How to: Ordering and Asking for: American English Pronunciation

Today I’m going to go over a few phrases

you might say when ordering or asking for something.

When I’ve lived abroad, I’ve always worried

about being polite enough when I ask such questions.

So, that’s why I’m going to go over it today.

Let’s take, for example, when you’re ordering something at a restaurant

or a grocery store, the deli counter, something like that.

You can say, I’d like.

I’d like the spaghetti, whatever.

I’d like.

This has the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong.

The tongue then moves up into position for the D.

I’d, I’d like.

the L consonant sound, ll, ai, the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong, I’d like.

And the K sound, where the tongue comes up and releases.

I’d like, I’d like.

You can also say I’ll have.

I’ll have a pound of turkey.

I’ll, again, the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong followed by the L consonant sound, have.

Followed by the unvoiced H sound, hh, hh, ha-,

the ‘aa’ as in ‘bat vowel where the tongue is high in the back.

I’ll ha- vv.

Bottom lip moves up to vibrate against the bottom of the front top teeth.

Have, I’ll have.

You can also say I’ll have, I’ll have.

I think that’s what I generally say.

That has the ‘aw’ as in ‘law’ vowel sound,

where the lips are a little rounded and the cheeks come in a little bit.

I’ll, I’ll have, I’ll have.

A very polite way to ask for something would be to say, Could I please have …

or May I please have … May I please have the hamburger, medium.

Could begins with the K consonant sound, kk, where the tongue moves up

and releases from the back of the throat, could.

The ‘uh’ as in ‘pull’ vowel sound, cou-ou-ou-ld, the tongue moves up, dd,

and pulls away to make the D, could, or may,

which begins with the M consonant sound, mm.

Ay, followed by the ‘ay’ as in ‘say’ diphthong.

Could/May I, I, the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong, and then please.

The P consonant sound, pp, pl-, pl-, followed by the L consonant sound.

Plea-, the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel, plea-se.

And finally, the voiced zz sound.

Could I please, may I please.

Have, the H, ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’, and V sound, have.

Could I please have? May I please have?

If you want to use something that belongs to someone else, you can say,

could I borrow …? Or could I please borrow? Could I borrow your pencil?

Borrow begins with the B consonant sound, bb.

The ‘ah’ as in ‘father’, bo-, bo-, borr -.

The R consonant sound, so the tongue pulls back and up.

Barr-ow.

Ow, the ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong.

Borrow.

Stress is on the first syllable.

Bor-row.

If you want to use something that belongs to someone else

or that someone else is using, you can say, can I see that when you’re done?

Can I have that when you’re done? Can I use that when you’re done?

The word can, which has the ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’ vowel sound,

is reduced here to kn, with the schwa.

Can, can, can I? The ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong.

Can I have that? The H consonant sound, hh, ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’,

and vv, V consonant sound.

Can I have — that begins with the voiced TH sound,

so the tongue comes through the teeth, th,

and you make a sound with your vocal cords.

Can I have that? The ‘aa’ as in ‘bat’ vowel sound, that.

Can I have that? Can I have that? The T here is a stop,

and it’s not actually, tt, released, Can I have that when?

That – so the tongue does move up into position for the T, can I have that,

when, but then the mouth just goes straight into the next sound,

which is the W sound, ww, where the lips make a very tight circle.

Can I have that when – ‘eh’ as in ‘bed’ followed by the N sound.

Can I have that when you’re done.

You’re is reduced here, and it has just the schwa, you’re,

so that would be the Y consonant sound, schwa and R sound.

Can I have that when you’re done.

The D consonant sound, dd,

the ‘uh’ as in ‘butter', uh, very relaxed sound, do-ne.

And the tongue moves up into position for the N.

Can I have that when you’re done?

That’s it, and thanks for using Rachel’s English.