How to Pronounce the Word TO American English
In this American English pronunciation video,
I’m going to go over how to pronounce the
word ‘to’ in conversation.
The word ‘to’ is a preposition, so it’s a
function word. Function words will normally
be unstressed in a sentence. And the word
‘to’ will even reduce. Reduce means a sound
will change. So, ‘to’ on its own: true T with
the ‘oo’ as in ‘boo’ vowel. But, in a sentence,
it will be come to, true T with the schwa
sound. Or, it might even become to, D sound
with the schwa sound. Using the flap T pronunciation
will smooth out your line even more. I’ve
looked at lots of examples to try to figure
out: is there a rule for when it’s appropriate
to use the Flap T or not? And I’ve decided
you can use the flap T in the word ‘to’ any
time except when the word ‘to’ follows a word
that ends in a T. Now, if this rule is too
confusing for you, don’t worry about it. You
can always pronounce it with a true T and
a schwa, and that reduction is fine. However,
a flap T will smooth things out just a little
bit more.
So, let’s look at some examples. We went to
dinner. [3x] Now you’ll notice the word before
ends in T, so I’m pronouncing ‘to’ ‘to’. True
T, schwa sound. I’m not pronouncing two T’s.
We went to dinner. [2x]
Come to my party. Here I’m pronouncing the
T as a flap. Duh, duh, duh. Come to my party. [2x]
Much smoother than ‘Come to my party’.
Come to my party.
Let’s go to the store. Here, ‘to’ is pronounced
duh, duh. Go to, go to, go to the, go to the.
Let’s go to the store. I wanted to get more.
Wanted to, wanted to. Notice I’m not pronouncing
two D’s here. Wanted to. The first D, at the
end of ‘wanted’, is a stop. Wanted to. Then
I’m pronouncing ‘to’ with the flap T/schwa
sound. Wanted to [3x]. I wanted to get some
more.
Did you notice that I did not pronounce the
T sound in the word ‘wanted’. I said wanted,
I dropped the T. This is not an uncommon practice
when the T follows an N. Other examples: ‘center’
becomes cenner, cenner. Or, interview can
be pronounced innerview, innerview. Dropping
this true T smooths out speech. Even though
I dropped the T, the -ed ending still follows
the rule for a word that ends in T or D, and
is pronounced with the ‘ih’ as in ‘sit’ vowel
and the D consonant. Wanted is a fairly common
word. Don’t be afraid to pronounce it ‘wannid’ [2x]
You’ll notice many native speakers pronouncing
it this way.
I wanted to get some more.
I thought to myself … [2x] Here I’m pronouncing
‘to’, tt, with a true T because the word before
ends in a T. Notice though, I am not pronouncing
two T’s. I thought to myself. [2x]
We’re going to your play. Going to, going
to: flap. We’re going to your play.
Don’t forget to reduce and link the word ‘to’.
It’s a very important part of this stressed
/ unstressed nature of American English.
That’s it, and thanks so much
for using Rachel’s English.
I’m excited to announce that I’m running another
online course, so do check out my website
for details. You’ll find on there all sorts
of information about the course, who should
take the course, and requirements. I really
hope you’ll check it out and consider signing
up. I’ve had a blast with my first online
course, and I’m looking forward to getting
to know you.
Don’t stop there. Have fun with my real-life
English videos. Or get more comfortable with
the IPA in this play list. Learn about the
online courses I offer, or check out my latest
video.