a vowel sound vowel > vowel We link words ending with a vowel sound to words beginning with a vowel sound

In this lesson we look at:

Understanding Vowels and Consonants

Linking Consonant to Vowel Linking Vowel to Vowel

Understanding Vowels & Consonants for Linking

To understand linking, it is important to know the difference between vowel sounds and consonant sounds. Here is a table of English vowels and consonants: vowels consonants a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

The table shows the letters that are vowels and consonants. But the important thing in linking is the sound, not the letter. Often the letter and the sound are the same, but not always. For example, the word "pay" ends with:

the consonant letter "y" the vowel sound "a"

Here are some more examples: though know ends with the letter ends with the sound h o w o

uniform honest begins with the letter begins with the sound u y h o

Vowels and Consonants | Consonant to Vowel | Vowel to Vowel

Linking Consonant to Vowel

When a word ends in a consonant sound, we often move the consonant sound to the beginning of the next word if it starts with a vowel sound. For example, in the phrase "turn off": We write it like this: turn off

We say it like this:

tur

noff

Remember that it's the sound that matters. In the next example, "have" ends with:

the letter "e" (vowel) the sound "v" (consonant)

So we link "have" to the next word "a" which begins with a vowel sound: We write it like this: Can I have a bit of egg? We say it like this: Ca-nI-ha-va-bi-to-fegg?

Linking Vowel to Vowel

When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound, we link the words with a sort of W or Y sound. If our lips are round at the end of the first word, we insert a W sound: oo We write it like this: | o We say it like this: too often who is so I do all

tooWoften whoWis

soWI doWall

If our lips are wide at the end of the first word, we insert a Y sound: oo We write it like this: | -- We say it like this: Kay is KayYis I am IYam the end theYend she asked sheYasked

To really understand linking you might like to try a pronunciation program like Pronunciation Power which comes on CD-rom and is available for all levels.

Informal Contractions
Informal contractions are short forms of other words that people use when speaking casually. They are not exactly slang, but they are a little like slang. For example, "gonna" is a short form of "going to". If you say "going to" very fast, without carefully pronouncing each word, it can sound like "gonna". Please remember that these are informal contractions. That means that we do not use them in "correct" speech, and we almost never use them in writing. (If you see them in writing, for example in a comic strip, that is because the written words represent

the spoken words or dialogue.) We normally use them only when speaking fast and casually, for example with friends. Some people never use them, even in informal speech. It is probably true to say that informal contractions are more common in American English. Also note that, unlike normal contractions, we do not usually use apostrophes (') with informal contractions when written. Listed below are some common informal contractions, with example sentences. Note that the example sentences may be a little artificial because when we use a contraction we may also use other contractions in the same sentence, or even drop some words completely. For example:

What are you going to do? >> Whatcha going to do? >> Whatcha gonna do?

or

Do you want a beer? Do you wanna beer? D'you wanna beer? D'ya wanna beer? Ya wanna beer? Wanna beer?

These informal contractions are not "correct" English. Do not use them in a written exam, for example, except in appropriate situations.

ain't = am not/are not/is not I ain't sure. You ain't my boss. ain't = has not/have not I ain't done it. She ain't finished yet. gimme = give me Gimme your money. Don't gimme that rubbish. Can you gimme a hand? gonna = going to Nothing's gonna change my love for you. I'm not gonna tell you. What are you gonna do? gotta = (have) got a I've gotta gun.

I gotta gun. She hasn't gotta penny. Have you gotta car? gotta = (have) got to I've gotta go now. I gotta go now. We haven't gotta do that. Have they gotta work? kinda = kind of She's kinda cute. lemme = let me Lemme go! wanna = want to I wanna go home. wanna = want a I wanna coffee. whatcha = what are you Whatcha going to do? whatcha = what have you Whatcha got there? ya = you Who saw ya?

Choosing between American and British pronunciation

by Tomasz P. Szynalski Tomasz P. Szynalski, Antimoon.com

Different kinds of English have different pronunciation. For example, the pronunciation (the accent) of British English is different from the pronunciation of American English. The most frequently learned kinds of English in the world are American English and British English.
Sample recordings of General American (GenAm) pronunciation

American pronunciation

In the context of language learning, American pronunciation means General American (GenAm) pronunciation. This is the pronunciation used by educated Americans, on television and on radio. It is described in dictionaries of American English, such as the Merriam-Webster and Random House dictionaries. Most Americans and Canadians speak something similar to General American. Whether you're in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle or Toronto, you will generally hear the same accent. There are some regional differences, but they are usually very small. The only major exception is the South of the US (especially outside of big cities), which has its own distinct accent. General American pronunciation is rhotic, which means that the letter r is always pronounced.
Sample recordings of British pronunciation (RP)

