Pronunciation - words ending with X, T, CK

Hello there. Today, I'm going to teach you some more pronunciation -- about word

endings. Sometimes, maybe, you make mistakes when you speak English. For example, you say

the word -- bad word -- "f*ck", instead of "fax". So you want to send a "fax" to someone

you know the word is definitely f-a-x - "fax", but you say "f*ck." How embarrassing -- or

funny, depending on how you are looking at things.

So today I'm going to teach you the differences between these three word endings. This is

by request -- thank you. If you have a request, drop me a line -- which means write a comment.

If you have a lesson you'd like me to do, just tell me. Lots of people have requested

this lesson, so it's for all of you who do this.

The word endings are "t" -- which actually sounds like "ttt", and "x" -- which actually

sounds like a "k" and an "s" together, like "ksss". "Ksss". And we have "ck" which sounds

like "k". So when you want to say the "t" sound you have to really articulate -- that

means say it strong, in a very strong fashion -- and say "ttt."

For example, you want to say the word "fact". You can almost spit at the person. Don't spit

at them though, because it's rude. Don't do that, just try and say it very clearly. So

you want to say "fact". Try it -- "fact."

The next one is "fax". If it's even easier for you, you want to make the "sss" a very,

very long sound. So you want to say, "fackssss". You have to make the "k" and then "sss" -- "ksss"

-- "fax". That's difficult. Try again. "Fax". So it's "ksss". You must draw out the

"s". If you don't, it sounds like "fact". Can you send a "fact?" Send a what? Can you

send a fax?

Who wrote this on the board? This is a bad word! I love this word. This word is "f*ck",

so you have to be careful and say "f*ckkk". Probably you guys have learned that word before.

You hear it in movies a lot. But, you must be able to say the word properly, so you don't

mix up these two words and have an embarrassing time: "f*ck", "fax", and "fact". When you

sound the "t", the air stops right away -- "fact". It doesn't continue like the "s", okay?

Let's look at some more examples. This might confuse you. If you look at the board, it

looks like it says, "lakdeh". Huh? What? Why is this under the "t"? Oh! In English,

a lot of regular verbs that end in "-ed" actually end with the "t" sound.

Now, if you have never heard of this before, go to www.engvid.com. Rebecca does a lesson

on "-ed" word endings. I would highly recommend this lesson for you, so after you watch that,

you will know that sometimes "-ed" verbs end in a "t" sound. So this word is pronounced "lackttt" -- "lacked".

"Lacked" means I didn't have enough. So I can say, "I lacked money." -- I didn't have

enough money. This, again, is the past tense, and it's a verb -- "lacked."

This word is "lax" -- "lax". "Lax" means it's not tight; it's kind of the same word as "loose".

If something is "lax", it's very loose and wobbly -- "lax". So we have "lacked", "lax",

"luck", "luck", "luck", "lax", and "lacked".

Just to help you, I'll put the "s" and the "k" here: "lax" and "luck".

These words will rhyme, yes; these words, maybe. The next one we're going to look at is this word, "sacked".

This is a slang verb. Does anyone know what "sacked" means? Someone might say on TV, "Aw,

I was sacked from my job last night. I don't know what to do now." "Sacked" is slang for

fired, so if the person on TV says, "I was sacked", it means they lost their job. This

is how we use this in slang, so it's the equivalent of being fired from your job.

Oh, how did this word get on the board, "sex"? Maybe you guys have heard that word before,

as well. "Sex" means male or female. So this word is, again... you want to say the "ksss"

sound, so you say "sex". And... speaking of sex, we have the word "suck". "Suck". "Suck".

So: "suck", "sex", and "sacked". Can you make a sentence with these words?

I can, but that's another lesson.

In the last three examples, we have the "t" at the beginning. This word is "tact". "Tact".

"Tact" means ability to do something. Then we have the word "tax". If anyone's ever

traveled to Canada, you know about our tax. It's very high. When you go to the store to

buy something you look at the price and go, "This beautiful marker is one dollar! I can buy that."

So then you go to the cash register and they're like, "That's $1.14, please".

"Uh, what? Why is it one dollar but it's... ?"

We have tax -- a lot of it in Canada -- so in the price tag or on the price tag the tax

is not included.

So you go, "Aw, I hate tax!" People will understand you hate "tax" not "tact".

So again, this is the "ksss" sound, and the last one "brroom, brroom" -- a big, fat

truck. "Truck" -- a truck is like a very large car. In the UK, they say "lorry", which is

kind of strange. So, in Canada and in America, we definitely call it a "truck". "Truck",

"suck", "luck", and "f*ck".

Then we have "tax", "sex", "lax", and "fax". "Tact", "sacked", "lacked", and "fact". It

is a fact -- if you need more, would like more, if you are dying for more, go to www.engvid.com . Bye.

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