The Tricky T Sound┃Learn American English Pronunciation On the Go

Rachel: You're listening to the Rachel's  

English’s podcast, made especially for non-native speakers, where we study the way Americans really  

speak. My goal is for you to listen to this  podcast every week and sound more natural  

when speaking English and improve your listening comprehension. In today’s episode, we're going  

over the pronunciation of the letter T. We'll talk about three different ways Americans pronounce  

this letter. True T, flap T, and stop T. When you look up a word with the T sound in a dictionary,  

it will only ever show the true T pronunciation. Most dictionaries do not actually reflect the way  

Americans speak when it comes to the T sound. This can be very confusing. This podcast will help you.

Be sure to check out the show notes in the podcast section of my website, Rachelsenglish.com. I'll  

put links to related videos and outline what you learned today. You can also find a free copy of  

the transcript. Rachelsenglish.com/podcast.  Let's get started. Today, we're tackling one  

of the most crazy things about American English pronunciation, and that is the pronunciation of  

the letter T. I've done numerous videos on  this subject, but it's not until this podcast  

that everything has been brought together into  one place for you. It's confusing. It's crazy.  

I'm going to try to make it as clear as  possible, and I've brought my husband  

David along to help me figure out what's  not clear to ask questions along the way.

David: Yep. I'm ready.

Rachel: Your mind is  

going to be blown when you learn about the T in American English pronunciation. Of course,  

you use it every day, but you've  never thought about it like this.

David: Totally.

Rachel: True T and a flap T. First of all,  

David, did you know that there are three  different ways that we pronounce the letter T?

David: No. Basically, no.

Rachel: Basically, no. There are three ways we  

pronounce the letter T. We pronounce it as a true T. We pronounce it as a flap T. And we pronounce  

as a stop T. Now, I can't actually demonstrate  the stop T by itself, because it's actually a  

stop of sound. It's a lack of sound. We can figure out what that means when we get to the stop T,  

but first, I want to start with the true T. The  true T is made with your teeth together, tongue  

tip at the roof of the mouth, air is stopped  and then you release it. David, can you do that?

David: T.

Rachel: It's a beautiful true T, David.

David: Thanks.  

Rachel: Actually,  

some people have a hard time with the true T. They make it more like dime. Dime. This is typical of  

people from India, I've noticed. They'll say,  dime instead of time. T. T. T. You have to feel  

that escape of air for it to be right. Teeth  are together. It's very crisp, don’t you think?

David: Mm-hmm.

Rachel: Nothing is soft about it.

When would a T be a true T? At the beginning of a word. Rule number one,  

T is a true T when it comes at the beginning of a word. Like table. Top. T. T. T. T. Turn.  

Toast. Teacher. Talk. T. T. T. David, can you  think of any other words that start with a T?

David: Tank.

Rachel: Tank. Great word.

David: Toddler.

Rachel: Toddler. We have a toddler.

That's probably what he thought of that.

David: Mm-hmm.

Rachel: Nice job.  

One of the unfortunate things about  American English pronunciation is,  

as soon as you learn a rule, you will  learn an exception. Isn't that frustrating?

David: It has to be incredibly frustrating for students.

Rachel: I just taught you that the first rule was a T is a true T

at the beginning of the word. Now, I'm going to teach you an exception.

It may not be a true T if it's followed by an R. A lot of Americans will  

take the -tr and turn it into a -chr. Did you  know this, David?

Have you ever thought about  the word train?

David: No, but now that you say -ch,  that's what it sounds like.

Rachel: Try. True. So,  

-tr sounds like -chr all the time. This is so  common. Most Americans do this with every -tr  

cluster. There's exception number one. I have another exception. Words that start with to. The  

word to, the word today. The word tomorrow. There, I have done them all with a true T, but actually,  

they can be a flap T in conversation, sounding more like an American D. I'm going to say a  

sentence, and I want you to really try to  focus in on the word to, which will not  

be pronounced with a true T. Okay, here's the sentence. Now, onto the next thing. Onto. Onto.

David: Yeah. It sounds like a D.

Rachel: Yeah. Where’s that true T sound? It's not there.  

