How to Pronounce TOP 10 English Sentences
Hi.
I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Are you ready to imitate the most important
sentences in English?
Let’s talk about it.
Today, we’re going to talk about the 10 most
important sentences in English, at least according
to me.
Because you use these sentences a lot, all
the time in daily conversation, it’s a great
opportunity to practice using them naturally
and pronouncing them correctly.
If you say them three or four times each day,
you want to make sure that you’re pronouncing
them correctly, and that’s what we’re going
to do today.
Your challenge today is to try to imitate
and repeat exactly what I say.
I don’t care if you’re on the train, if you’re
at work and your boss is looking at you.
I don’t care where you are.
It’s your job to speak out loud.
Because if I say them, it’s okay, but I already
know how to say them.
It’s your job to practice and to use those
pronunciation muscles to the fullest.
All right.
Let’s start with the first sentence.
“Hey!
How’s it going?”
“Pretty good.”
This is our first sentence today, “Hey!
How’s it going?”
and the most common response, which is, “Pretty
good.”
Let’s break down this expression.
“Hey.”
Pretty clear.
Can you repeat that with me?
“Hey.”
Then the next part, “How’s it going?”
Here in the middle, it sounds like a Z sound.
Howzit … howzit goin'?
With the word “going,” we’re going to
cut off the G at the end, so make sure you
say “Goin'.”
Can you say this all together with me?
Try to imitate with me.
Ready?
“Hey.
How’s it going?
Hey.
How’s it going?”
I’m going to pause in just a moment, after
we practice the reply.
The reply is “Pretty good.
Pretty good.”
Now, if you want to sound like an American,
the word “pretty”, even though it has
T’s, it’s going to sound like a D sound.
So try to say it with me.
“Priddy.
Priddy.
Priddy.”
And then that final word, “Good.
Good.”
Make sure that your lips are kind of out a
little bit.
“Good.
Good.”
Can we put it all together?
“Pretty good.
Pretty good.”
Okay.
Let’s try to imitate this full sentence together
and the reply, and then I’m going to pause
so that you can say it yourself out loud,
no matter where you are.
All right.
Let’s say it together.
“Hey!
How’s it going?”
“Pretty good.”
“Hey!
How’s it going?”
“Pretty good.”
All right.
I’m going to pause, and it’s your turn.
Go ahead.
Great work!
Let’s go on to the second sentence.
The second sentence is “Do you want to go?
Do you want to go?”
You might say this when you want to invite
someone to an event, or maybe to your house,
or if you want to tell them to go to a restaurant
with you.
It’s a great expression for someone who you
just met if you want to continue spending
time with them.
Let’s break down the pronunciation for this
common question.
“Do you wanna go?
Do you wanna go?”
Why does the first two words sound like “Jooo
…” “Do you” becomes “Jooo,” kind
of a “zhe, zhe” sound.
“Joo.”
And then what about “Wanna go?
Wanna go?”
“Want to go” are all of the words, but
you’re gonna combine “want” and “to”
to become “wanna, wanna”.
This is really common in conversational English,
so let’s try to say this full question together.
“Do you want to go?
Do you want to go?
Do you want to go?
Do you want to go?”
All right.
Try to imitate this with me.
Are you ready?
“Do you want to go?
Do you want to go?
Do you want to go to the park?
Do you want to go to the restaurant?”
Okay, I’m going to pause, and then I want
you to say this by yourself.
Go ahead.
Great work, let’s go on to the third sentence.
The third and fourth sentences are, “I’m
not sure,” and “I don’t know.”
These both mean the same thing, but the first
one, “I’m not sure,” is a little more
casual, and you might use this more in daily
conversation.
So if you say it quickly it sounds like, “I’m
no shur.
I’m no shur.
I’m no shur.”
Let’s break this down.
Listen carefully, especially to that second
word, “not”.
“I’m not sure.
I’m not sure.”
Do you hear “t”, the T sound?
“I’m not sure.”
