Day 14 - Reducing YOU, YOUR, YOU'RE - Understanding Fast Speech in English

It's Day 14.

You know what we need to talk about?

How the word YOU sounds in fast speech.

English with Jennifer

YOU is an interesting word in fast speech

because it can change in more than one way.

In fast speech, YOU might sound like YA.

As in, "Ya know what?"

Or it might sound like I'm dropping the vowel sound altogether,

and I'm left with a Y sound.../y/...Y'know what?

The contraction YOU'RE can reduce to YER.

You're (yer) right.

And the possessive adjective YOUR

will do the same exact thing, as in, "What's your name?"

The T and D sounds before the word "you"

change in different ways.

T before "you" can sound like "chu" in fast speech.

As in... can't you / won't you / don't you

D before "you" in fast speech may sound like "ju"... a J sound.

As in... how did you / where did you

"You" can be said different ways in fast speech.

Many people reduce it with a simple scwha.

So T + "you" can sound like "cha."

Don't you...don'tcha...Don'tcha know?

D + "you" could sound like "ja."

Where did you...wheredidja

Or even "where'dja"...Where didja go? Where'dja go?

Note that similar changes happen with YOUR/YOU'RE.

So listen how the T and D change as I read these sentences.

However, many people would choose to read

THAT YOU'RE with a glottal stop. Listen.

This would actually be my preference.

I think the "thatcher" variation sounds more informal

and much more relaxed. I would use the glottal stop.

Listen closely.

I'll say a sentence.

You try to understand.

That's all for now.

Thanks for watching and happy studies.