Lesson Seven: Words Change Their Pronunciation When In A Sentence
The last common problem with speaking English is that words change when they are in a sentence. This is most common for small words like ‘a’ and ‘to’.
For example the word ‘to’
| Word by itself | In a sentence |
|---|---|
| ‘to’ | ‘Go to bed’ |
Notice how the word ‘to’ becomes much shorter and the vowel less obvious. The vowel in ‘to’ in a sentence is called ‘schwa’ because it is no longer an ‘o’ sound, but a sound made when your tongue is in the middle of your mouth.
This also happens to ‘a’ and ‘an’ in sentences:
| Word by itself | In a sentence |
|---|---|
| ‘a’ | ‘That’s a car’ |
| ‘an’ | ‘I’ll have an apple’ |
Lesson index:
- Lesson 1 – Many sounds in english are not in your native language.
- Lesson 2 – Some combinations of sounds can be hard to pronounce.
- Lesson 3 – Syllable structure can vary a lot.
- Lesson 4 – Words are not always pronounced the way they are spelt.
- Lesson 5 – Accents, how to stress the correct syllable in a word.
- Lesson 6 – Pitch and loudness change the meaning of sentences.
- Lesson 7 – Words change their pronunciation when in a sentence.
- Lesson 8 – American and British accents are different.
- Lesson 9 – How to test, see and hear your pronunciation on your computer.
Clap