Now, onto the next thing. Now, David, when I say that, does that sound completely natural to you?

David: Mm-hmm.

Rachel: Completely normal English, right?

David: Yep.

Rachel: Yep. We do  

it. Americans love to do it. Let's take the  word today. I might also make that more of a  

flap sound. Here's my sentence. It's supposed to rain today. It's supposed to rain today. David,  

is that a way that you think you  would hear Americans say that?

David: Yeah. That sounds exactly right.

Rachel: They may put a true T, but they also  

may put a flap. It's supposed to rain to. Rain to-to-to-to-to. It's supposed to rain today. So,  

wow. Today begins with a T. Might not be a true T. Let's do one more with the word tomorrow. They're  

leaving tomorrow. They're leaving tomorrow. Aw, they're leaving tomorrow. David, what do you  

think of that pronunciation?  Does it sound natural to you?

David: Mm-hmm.

Rachel: You think you would hear an American say that?

David: Say it again.

Rachel: They're leaving tomorrow.

David: Mm-hmm.

Rachel: Mm-hmm? It's  

not t-t-tomorrow. There's no true T sound  there. They're leaving tomorrow. It's a  

flap T. Just with these three words, I can't  think of other words where you would do this,  

and I also want to point out, you don’t have  to do this. You can make a true T, but you will  

hear Americans do this. To. Today. Tomorrow. With flaps. That was the second exception to  

the true T rule. A T is a true T at the beginning of a word. A T is also a true T when it's at the  

beginning of a stressed syllable. This might be a stressed syllable that's not the first syllable  

in the word. Like the word attain. There,  the T sound is in the middle of the word,  

but it's at the beginning of a stressed syllable,  so it's a true T. Can you say that, David? Attain.

David: Attain.

Rachel: Nice crisp little T there, David. Now,  

I want to point out the word attain has two  Ts in it. The double-T is just one T sound.  

We're not talking about letters. We're talking  about the sounds here. Attain. Can you think of  

another word where it would not be the beginning  sound, but it would begin a stressed syllable?

David: What about until?  

Rachel: Yeah. Until. Until. Exactly. Until. Also,  

the word italics. The word return. In all of  these cases, it's not the beginning sound, but  

it does begin a stressed syllable. Now, this also  applies to secondary stress. Secondary stress,  

I think, is really tricky, because mostly  it sounds like an unstressed syllable. If  

you were to look this up in a dictionary, you  would see a little line at the bottom of the  

word. I'm not explaining this very well. Let  me say what the symbol for a stressed syllable  

looks like. It looks like an apostrophe, like a  straight apostrophe. It's that position at the  

top of the letter. Secondary stress is the  opposite. It's at the bottom of the letter.

David: This is new information for me.

Rachel: Secondary stress?

David: Yeah.

Rachel: Yeah.

David: I don’t even know what that means.

Rachel: It means that  

it's a little bit longer than an unstressed  syllable. It's not said quite as quickly. It  

might have a little bit more care given to it,  but it's not the primary. I usually tell people,  

don’t worry so much about secondary stress.  It really acts like an unstressed syllable,  

but the one time when it doesn't act like  an unstressed syllable is with these T  

pronunciation words, because if a syllable has  secondary stress, this little apostrophe at the  

bottom of the line in front of the syllable,  then it's a true T, because it's following  

the rule. A T is a true T if it begins a stressed  syllable, including secondary stress. An example  

of this would be the word politics. Politics.  Stress is on the first syllable, but actually,  

the third syllable has secondary stress.  That's why it's a true T. Another example,  

military. T. T. T. Military. Mil is the stressed  syllable. Tar has secondary stress. It's a true T.

David: Aquatic.

Rachel: Aquatic.  

David: No. That sounds like a D.

Rachel: Yeah. That's a flap  

T. Good thinking, though, but you've just  jumped us down to the flap T section. But  

see if you can remember that word when  we're talking about flap T. Actually,  

it brings up a good point. I was trying to come  up with a bunch of words with a true T, and it's  

easy to do this at the beginning of words.  So many words have a true T at the beginning.

David: Here, can I try another one?

Rachel: Yeah.

David: Ballistic.