Not really.
Often in daily conversation in fast English,
the T at the end of words is cut off, so your
tongue is gonna be at the top of your mouth,
almost going to make the “t” sound, but
there’s no air that comes out.
So let’s practice saying this, especially
with that T stopped at the top of your mouth.
Can you do it with me?
“I’m not sure.
I’m not sure.
I’m not, not, not.”
All right, let’s focus on that last word,
“sure, sure, sure”.
Do you see my lips here, can you say it with
me?
“Sure, sure.”
Can we say this all together?
“I’m not sure.
I’m not sure.
I’m not sure.”
Okay, I’m gonna pause and now it’s your turn.
Go ahead.
Great work, let’s go on to the fourth sentence.
The fourth sentence, as I just mentioned is,
“I don’t know, I don’t know.”
And there are a lot of different ways you
can pronounce this, so let’s start with maybe
the most clear and then working down to the
least clear.
Let’s start with “I don' know, I don' know.”
Do you notice that that “t” in the contraction
“don’t” is similar to “not” in the
previous sentence?
That T, your tongue is at the top of your
mouth, but you’re not letting the air come
out to finish “t”, that “t” sound.
So it’s gonna sound like, “I don', don'
know.”
If you can see inside my mouth at the moment,
you’ll see that my tongue is stopped up there,
“don', don'” but I’m not saying “don’t.
I don’t know.”
Usually that T in negative contractions is
cut out.
If you’d like to see the natural pronunciation
for 81 contractions, I made a video, you can
watch it up here.
I hope that will be useful to you.
But let’s say this in the most clear way,
“I don’t know.”
Can you imitate that with me?
“I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know.”
Okay, let’s go to the next one which is a
little less clear.
You could say, “I dunno.
I dunno.
I dunno.”
It kind of sounds like D-U-N-N-O, dunno.
“I dunno, I dunno.”
And you would use this in familiar situations,
I don’t recommend using this to your boss
or maybe in a work situation, just because
it’s really relaxed so you need to be in a
really relaxed environment.
But you could say, “I dunno.”
“Do you know how many people are in your
city?”
“I dunno.
I dunno.
I dunno.”
All right, there is a couple more ways that
you can pronounce this, so let’s go to another
one that is even less clear.
Let’s take that same pronunciation and cut
out the D sound.
“I ‘unno, I ‘unno, I ‘unno.”
Can you say that slowly with me?
“I ‘unno.”
It sounds weird when you’re saying it slowly,
but don’t worry, when you say it quickly it’s
perfectly natural.
“I ‘unno, I ‘unno, I ‘unno.”
There’s no D sound here, “I dunno”, like
the previous two.
Instead, you’re just cutting that out.
“I ‘unno.”
Okay, let’s go on to the last one, and it
is the least clear, but native speakers will
definitely understand what you’re saying.
In this final way to pronounce “I don’t
know” you’re really gonna be cutting out
all of the words, and you’re just gonna be
leaving some sounds and some intonation.
So you’re gonna say, “Uh uh uh, uh uh uh.”
It seems really strange to just say this by
itself, but trust me, native speakers say
this a lot.
So I’m gonna say it slowly, and I want you
to try to imitate my intonation, imagine that
you’re kind of riding this wave of intonation,
and you’re gonna say it exactly with me, and
then I’m gonna pause and we’re gonna practice
these clear and unclear pronunciations together.
All right, are you ready, can you imitate
with me?
“Uh uh uh, uh uh uh, uh uh uh.”
Let’s say someone asks you, “How long has
Vanessa been teaching online?”
And if you respond with, “Uh uh uh,” it
means that maybe you don’t really care about
the answer.
It’s not something that’s important to you.
If you said, “I don’t know,” it really
just means you don’t have that information.
But if you said, “Uh uh uh” it’s so relaxed
that it means, “I don’t really care.”
So you could use this in another situation
that maybe isn’t rude, make sure that you’re
in a really casual, comfortable situation.
