How to pronounce CAFE and COFFEE | American English

Hey guys, it's Hadar.

Today we're gonna talk about the words

"Coffee" and "Café"

Two of my favorite concepts in this world,

coffee and café.

The idea for this video came from Dimitri.

I was setting on a café this morning,

and I was trying to come up with ideas for today's shoot,

and I went completely blank I couldn't think of a good word to practice.

So I went on my Facebook page

and asked the people for recommendations for a video,

and Dimitri said that since you're sitting at a café

drinking coffee

it's only a natural choice

to make a video about this.

So, Dimitri, you're absolutely right,

and here we go.

Now, the word "Coffee",

starts with a "K" sound

and then the "O" that is usually associated with

this neutral "O" sound by none native speakers

is pronounced as "A".

It's actually the "A" as in father.

Ok, so to make this sound,

you wanna drop your jaw and relax lips,

pull your tongue back a bit

create a lot of space inside your mouth

kaa

Coffee

Coffee

One more thing, the "k" sound at the beginning of words

before a vowel,

since it's a stop sound that is voiceless

is aspirated

so it feels like there is a little H after.

Coffee

Coffee

So it's not "coffee"

"coffee"

"k (h)aa-fee"

And the first syllable is longer

than the second one

Coffee

"Let's get some coffee"

Now, some speakers may pronounce it

with a more rounded sound

Coffee

'kaw'

Ok, so you see that I rounded my lips just a bit

But what I usually tell my students is that,

try to make a pure "A" as in father sound

if your immediate intention is to make a neutral "O" sound

And the result is probably gonna be

something between an "A" and an "O"

because we kind of merge the two sounds

and then the result would be a perfect "A" as in daughter, right?

Coffee

Coffee

Now the word "café"

has a very unique rhythm

and this what I want to you to focus on when pronouncing this word

Café

This word is very common and exists in many languages

Usually pronounced with a neutral "a" and "e", "café".

But in American English, the beginning syllable is an "A" as in cat

so you wanna take the time and drop your jaw a lot

when you're making it

"Ca" as in cat

'kæ-'

The second syllable is "ei" as in "day"

it's not a pure "e" sound

'kafeh'

No, actually in English you don't have words that end with this pure "e" sound

It has to close into this nice diphthong

"ei" as in "Day"

Café

Café

Now, to be able to make those two sounds

you have to stretch the syllables

a little more than you're used to

'cause if you're trying to fit it into the rhythm of the word

the way you say it in your own language

let's assume that you're saying something like "café"

I'm talking about most Latin languages

like French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese

So, if you try to fit it into the rhythm

of the neutral pronunciation

"a" "e"

Then, you'll never be able to make the actual sound

'cause you have to open your mouth wide

and to make a long diphthong at the end

So, it's about stretching the two syllables

Café

it's like you're saying it in a slow motion

Café

Now since you have time for yourself when you go to a café,

you wanna have time for yourself when you say this word

"Let's go to to a café and get some coffee"

Café

Coffee

Ok, good

I really like this video

So, go get some coffee

and practice these two words

with your friends and your family

and your kids, if you have kids

and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel

as you're practicing.

Thank you for watching,

and I will see you next week in the next video.

Bye

Coffee, can I get some coffee, please?