How to Ordering and Asking for American English Pronunciation
Today I’m going to go
over a few phrases
you might say when ordering
or asking for something.
When I’ve lived abroad,
I’ve always worried
about being polite enough
when I ask such questions.
So, that’s why I’m going
to go over it today.
Let’s take, for example, when you’re
ordering something at a restaurant
or a grocery store, the deli
counter, something like that.
You can say, I’d like.
I’d like the spaghetti, whatever.
I’d like.
This has the ‘ai’ as in
‘buy’ diphthong.
The tongue then moves up
into position for the D.
I’d, I’d like.
the L consonant sound, ll, ai, the
‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong, I’d like.
And the K sound, where the
tongue comes up and releases.
I’d like, I’d like.
You can also say I’ll have.
I’ll have a pound of turkey.
I’ll, again, the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong
followed by the L consonant sound, have.
Followed by the unvoiced
H sound, hh, hh, ha-,
the ‘aa’ as in ‘bat vowel where
the tongue is high in the back.
I’ll ha- vv.
Bottom lip moves up to vibrate against
the bottom of the front top teeth.
Have, I’ll have.
You can also say I’ll
have, I’ll have.
I think that’s what I generally say.
That has the ‘aw’ as in
‘law’ vowel sound,
where the lips are a little rounded
and the cheeks come in a little bit.
I’ll, I’ll have, I’ll have.
A very polite way to ask for something
would be to say, Could I please have …
or May I please have … May I
please have the hamburger, medium.
Could begins with the K consonant
sound, kk, where the tongue moves up
and releases from the back
of the throat, could.
The ‘uh’ as in ‘pull’ vowel sound,
cou-ou-ou-ld, the tongue moves up, dd,
and pulls away to make
the D, could, or may,
which begins with the M
consonant sound, mm.
Ay, followed by the ‘ay’ as
in ‘say’ diphthong.
Could/May I, I, the ‘ai’ as in
‘buy’ diphthong, and then please.
The P consonant sound, pp, pl-, pl-,
followed by the L consonant sound.
Plea-, the ‘ee’ as in
‘she’ vowel, plea-se.
And finally, the voiced zz sound.
Could I please, may I please.
Have, the H, ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’, and V sound, have.
Could I please have?
May I please have?
If you want to use something that
belongs to someone else, you can say,
could I borrow …? Or could I please borrow?
Could I borrow your pencil?
Borrow begins with the
B consonant sound, bb.
The ‘ah’ as in ‘father’, bo-, bo-, borr -.
The R consonant sound, so
the tongue pulls back and up.
Barr-ow.
Ow, the ‘oh’ as in
‘no’ diphthong.
Borrow.
Stress is on the first syllable.
Bor-row.
If you want to use something
that belongs to someone else
or that someone else is using, you can
say, can I see that when you’re done?
Can I have that when you’re done?
Can I use that when you’re done?
The word can, which has the
‘aa’ as in ‘bat’ vowel sound,
is reduced here to kn,
with the schwa.
Can, can, can I? The ‘ai’
as in ‘buy’ diphthong.
Can I have that? The H consonant
sound, hh, ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’,
and vv, V consonant sound.
Can I have — that begins with
the voiced TH sound,
so the tongue comes
through the teeth, th,
and you make a sound
with your vocal cords.
Can I have that? The ‘aa’ as
in ‘bat’ vowel sound, that.
Can I have that? Can I have that?
The T here is a stop,
and it’s not actually, tt,
released, Can I have that when?
That – so the tongue does move up into
position for the T, can I have that,
when, but then the mouth just goes
straight into the next sound,
which is the W sound, ww, where the
lips make a very tight circle.
Can I have that when – ‘eh’ as in
‘bed’ followed by the N sound.
Can I have that when you’re done.
You’re is reduced here, and it
has just the schwa, you’re,
so that would be the Y consonant sound, schwa and R sound.
Can I have that when you’re done.
The D consonant sound, dd,
the ‘uh’ as in ‘butter',
uh, very relaxed sound, do-ne.
And the tongue moves up
into position for the N.
Can I have that when you’re done?
That’s it, and thanks for
using Rachel’s English.