If someone asked you, “I’m trying to make
this dish, do you know how many eggs I should
put in?”
You could say, “Uh uh uh, maybe look it
up?
Uh uh uh, uh uh uh, look it up!”
Because you’re with your family or your friends,
and it’s something that’s not so important.
But if someone asks you something really important,
maybe something emotional or sentimental,
or especially something for your work, that’s
really important, don’t say, “Uh uh uh”
because it’s too relaxed.
So this is for really casual situations, and
I’m certain that you’re gonna hear this in
TV shows and movies.
So let’s take a moment to try to pronounce
“I don’t know” in these casual, comfortable
ways.
I want you to choose which one you’d like
to say.
“I don’ know, I dunno, I ‘unno, or uh uh
uh.”
You can choose which one you’d like to imitate,
I’m gonna pause and give you a moment to say
it yourself.
Go ahead.
Great work, let’s go on to the next one.
Our fifth sentence is about the weather because
it’s really common, in almost every country
and every culture, to have small talk about
the weather, and it’s really true in the U.S.
We have small talk about the weather all the
time.
When I was taking a walk the other day, my
neighbor was sitting on his front porch and
he said, “It’s a hot one today, huh?”
And I said, “Yep, sure is.”
So let’s practice this sentence together to
talk about the weather.
You can change the word for “hot” for
“cold”, “rainy”, “snowy”, whatever
you’d like.
But let’s practice with “hot” and “cold”
because those are the most common.
So let’s say this sentence together: “It’s
a hot one today.
It’s a hot one today.
It’s a hot one today.”
Or, “It’s a cold one today, it’s a cold
one today.”
What does “one” mean, why are we saying
“one” here?
Well, it just means “day”.
“It’s a hot day today.”
But we use this in daily conversation a lot,
so I wanted to make sure that you were familiar
with this sentence.
And you can use this when you’re talking about
the weather to sound more like a native speaker.
So let’s slow it down and practice that pronunciation
word by word.
“It’s a hot one today.”
Did you notice something about the word “hot”?
What happened to that final letter?
Well, we have a theme here, it’s gone.
Your tongue is at the top of your mouth, you’re
going to say “hot”, but instead of letting
the air through your tongue just sticks there.
So let’s say it together and make sure that
you say the word “hot” correctly.
“It’s a hot one today.
T’day, t’day.”
Do you notice what’s happening with this final
word?
It’s T-O-D-A-Y, but do you hear “today,
today”?
You might hear this in maybe an audio that
goes with your textbook, “Today is a lovely
day.”
But in daily conversation we hardly ever pronounce
this full word, instead you’re gonna cut out
that O sound and just say “t’day, t’day”.
Just make that T sound, “t’day, t’day, t’day,
t’day.”
Can you say that final word with me?
“T’day, t’day, t’day.”
Okay, let’s say this full sentence together,
and I hope that you can use it in your daily
conversations when you’re having some small
talk about the weather.
“It’s a hot one today.
It’s a hot one today.
It’s a hot one today.”
All right, you turn.
Go ahead, I want you to say it yourself out
loud.
Go ahead.
Great work, let’s go on to the next one.
The sixth most important or most-used sentence
in English, according to me, is “You gotta
try it!
You gotta try it!”
This is something that is commonly used when
someone is suggesting something, or maybe
they’re telling you about a new restaurant,
or a new drink, or some experience that they’ve
had and they want you to also do it.
They might say, “Oh, you gotta try it, you
gotta try it.”
And this word “gotta” is really common
in daily conversation, but it’s a reduction
of a couple other verbs.
So the full sentence could be, “You have
got to try it.”
But “have got to” is reduced to “gotta”,
in fact I have a full pronunciation lesson
for this word, “gotta, have to, wanna,”
all of these kind of reductions, you can check
out the link up here to get some more detailed
pronunciation for that word, and also how
to use it.
But let’s talk about this sentence “You
gotta try it.”