British pronunciation
When people talk about learning British pronunciation, they usually think of Received Pronunciation (RP). This is the pronunciation that you will learn at a British language school; it is also the model taught in coursebooks and dictionaries from publishers like Oxford and Longman. In the UK, only a small percentage of people speak something similar to RP. "Normal people" only speak it in the southeast of England in the area near Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton and London (excluding working-class Londoners, who speak Cockney or Estuary). Elsewhere RP is spoken only by upper-class people, academics, actors, TV personalities, politicians and English teachers. "Normal" Britons usually speak with their local accents, which are often quite different from RP, and can be very hard to understand to untrained ears. Sometimes cities that are only 20 km apart have very different accents. (The British Library has an interactive map of the UK which lets you listen to some examples of British accents from various areas.) RP is non-rhotic, which means that the letter r is usually "silent", unless it is followed by a vowel. Here's how it works:

In words like car, tower, inform and first, r is silent (r is not followed by a vowel). In words like red, foreign, print, r is pronounced (r is followed by a vowel). R is also pronounced at the end of a word, if the next word starts with a vowel, for example: number eight, far away. Most RP speakers also insert an r in phrases like: the idea(r) of, Africa(r) and Asia, law(r) and order. This r is not in the spelling; they just use it to separate two vowels.

The following pairs sound exactly the same in RP: or/awe, court/caught, sore/saw, farther/father, formerly/formally. In General American, they all sound different.

Which one should you choose?

To choose between American and British pronunciation, you need to answer two questions:
1. which one will be more useful to you? 2. which one will be easier to learn for you?

On the first question, you should remember that whether you choose General American or RP, you will be understood by all English speakers, because everyone familiar with both of these accents from TV and movies. So the objective usefulness of GenAm and RP is about the same. Still, if you know you're going to be talking mainly to people who have a particular accent, you may want to learn a similar accent (or you may decide that it is better to stand out). For example, if you are planning to move to England, or if you have many English friends, you may want to learn RP. Of course, the accent of most Britons is quite different from RP, so you will probably stand out anyway. (Speakers of GenAm will have a much better chance of blending in with Americans, as there are fewer regional differences in the US.) The second question is more tricky. Here, the most important thing are your individual circumstances, such as:

Whether you simply prefer one of the accents (for example, because it sounds more pleasant, more sexy, more intelligent, more powerful, etc. to you). If you want to get results, you have to be excited about learning English pronunciation. The more attractive your goal seems to you, the more motivation you will have. Which accent you find easier to imitate. Sometimes people find they have a knack for one, but not the other. Which accent your friends are learning. It is easier to learn if you can talk things through with your friends. Which accent your teacher speaks. (Same reason as above.) Whether you are interested in science or computing. GenAm is more frequently used in those fields and if you are interested in them, you will hear it more often and will find it easier to learn.

If the above questions don't point to an obvious choice, take a look at this table, which compares the more objective advantages of each accent:
General American (GenAm)

Received Pronunciation (RP)

If you speak it, you will be understood by all English speakers. You have a better choice of movies, TV shows and video games to learn the accent from. America's media industry makes a larger amount of interesting, funny and exciting content than

If you speak it, you will be understood by all English speakers. Although American English dominates the media, there are plenty of well-known British actors and movies full of British pronunciation (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings).

Britain's.

The Web has more GenAm content (YouTube videos, podcasts, etc.) than RP content. There are at least 10 times more speakers of GenAm than of RP. If you have pronunciation questions, it is easier to find a speaker of GenAm (or something close to GenAm) than of RP.

The best English dictionaries are made in Britain and focus on RP. (They also have information on American pronunciation, but it is not always accurate, so if you choose American English, you will have to consult American dictionaries, too.) Americans love RP. If you speak RP in America, people will think you are intelligent and the opposite sex will take more interest in you.

People in Britain are neutral towards speakers of American English.

My choice of General American pronunciation

My reasons for choosing American pronunciation were personal. I wanted to learn the same kind of English as my two best friends in high school, who were also the best English learners. I also wanted to be different from "average" students (most people in Poland try to learn RP), and I wanted to annoy my teachers, many of whom viewed RP as some kind of "gold standard". If I had been studying RP, I simply would not have had so much fun on a social level. Even though my reasons were personal, American English turned out to be a good choice. RP may be the king of schools, coursebooks and dictionaries, but most popular, real-world content (movies, TV series, podcasts, Web videos, etc.) features American speakers. Because I was learning American English, I could practice my pronunciation while watching my favorite TV shows and playing my favorite video games. If I had chosen RP, I would have still had some fun content to learn from, but my options would have been more limited.

