In casual American English, "I can't believe how hot today is" sounds like "ahy KANT buh-LEEV HOW HAHT tuh-DAY ihz". Several things happen here, and the headline one is the Same-Consonant Linking: the doubled consonant is held once, not pronounced twice. 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.
The "" shared between "hot" and "today" is held once, slightly longer, and released once instead of stopping and starting twice. This is called the Same-Consonant Linking, the way sentences stop sounding like a list and start sounding like speech. It comes out as HAHT.
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.
Pronouncing the vowel before M/N too pure.
In "can't", 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/.
Pronouncing the identical consonant twice.
The "" shared between "" and "" is held once, slightly longer, and released once instead of stopping and starting twice. Consonant is held slightly longer and released once (not said twice).
Leaving a gap between two vowels.
Between "" and "", a brief "" glide bridges the two vowels for smooth flow. A brief glide (y or w) bridges two vowels for smooth flow.
Pronouncing every consonant in the cluster.
The "" at the end of "" is dropped before the consonant starting "" — the surrounding consonants flow directly together — common in flowing natural speech; in careful or formal speech, the sound is often kept. The /t/ or /d/ at the end is dropped — surrounding consonants flow directly.
Questions people ask about this.
Why is "is" said so quickly in this sentence?
How are the words connected in casual American speech?
Is this how the sentence is taught in textbooks?
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