How to sound American: Linking consonants to Vowels

When we speak English fluently, we often link between words.  There are many types of linking.  We addressed consonant to consonant linking here.  Now we will turn to consonant to vowel linking.

When a word ending in a consonant is followed by a word with a vowel, we often run the words together.  It almost sounds like the consonant jumps to the next word.  For example, when we say “thank you,”  it sounds more like “thang q.”

"Thank you" sounds like thang q.

Listen to the phrases below.  First they are pronounced separately, then linked.  Practice running the words together for a more natural, American-sounding pronunciation.  Special note: when the sound “t” is linked to a vowel, it becomes a “d” sound.  So “it is” sounds more like “ih diz.”

stop it     sounds like stah pit
web ex    sounds like weh bex
it is          sounds like ih diz
hot out    sounds like ha doubt
could I?    sounds like cuh die
pig out     sounds like pih gout
pick a      sounds like pih kuh
if I           sounds like ih fi
have any   sounds like ha veny
with it      sounds like wih thit
guess again  sounds like geh sagain
was it       sounds like wuh zit
wish I       sounds like wih shy
each and  sounds like ee chand
edge of     sounds like eh juv
game of    sounds like gay muv
on every    sounds like ah nevery
feel it         sounds like fee lit

Consonant to vowel linking.  Listen and repeat to practice.

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