How to pronounce I am pleased to inform you that you have been nominated for a promotion. in American English

Words 14 Difficulty Advanced Featured sound Flap T

ahy i am am PLEEZD pleased tuh to uhn·FORM inform yuh you dhuht that yuh you huhv have bihn been nah·muh·NAY·duhd nominated fer for uh a pruh·MOH·shuhn promotion

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In casual American English, "I am pleased to inform you that you have been nominated for a promotion" sounds like "ahy am PLEEZD tuh uhn-FORM yuh dhuht yuh huhv bihn nah-muh-NAY-duhd fer uh pruh-MOH-shuhn". Several things happen here, and the headline one is the Flap T: the T between vowels turns into a quick D-like flap. Keep stressed words long, unstressed words short, and link the consonants forward into the vowels.

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Stress

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72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Saying a hard "T" in the middle.

In "nominated", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. /t/ or /d/ becomes a quick tap [ɾ] — sounds like a soft D. The tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth.

Pronouncing the vowel before M/N too pure.

In "am", the "a" vowel before M or N raises and fronts toward [eə] — the tongue pulls up and forward, breaking the vowel into a tense glide as it anticipates the nasal. The "/æ/" vowel raises and fronts before M or N — tongue pulls up and forward, producing a tense [eə] glide (between /e/ and /ə/). Not a pure /æ/.

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Why it sounds different

What makes this sentence sound American.

In "nominated", the "t" between vowels sounds like a quick "d" — the tongue briefly taps the ridge behind the upper teeth. This is called the Flap T, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as nah-muh-NAY-duhd.

The breakdown

What's happening in this sentence.

Small tricks that turn a textbook sentence into how an American actually says it.

(j/w)

Vowel-to-Vowel Linking between "i" & "am"A brief glide (y or w) bridges two vowels for smooth flow.

Reduced Words (to, for, of) in "am"Full vowel reduces to schwa /ə/ or other weak vowel. Consonants may simplify.

Silent T/D Across Words between "pleased" & "to"The /t/ or /d/ at the end is dropped — surrounding consonants flow directly.

→tʃ/dʒ/ʃ/ʒ

Y-Merging (gotcha, didja) between "that" & "you"The two sounds merge: T+Y → CH, D+Y → J, S+Y → SH, Z+Y → ZH.

h→∅

Silent H (in him, her, has) in "have"The "h" in "have" is dropped in connected speech — the preceding word's final consonant links directly to the remaining vowel — most natural in casual, rapid speech; in careful or formal speech, the H is typically kept.

══

Same-Consonant Linking between "been" & "nominated"Consonant is held slightly longer and released once (not said twice).

Word by word

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Each word has its own page with examples, common mistakes, and related words.

i ahy am am pleased PLEEZD to tuh inform uhn·FORM you yuh that dhuht you yuh have huhv been bihn nominated nah·muh·NAY·duhd for fer a uh promotion pruh·MOH·shuhn

Watch out

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.

Saying a hard "T" in the middle.

nah-muh-NAY-tuht→nah·muh·NAY·duhd

Pronouncing the vowel before M/N too pure.

am→am

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "nominated", 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.

nah-muh-NAY-duhd→nah·muh·NAY·duhd

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

In "promotion", the short unstressed vowel before "" disappears — the schwa is absorbed and the "" becomes the syllable nucleus on its own. Schwa is absorbed — consonant becomes the syllable nucleus.

pruh-MOH-shuhn→pruh·MOH·shuhn

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Why do the T sounds turn into D-like sounds in this sentence?

That's the flap-T rule: when /t/ sits between two vowels — inside a single word, or across the boundary between two words — Americans replace the crisp T with a quick D-like flap. It's one of the most distinctive sounds of casual American speech and one of the first things to copy if you want to sound less textbook.

Why is "am" said so quickly in this sentence?

Function words — articles, prepositions, auxiliaries, pronouns — reduce to short, unstressed schwa shapes in casual American speech. Pronouncing them fully like the dictionary entry is a dead giveaway of a textbook accent. Native speakers stress only the content words and let everything else collapse.

How are the words connected in casual American speech?

Americans don't pause between words. A consonant at the end of one word links forward into the vowel that starts the next; two vowels in a row get bridged by a tiny W or Y glide; an identical consonant repeated across a word boundary is held just once. The result is a continuous flow rather than a textbook word-by-word delivery.

Why does the H in "have" sound dropped here?

In casual speech, Americans drop the H from unstressed function words like "he", "her", "him", and "his" when they sit inside a sentence. So "tell him" sounds like "tell-im". The H stays only when the word is sentence-initial or carries emphasis.

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Common mistakes

Saying a hard "T" in the middle.

Pronouncing the vowel before M/N too pure.

What makes this sentence sound American.

What's happening in this sentence.

Tap any word for its full breakdown.

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Saying a hard "T" in the middle.

Pronouncing the vowel before M/N too pure.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Inserting a vowel before the syllabic consonant.

Questions people ask about this.

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