Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
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That tree is so pretty.
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It's a beautiful spring day here in New York,
and we're going to talk a little bit about
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the flap T.
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Pretty. The T's here are a flap T
because it comes between two vowels, and
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the T is not starting a stressed syllable.
Pretty, pretty. So, you may want to pronounce
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it as a true T, tttt, pretty, pretty, but
most Americans will make this a flap T, it
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smooths out the line. And Americans are always
going for a smoother line. Pretty, pretty.
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Ben, can you think of any other words with
a flap T?
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>> City.
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City! That's a good one. City. So again, the
T here, coming between two vowels, not starting
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a stressed syllable, so it's a flap. City,
city. It's such a pretty day in the city.
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Ben, can you think of another word with a
flap T?
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>> No.
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No. That's ok. It doesn't matter. Matter!
There's another word with a flap T. So again,
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the T sound is coming between two vowels,
not starting a stressed syllable, flap. Ddddd,
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matter, matter.
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I just thought of another.
>> What is it?
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And you just did another one too! Thought
of, thought of, thought of. So here --- that
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was a loud pigeon --- So here the T comes
at the end of a word, but the next word begins
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with a vowel, so still the T is coming between
two vowels. And still, it is not starting
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a stressed syllable, so we can flap that.
Thought of, duv, duv, duv, thought of. And
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Ben said, 'What is it?' Again, the T ends
what, but the next word begins with a vowel,
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so the T is coming between two vowels, not
starting a stressed syllable, so we can flap
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that. Diz, diz, what is, what is it?
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>> Ben, aren't those tulips pretty?
>> Oh, they're so pretty!
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>> Rachel, look at this tree! Isn't it so
pretty?
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>> Wow, this tree is really pretty.
>> Such a pretty tree.
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This tree, also really pretty. Don't forget
to flap your T's!
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That's it, and thanks so much
for using Rachel's English.
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Don't stop there. Have fun with my real-life
English videos. Or get more comfortable with
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the IPA in this play list. Learn about the
online courses I offer, or check out my latest
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video.
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