Do NOT Say CANT with a T BETTER PRONUNCIATION
Sometimes, Americans pronounce can’t without
the T so it sounds like can, like this:
People can’t even believe it. People can’t even
believe it. Can even– can’t even– How are you
supposed to tell the difference between
can’t and can if there’s no T? You will
absolutely know the difference between these
two words and all their pronunciations by the
end of this video, I promise. And you know what?
There’s even going to be a quiz and I’m pretty
sure you’re going to ace it. You’re going to
be able to use these two words confidently
and correctly for effective communication in
English. Don’t forget, if you like this video,
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A couple of weeks ago, we went over N
apostrophe T contractions, and we talked
about all the different pronunciations.
Can’t is an N apostrophe T contraction,
so all those pronunciations apply. The way you
probably learned to pronounce this word is: can’t,
can’t, with the full true T pronunciation, tt–
but if you study conversational English, you’ll
find that’s not a very common pronunciation. I
just listened to the first 20 examples on Youglish
and only two of them had the true T pronunciation.
So the pronunciation you learned is only true
when you put the word in a sentence about ten
percent of the time. What are we going to do
the rest of the time if not a true T? The
most common is the stop T. Can’t think, can’t
think. There I exaggerated the stop, but
in regular conversation, there will just
be a quick lift so that we feel the T sound. I
can’t think, I can’t think, I can’t think. The
T is a stop consonant, so by stopping the air,
our American ears identify that stop as the T
sound even though there is no T sound. Let’s look
at this phrase together. So here’s the phrase,
let’s take a look at it and play it: I can’t
think. Do you see this big gap here? This is
after the word can’t and before the word think.
This is the stop, the stop T. Let’s listen again:
I can’t think. So what is that sound at the end of
the word? Here’s just the word can’t slowed down.
Can’t– can’t–nnnnttt– can’t–
nnnnttt– it’s that nasally N sound,
but stopped. It’s not can nnn– with it
falling down in pitch it’s can’t nnnnttt–
can’tI can’t think. Stop T. Let’s go to Youglish
where we’re going to see a bunch of examples
with this stop T. We, as you mentioned, uh, 20
million Americans would like a full-time job and
and can’t get one. Can’t get– can’t get– stop
T. We, as you mentioned, uh, 20 million Americans
would like a full-time job and and can’t get
one. And you can’t do both, like you can’t be,
you can’t campaign against lung cancer and smoke
cigarettes, and you can’t be an environmentalist
and eat meat. Wow, there were so
many stop Ts there with can’t.
Can’t, can’t, can’t, we’ll play
all of those two-word links now.
You can’t go back to sleep. Can’t go– can’t
go– Stop T. Sometimes, as you heard at the
very beginning, we drop the T in can’t. This
is more common when the next word begins with
a vowel or diphthong, like in ‘can’t even’. So in
these cases, there’s no break and sound, no stop,
the T is completely dropped. I can’t even
tell. Can’t even. Smoothly connected.
Let’s take a look at that example.
And now we’ll
go to Youglish to look for several other examples where the T is completely dropped.
Dropped T in
can’t.
Can’t always– can’t always– dropped T.
They can’t be transferred–
can’t be– can’t be– No T.
Can’t often– can’t often– No T.
Can’t even– can’t even– No T.
And finally, we have a case where the T can
be turned into a CH and this happens when
the next word is you or your. Can’t you, can’t
you, can’t you see? Ch. Ch. Ch. Can’t you see?
You don’t have to do this CH, a stop T will also
work in this situation and you will hear that,
but this CH pronunciation is certainly something
you’ll hear a lot of when the next word is you or your
So these are all the different ways can’t
can be pronounced. What about can? After all
one of the pronunciations of can’t was can with a
dropped T. So can has two pronunciations. First of
all, it can be a noun like a can of tomatoes, and
there, it’s pronounced can, with the full vowel.
But as a verb, it’s usually reduced. It’s usually
a helping verb, this means it’s not the main verb
in the sentence. Back when we said: I can’t
think, ‘think’ was the main verb if we instead
say ‘can’ in that sentence, the word becomes
can: I can think. I can think. Can can can can.
Said so quickly, the ‘can’ reduction. I can
think. I can see you. I can be there by three.
Now, it actually sounds nothing like ‘can’,
which is the pronunciation of can’t when the
T is dropped like in the phrase ‘can’t even’
that’s can, this is: can can– it’s said very
quickly. Let’s listen to a bunch of samples
of the ‘can’ reduction.
Every once in a while, we won’t reduce can as a helping verb if we want
to stress it.
Usually this will happen when we’re
contradicting someone who’s just used can’t.
For example, you can’t go there after seven.
No, you can go there after seven. Can. But if it
was just a normal statement, one where we’re not
contradicting, we would just say: you can go there
after seven, can– with the can reduction. Can–
let’s take the phrases ‘can’t go’ and ‘can
go’ and put all the pronunciations together.
Can’t go, true T, a not a common pronunciation.
Can’t go. Stop T, very common pronunciation.
Can go. Dropped T, more common when followed by
a vowel, but still possible with a consonant.
You can go there, for example. And the CH
pronunciation which works only before you or your,
can’t you. Can go, with the can reduction. Can
go, really stressing can. So this pronunciation
is just like this pronunciation. But remember,
here, you’ll always be contradicting or adding
extra clarity so it likely won’t be confusing.
Can’t go, can’t go, can go, can’t you, can go,
can go. Now let’s do a quiz. Since you know
for can, that you’re probably looking for
reduction, can, if you don’t hear a reduction,
then there’s a really good chance that it’s can’t,
you should ace this quiz.
Was that can or can’t?
That was can reduced,
can, can treat.
Was that can or can’t?
That was can’t with a stop T. Can’t see.
Was that
can or can’t?
That was can because we heard the
reduction can. I can assure you– can
Can or can’t?
Can’t believe– can’t with a stop T.
Was that can or can’t? That was can’t with the T
turning into a CH followed by you. Can’t you.
Can or can’t? That was the can reduction: can–
Can or can’t? That was can’t with a dropped
T. Can ever– linking into the next word.
Can or can’t? This one was easy, wasn’t
it? He fully pronounced that T. Can’t.
Was that can or can’t? That was the can
reduction. Can– can try.
Was that can or can’t?
That was can’t with a stop T.
Can’t, can’t, can’t remember.
Now I’m going to have you practice all
the phrases we’ve learned so far.
You’ll see on screen what kind of pronunciation
it is. First, you’ll hear the sentence,
then just the word can or can’t, with the next
word slower three times, repeat the third time.
Then you’ll hear the whole phrase again twice,
repeat the second time with the video. You really
should be doing this out loud. Learning about
it isn’t enough to improve your speaking skills.
You have to actually practice speaking. So
let’s do this.
Now you could go teach someone exactly how to say can and can’t and how to understand them in a sentence.
That’s awesome! Thank you so much for sticking
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