Rachel: Okay,  

yeah. Mm-hmm. Now, there,  I think it's because it's—

David: But if I'm just slowing it down—

Rachel: Part of the cluster.

David: Oh.

Rachel: You're jumping ahead a little bit.

David: All right.

Rachel: 

T is a true T, rule two, when it starts  a stressed syllable. Attain. Until.  

Italics. Return. Secondary stress included,  politics. Are you ready for your exception?  

David: Yeah.

Rachel: Okay. It's just  

like the first exception. This is not true  when it's followed by an R. In that case,  

most speakers will again make the T a  -ch sound, like attribute. Attribute.

David: Which is the  

same spelling as attribute. No. How is attribute—

Rachel: They are  

spelled the same way. It's just  one’s a noun and one’s a verb.

David: Okay.

Rachel: It's  

one of those words that is pronounced  differently depending on what part of  

speech it is. Attract. -Ch. Attract.  Intriguing. Intriguing. -Ch sound.

David: Totally -ch.

Rachel: Yeah. Is your mind  

blown? Have you thought about the fact that you  are pronouncing the word intriguing with a -ch?

David: It's pretty shockingly not the way it's spelled.

Rachel: Yeah. You probably  

never thought that you were doing it. I should  make a note here. With the - tr turning into -chr  

phenomenon. This is not reflected in a dictionary.  If you look up one of these words in a dictionary,  

it is not going to show a -ch sound. This  is just one of the things that Americans do.  

You just have to know. Also, it's not hard if  you listen and you're paying attention for it.  

You'll hear it all the time. That was true T.  Let's go down to T being dropped, no T at all.

David: That's different  

than a flap T? Rachel: 

It is. It's also different than a stop T. No T.  No T at all. This happens after the N consonant,  

like the word center. I want to say, this  isn't a must. You don’t have to pronounce  

it this way. You can make a true T. Center.  You'll definitely hear Americans doing that.

David: Sure.

Rachel: But you'll  

also really often hear center.  How about this? Internet.

David: Yeah. That definitely sounds like inner.

Rachel: Yeah. The Internet’s not working. International.  

I'm studying international affairs. We do drop  that T after the N. Now, there's an exception.

David: Shocker.

Rachel: Because there's always  

an exception. If there's a syllable split  between the N and T, then we do not drop the T,  

like until. Untie. Intense. In all of these  cases, N and T are not in the same syllable and  

the T begins a stressed syllable. We already  know when the T begins a stressed syllable.

David: Got it.

Rachel: It's true.  

There's another case where  we often will drop the T,  

and that's when it comes between two other  consonants. David, can you read this word?

David: Exactly.

Rachel: Exactly. You did that perfectly.  

David: I said it exactly right.

Rachel: You said it  

exactly right. Both exactly and perfectly are  examples of this, where the T comes between  

two other consonants. Exactly. Here, it comes  between the K sound and the L sound. We drop  

that. Perfectly. Here, again, the T comes  between the K sound and the L sound. We drop  

it so often in conversation. Another example,  directly. Another example, facts. F-A-C-T-S.

David: Facts.

Rachel: If I dropped the S, fact,  

I would say the T, but when I put on an S, now  the T is between two consonants. There's a really  

good chance I'm going to drop that T. Facts. Oh,  goodness. Dropping Ts left and right over here.  

There's an exception to this rule, because we  love exceptions. A lot of these exceptions have  

to do with the R sound, and that is true here  as well. This rule of dropping the T between two  

other consonants does not apply when the first  consonant before the T was an R. In this case,  

it's a stop T, and we'll get to that in  a second. I just want to put that here.

The other thing I want to say about  dropping the T between consonants is,  

it's not just in words like exactly, perfectly,  facts. It also happens in phrases where we're  

linking two words together and now we end up with  the T between consonants. The word just, J-U-S-T,  

is a perfect example of this. Whenever it's  followed by a word that begins with a consonant,  

we drop the T. We never say it. For  example, just because. Just because. Or,  

another example, which one is it?  It's the first one. First one. There,  

I'm dropping the T. If I was going to say first  by itself, I would say first. You say it now.

David: It's the first one.

Rachel: Yeah. First one.