“You godda, godda,” do you notice that
the middle of this word doesn’t sound like
“gotta, gotta,” with a T?
Instead, it sounds like a D.
This is gonna be similar to the word we talked
about earlier, “priddy, priddy good”.
Do you remember that from number one?
“Priddy good, priddy good.”
Here it’s gonna sound like “godda, godda,
godda”, just add a D in the middle, especially
if you wanna sound like an American English
speaker.
That’s what we do, we add D’s in the middle
of words all the time.
So try to say those first two words with me.
“You godda, you godda, you godda.”
All right, let’s say this full sentence.
“You gotta try it, you gotta try it.”
Do you hear “it” with that T pronounced
at the end?
Well, now you are an expert at T’s at the
end of sentences, and you know that that T
is cut short.
So let’s try to say that together.
“Gotta try i’, i’.”
You can see my tongue at the top of my mouth
is just stopped there, there’s no air coming
out.
So let’s say that whole sentence together,
and remember to say “godda” and “i’,
i’, i’”.
Are you ready?
“You gotta try it.
You gotta try it.
You gotta try it.”
All right, it’s your turn, go ahead.
Excellent work, let’s go on to the next one.
The seventh most common, most important, most
useful expression, according to me, is “Thanks!
I appreciate it.
Thanks!
I appreciate it.”
There’s a couple different ways to pronounce
this, whether it’s clear or a little bit less
clear, but let’s start with the first word.
“Thanks, thanks.”
Make sure that when you say the TH your tongue
is between your teeth, and you’re also feeling
a little stream of air coming out.
“Thanks, thanks, thanks.”
We use this word all the time, and you can
use it by itself, but if you wanna really
show your appreciation you can add another
sentence, “Thanks!
I appreciate it.
I appreciate it.”
Let’s focus on that second part quickly.
“I appreciate, a-prish-e-a’e.”
Can you say that word with me?
“A-prish-e-a’e, appreciate.”
Am I saying “appreciate”?
Nope, here the T’s cut out again.
“I appreciate i’, i’.”
Oh another T is gone, all those T’s are gone
having a vacation, having a good time together,
they’re not in this sentence.
So make sure that there’s not air coming out
of your mouth finishing that T sound.
“I a-prish-e-a’e i’.
I appreciate it.”
This is the most clear way, “I appreciate
it,” because you’re saying the first part
of that word, “a-preciate it, appreciate
it.”
Can we say this full part together clearly
before we go on to the relaxed one?
“Thanks!
I appreciate it.
Thanks!
I appreciate it.”
I hope you can repeat with me, really quick,
“Thanks!
I appreciate it.”
All right, let’s go on to the relaxed version.
Let’s imagine that someone does something
pretty simple, like open the door for you.
You’re carrying a lot of groceries and someone
in front of you decides to be kind and holds
the door open for you.
You can say, “Thanks!
‘Preciate it.
‘Prish-e-a’e it.”
What happened to “I a-ppreciate it”?
Well, those parts of the sentence are just
gone, so you’re gonna just start with the
P sound.
“Prish-e-a’e, prish-e-a’e it.”
So you can say this altogether, try to imitate
it with me.
“Thanks!
‘Preciate it.
Prish-e-a’e i’.”
Let’s say it together.
“Thanks!
‘Preciate it.
Thanks!
‘Preciate it.”
All right, I wanna pause and I wanna let you
try to say this all together.
Try to say it in that relaxed way, “Thanks!
‘Preciate it.”
Go ahead.
Excellent work, let’s go on to the next one.
The eighth sentence is a response to “Thanks!
I appreciate it.”
If you are the one holding the door for someone
else, and someone says to you, “Oh thanks,
appreciate it.”
What can you say in return?
You don’t wanna just stand there and go “Mmmmm”,
it’s a little bit awkward.
So one of the most common sentences that you
could say is “No problem, no problem, no
problem.”
