How to Say SUPPOSED TO in American English
In this American English pronunciation video,
you’re going to learn how to say the
phrases: used to and supposed to.
Hey guys, I’m making this video on vacation.
So that means we have a weird wood background.
But we have the benefit of a lot of friends
and family to help me make this video.
I recently got a request on how to
pronounce, ‘supposed to’ and ‘used to.’
Great request, we use these phrases all the time
and there’s actually a couple
different pronunciations.
Now the phrase: supposed to.
This is similar to ‘used to,’ in that if it’s at
the end of the sentence we make it an OO vowel.
But if we’re going to carry on with this sentence,
we make that last sound a schwa. For example:
Rachel are you going to the meeting tonight?
I’m supposed to.
End of sentence, I make it the OO vowel.
But if I’m going to make a whole
sentence and it’s not at the end,
I’m supposed to go to the meeting tonight. Then
I make it the schwa, supposed to, supposed to.
Now we have a three syllable phrase, da-DA-da,
with stress on the middle syllable,
supposed to, supposed to.
We start with the S-schwa,
su-, su-, su-, su-, su-.
So my tongue tip is down, ss-,
the front part is pressing up a little bit
to put tension in the tongue su-, su-,
and then the tongue relaxes for the schwa,
su-, su-.
Then we have the stressed syllable, it begins
with a P so lips come together, suppo-.
Then we have the OH as in NO Diphthong.
So we have a little jaw drop at first and
then some lip rounding, suppo-, suppo-.
The ending is just like used to, used to.
We drop the -ED and because we’re linking
the Z sound into an unvoiced sound,
we’re going to unvoice Z,
and it’s going to become an S,
s-to, s-to; s-to, s-to. Supposed to, supposed to.
Let’s hear some other people say these phrases.
I’m supposed to call Sarah later.
I’m supposed to be there at four.
I’m supposed to call Dave later.
Rachel did you register for class?
No, I’m supposed to.
David did you email that lady?
Oh! I’m supposed to.
Supposed to, supposed to.
Supposed to, supposed to.
Supposed to, supposed to.
Rachel did you register for class?
No, I’m supposed to,
I’m supposed to, I’m supposed to.
David did you email that lady?
Oh! I’m supposed to, oh! I’m supposed to,
oh! I’m supposed to.
I’m supposed to call Sarah later.
I’m supposed to, I’m supposed to, I’m supposed to.
I’m supposed to be there at four.
I’m supposed to, I’m supposed to, I’m supposed to.
I’m supposed to call Dave later.
I’m supposed to, I’m supposed to, I’m supposed to.
I’m supposed to call Sarah later.
I’m supposed to be there at four.
I’m supposed to call Dave later.
Rachel did you register for class?
No, I’m supposed to.
David did you email that lady?
Oh! I’m supposed to.
I hope this video has simplified for you how
to pronounce ‘used to’ and ‘supposed to.’
They’re really useful phrases.
If there is a phrase you’d like to learn how
to pronounce, put it in the comments below,
and don’t forget to ‘Like’ and ‘Share’ this video.
That’s it and thanks so much
for using Rachel’s English.