Day 7 - Reducing AT, AN, CAN - Understanding Fast Speech in English
65,411 views ・ 2016-01-17
Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
00:02
Hi. It's Day 7.
0
2000
1760
00:03
Can you find a few minutes to study with me?
1
3760
2800
00:06
I got an idea or two to share with you.
2
6560
2820
00:09
Let's start.
3
9380
1640
00:13
English with Jennifer
4
13480
2400
00:22
Small words like AT and AN are function words.
5
22820
3880
00:26
They don't carry a lot of content in a sentence or phrase,
6
26700
3760
00:30
so often we reduce them.
7
30460
2220
00:32
We use weaker vowel sounds.
8
32680
2040
00:34
We use a schwa /ə/.
9
34720
2480
00:37
It's a very relaxed sound.
10
37200
2460
00:39
[uh]
11
39660
2860
00:42
So AT can sound like /ət/.
12
42520
4380
00:46
at noon - /et nun/
13
46900
3060
00:49
AN will sound like /ən/.
14
49960
5100
00:55
an idea - /ən aɪˈdiə/
15
55060
3960
00:59
CAN is also reduced
16
59020
3300
01:02
It's used as a helping verb, and we reduce it
17
62320
2880
01:05
in a question or in a full statement when the main verb is still present.
18
65200
5500
01:10
I asked you, "Can you find a few minutes?"
19
70700
3860
01:14
/kən/...Instead of /kæn/ ... /kən/
20
74560
4240
01:18
Can you find a few minutes?
21
78800
2040
01:22
Note how there's variation when Americans reduce CAN.
22
82960
4080
01:27
Either we use the schwa,
23
87040
1840
01:28
which sounds like "uh." /kən/
24
88880
3560
01:32
Or we use a short I, like in the word "it." /kɪn/
25
92440
5360
01:39
Listen to these examples.
26
99200
2840
01:54
Listen closely.
27
114320
1360
01:55
I'll say a sentence or phrase.
28
115680
2000
01:57
You try to understand.
29
117680
2340
03:03
That's all for now.
30
183080
1280
03:04
Thanks for watching and happy studies!
31
184360
2640
New videos
Original video on YouTube.com
About this website
This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.