The importance of learning about the other accent

Whichever accent you choose, you should have some knowledge about both accents. Let's suppose you want to speak pure RP. You don't want to have an American accent at all. Should you pay attention to the American pronunciations in your dictionary?

Yes, you should. First of all, you need to understand both British and American English, since both are widely used. Even if you want to speak RP, it is good to know how words are pronounced in General American. It helps you understand American speech. Secondly, you ought to be aware of the systematic differences between RP and GenAm because you will be learning words from Americans as well as Britons. Consider what happens if you (a student of RP) hear a new English word on an American TV channel. Let's suppose this word is nuke, pronounced /nu:k/. If you know nothing about American pronunciation, you may assume that the word is pronounced the same way in RP, and you may learn to say it like that. However, if you had some basic knowledge of American phonetics, you would know that many words which have the sound /ju:/ in RP, have /u:/ in GenAm (for example: new, due). Because nuke is one of such words, the pronunciation /nu:k/ is not correct in RP. The correct pronunciation is /nju:k/. If you pay attention to both British and American pronunciations in your dictionary, you will eventually develop a type of intuition about these things. For most words, you'll be able to tell how to pronounce them in your accent, even if you have only heard them from speakers of the other accent. For other words, you'll know that you just have to look them up to be sure.

How to Speak in a British Accent

1 Understand that in most British accents speakers don't roll their R is(except those from the West Country, Scotland, Northumbria, Northern Ireland, and parts of Lancashire), but not all British accents are the same, ie: a Scottish accent varies greatly from an English accent. 2 Don't attempt to learn more than one accent at a time. Since Estuary English sounds very different to a "Geordie" accent, you'll get confused very easily. 3 Please pay attention to the tones and emphasis used throughout spoken sentences by the British. Do sentences generally end on a higher note, the same, or lower? How much variation is there in tone throughout a typical sentence? There is a huge variation between regions with tonality. British speech, especially RP, usually varies much less within a sentence than American English, and the general tendency is to go down slightly towards the end of a phrase. However, Liverpool and north-east England are notable exceptions! 4 Pronounce U in stupid and in duty with the ew sound. Avoid the oo as in an American accent; thus it is pronounced stewpid, not stoopid, etc. In the standard English accent, the A (for example, in father) is pronounced at the back of the mouth with an open throat - it sounds like "Arh". This is the case in pretty much all British

accents, but it's exaggerated in RP. In southern England and in RP, words such as "bath", "path", "glass", "grass" also use this vowel. However, in other parts of Britain "bath", "path", etc. sound like "ah". 5 Get a British person to say well known sentences: "How now brown cow" and "The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain" and pay close attention. Rounded mouth vowels in words such as "about" in London, are usually flattened in Northern Ireland. 6 Notice that two or more vowels together may prompt an extra syllable. For example, the word "road" would usually be pronounced rohd, but in Wales and with some people in Northern Ireland it might be pronounced ro.ord. 7 Enunciate on heavy consonant words. Pronounce that T in "duty" as T: not as the American D as doody so that duty is pronounced dewty or a softer jooty. Pronounce the suffix -ing with the G. This way it sounds like -ing rather than -een. But sometimes it is shortened to in as in lookin.

The words human being are pronounced hewman being or yooman been in certain areas, though it could be pronounced hewman bee-in.

8 Drop the Ts. With some accents, Ts aren't pronounced at all, especially in words with two Ts grouped together. So battle might be pronounced Ba-ill, catching the air behind the back of the tongue at the end of the first syllable before expelling it on pronunciation of the second syllable. This is known as the glottal stop.

People with Estuary English, RP, Scottish, Irish and Welsh accents do consider it lazy and rude to drop the Ts, and this feature doesn't exist, but in almost all accents it's accepted to do it in the middle of words in casual contexts and almost universal to put a glottal stop at the end of a word.) Addition from an American theatre specialist: Americans do glottal stops all the time,"bu-on" for button, "mou--ian" for mountain). However, it is considered by Brits that people with chav or Cockney accents do glottal stops.

9 Observe that H is always pronounced. The "H" is pronounced in the word "herb," in contrast to American erb. 10 Realize that some words require the ee sound to be pronounced as in the word been. In an American accent, this is often pronounced bin. In an English accent, been is the more common pronunciation, but "bin" is sometimes heard in casual speech where the word isn't particularly stressed.