How to pronounce That is precisely what I was trying to say earlier. in American English

Words 10 Difficulty Intermediate Featured sound Flap T Across Words

dhat that ihz is pruh·SAHY·slee precisely wuht what ahy i wuhz was TRAHY·uhng trying tuh to SAY say UR·lee·er earlier

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In casual American English, "That is precisely what I was trying to say earlier" sounds like "dhat ihz pruh-SAHY-slee wuht ahy wuhz TRAHY-uhng tuh SAY UR-lee-er". Several things happen here, and the headline one is the TR Sounds Like CHR: the TR sounds more like CH than two crisp consonants. Keep stressed words long, unstressed words short, and link the consonants forward into the vowels.

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

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72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Saying a clean "tr" instead of a "ch" sound.

In "trying", the "tr" cluster blends into a "chr" sound — a natural American English pronunciation. /t/ shifts toward /tʃ/ ("ch"), so TR sounds like "chr".

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.

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Why it sounds different

What makes this sentence sound American.

In "trying", the "tr" cluster blends into a "chr" sound — a natural American English pronunciation. This is called the TR Sounds Like CHR, and it's one of the defining features of casual American English. It comes out as TRAHY-uhng.

The breakdown

What's happening in this sentence.

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

Flap T Across Words between "that" & "is"The "t" at the end of "that" links to the vowel starting "is" — it flaps to sound like a quick "d", with the tongue briefly tapping the ridge behind the upper teeth.

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

(j/w)

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

Word by word

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

that dhat is ihz precisely pruh·SAHY·slee what wuht i ahy was wuhz trying TRAHY·uhng to tuh say SAY earlier UR·lee·er

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 clean "tr" instead of a "ch" sound.

In "trying", the "tr" cluster blends into a "chr" sound — a natural American English pronunciation. /t/ shifts toward /tʃ/ ("ch"), so TR sounds like "chr".

TRAHY-uhng→TRAHY·uhng

Hard T at the end of a word, not a flap.

that→dhat

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.

SAY→SAY

Pronouncing the function word too fully.

"is" is a function word — in connected speech, the full vowel reduces to a quick "" sound and consonants may simplify. Full vowel reduces to schwa /ə/ or other weak vowel. Consonants may simplify.

ihz→ihz

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 "is" 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.

Is this how the sentence is taught in textbooks?

Textbooks usually teach the citation form — every word pronounced fully, every consonant crisp, every vowel pure. Americans actually flap their Ts, drop function-word H's, link consonants forward into vowels, and reduce unstressed syllables to schwa. The respell on this page shows the casual form you'll hear in real conversations rather than the textbook version.

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Common mistakes

Saying a clean "tr" instead of a "ch" sound.

Hard T at the end of a word, not a flap.

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 clean "tr" instead of a "ch" sound.

Hard T at the end of a word, not a flap.

Leaving a gap between two vowels.

Pronouncing the function word too fully.

Questions people ask about this.

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