You could say “You’re welcome”, but it’s
a little bit strong maybe for this simple
act of kindness.
If you dropped your groceries and someone
helped you to pick them up, you could say
“Oh thanks so much, I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.”
That’s fine because it’s a little bit more
effort.
But one of the most common things to say is
“No problem, no problem.”
So let’s break this down.
“No problem, problem, problem.”
Let’s focus on the middle of that word, “problem,
problem”.
Here your lips are just kind of smacking together
a little bit, “blem, blem, blem”.
That B and L together is the focus of this
word, you wanna make sure that you’re pronouncing
it correctly.
So let’s practice the word “problem, blem,
blem”.
It looks a little bit funny, but don’t worry
about it, I hope that you’re on the train
right now and everyone around you is thinking,
“Why is that guy saying ‘problem, problem,
problem’?”
You are improving your English, so who cares
what they think?
Let’s say this together.
“No problem, blem, blem, no problem, no
problem, no problem.”
All right, I’m gonna pause and I want you
to say it by yourself.
Go ahead.
Great work, let’s go on to the next one.
The ninth and the 10th expression are common
ways to say goodbye.
At the beginning of this lesson we started
with number one, some common introductions,
some common ways to say hello, and then some
common expressions used in conversation, and
now we’re finishing up the conversation, so
you might say “See you later!
See you later!”
This is the clearest way to say it, “See
you later, see you later.”
Let’s practice this slowly and go word by
word.
“See.
You, you, lader, lader.”
Here we have another T that’s changed to a
D. You don’t say “later, see you later.”
Americans would never say that.
So let’s practice changing the T to a D. “See
you lader, see you lader, see you lader, see
you lader, lader, lader.”
I hope you can pronounce that with me.
Now let’s go on to a little more relaxed and
maybe a more common version, especially because
“see you later” is just a casual way to
say goodbye, so you’re most likely already
gonna be in a familiar situation.
Let’s change “you” to “ya”.
“See ya later, see ya later.”
That final word is the same, “lader”,
but the middle word, “you” which is clearly
pronounced, changes to “ya”.
“See ya later, see ya later.”
Can you say that with me?
“See ya later, see ya later, see ya later,
see ya later, see ya later.”
Okay, I’m gonna pause and I want you to say
this yourself.
Go ahead.
Great work, let’s go on to the final expression.
The 10th most common, most useful, most important
expression is “Let’s go!
Let’s go!
Let’s go!”
Maybe someone asks you “Do you wanna go?
Do you wanna go?”
One of our earlier sentences, and then you
talk a little bit and you say, “Hey, let’s
go!
I wanna eat, let’s go to that restaurant you
mentioned.
Let’s go to the movies, let’s go, let’s go.”
So let’s say this slowly together, I want
you to imitate my voice, try to say it slowly
and clearly with me, and then we’ll speed
it up.
“Let’s go.
Let’s go.”
When you say the T in the middle of the word
“let’s”, your tongue is just tapping the
top of your mouth.
“Let’s, let’s” it’s stopping up there
and then going to the S sound.
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
Can you say that with me?
“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.”
All right, I’m gonna pause and I want you
to say it by yourself.
Go ahead.
Excellent work, you used those pronunciation
muscles, you imitated 10 valuable, important,
common sentences in English.
I hope that you’ll use these sentences again
and again so that you can really sound like
a native speaker and also pronounce them like
a native speaker.
So now I have a question for you.
In the comments below, let me know what’s
the weather like in your city today.
You might say “I don’t know”, or maybe
you say “It’s a cold one today.
It’s a rainy one unfortunately, I have to
wear a rain jacket and an umbrella and I’m
still getting wet.”
Let me know what the weather’s like in your
city today, and I’ll see you again next Friday
for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel.
Bye.
The next step is to download my free e-book,
Five Steps to Becoming a Confident English
Speaker.
You’ll learn what you need to do to speak
confidently and fluently.
Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel
for more free lesson.
Thanks so much, bye.