In casual American English, "I am inclined to agree with what you said about the issue" sounds like "ahy uhm ihn-KLAHYND tuh uh-GREE wihth wuht yuh sehd uh-BOWT dhee IH-shoo". Several things happen here, and the headline one is the Unreleased Stops: the final stop consonant closes without a puff of air. Keep stressed words long, unstressed words short, and link the consonants forward into the vowels.
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What makes this sentence sound American.
In "about", the "" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. This is called the Unreleased Stops, a hallmark of natural-sounding American speech. It comes out as uh-BOWT.
What's happening in this sentence.
Small tricks that turn a textbook sentence into how an American actually says it.
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Each word has its own page with examples, common mistakes, and related words.
Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.
The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.
Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.
In "about", the "" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.
Saying the consonants separately.
The "" at the end of "" and the "y" starting "" blend together into "" — natural in casual conversation; in formal or careful speech, the two sounds stay separate. The two sounds merge: T+Y → CH, D+Y → J, S+Y → SH, Z+Y → ZH.
Hard T at the end of a word, not a flap.
The "t" at the end of "" links to the vowel starting "" — it flaps to sound like a quick "d", with the tongue briefly tapping the ridge behind the upper teeth. Same flap as within-word (R1) but spanning two words.
Pausing between the words.
The "" at the end of "" flows directly into the vowel starting "" — the consonant migrates to the next word with no pause between. Final consonant "migrates" to next word — no pause between.