David: There's a hint of a T.

Rachel: I think when you're  

thinking about it, it feels weird, but when you're  not thinking about it and you're just saying it,  

you're dropping that T a lot. Now, this  is an interesting one, an interesting  

example. The first one. Why? Because one  is spelled O-N-E. Well, isn't O a vowel?  

If I was playing Wheel of Fortune and I  wanted to buy a vowel, I might buy an O,  

but here's the thing with the word one.  The letter is the O, but the sound is W.  

That's a consonant, so it's tricky, because  in English, sounds and letters don’t always  

correspond. We're talking about the sounds  here. When the T consonant sound comes  

between two other sounds that are consonants,  then we might drop it, like in first one.

We've gone over rules for true T, and we've  gone over rules for when we might drop the  

T. We're ready to get into the flap T. I love  the flap T. I have no idea why. I should think  

about that. It's important to know these  things. The first thing I want to say is,  

if you speak Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish,  and also some other languages, you may say,  

Rachel, this sounds like an R, and we know that  that's because this sound is R in your language.  

It is not the R in American English, but in  American English, it's the flap T or the D  

between vowels. So, how do you make it? R-A.  Single bounce of the top front of the tongue  

against the roof of the mouth. Let's have David  demonstrate it. David, can you say this word?

David: City.

Rachel: Yeah. Beautiful  

flap. City. Wouldn't it sound  strange if I made that a true T?

David: Yes. No one would say that.

Rachel: I love New York City. No.  

I love New York City. Flap. So, that's the flap  sound we're dealing with here. Don’t be alarmed  

if it sounds like your R. If it sounds like your  R, then just think of it as an R and it will be  

beautiful. Rule number one, when do you make a  flap T? When it comes between two vowels. When  

I say vowels, I'm including diphthongs, which  are made up of two vowels in the same rule. So,  

when it comes between two vowels or diphthongs,  and also this applies to words with the double  

T. Remember, double T is just making one T  sound. It's just a spelling thing. All right,  

some example words. Beautiful. Beautiful.  Beautiful. David, you look confused.

David: Yeah,  

because I don’t hear any R.  It sounds like duh to my ear.  

Rachel: Yeah, it does to your ear. To Americans,  

it sounds like a D. Yeah. We pronounce D the  same way when the D comes between two vowels,  

like idiot. I'm not saying you're an  idiot, because you have this question.

David: You looked directly at me when you said it.

Rachel: I'm just saying that's the word that came to  

mind. Beautiful. Beautiful. Better. Better. Let's  just do these with the true T. Beautiful. Better.

David: Idiot.

Rachel: Idiot was a flap D, not a  

T. That sounds strange, doesn't it? Beautiful.

David: Yeah.

Rachel: Better. Battle.  

City. These are flaps in American English.  Beautiful. Better. Battle. I want to bring up  

the word political. But how do you think the T is  pronounced there? Political. Political. Political.

David: I think that's a T sound with a little bit of a D.

Rachel: Okay. A T sound  

with a D. I'm just going to go ahead—that's a  flap T. When it sounds like a D, it's a flap T.

David: Even though a flap T is R?

Rachel: Flap T—okay,  

I might have messed you up a little bit. You  do not need to think of the flap T as being  

an R. It's Spanish speakers or Arabic speakers  that should be thinking of the flap T as an R.  

David: Okay.

Rachel: You should be  

thinking of the flap T as a D, because that's  what the flap T sounds like to Americans.

David: Got it.

Rachel: You're saying political sounds like a D.

David: Mm-hmm.

Rachel: Yeah. It is. It's a flap, but it's interesting,  

because we already talked about the word  politics. How do you hear the T there? Politics.

David: Yeah. That's a T.

Rachel: Yeah. That's a true T.

David: A true T.

Rachel: So, isn't  

it interesting that in the word politics and  political, two different version of that word,  

one’s a true T, one’s a flap T because of  stress. Because politics, it's a secondary  

stressed syllable. Oh, goodness. We've gone  over the rule that a T is a flap T when it  

comes between two vowels or diphthongs, and the  exception to that is, the true T rule is stronger.  

If we're talking about beginning a stressed  syllable, then it's not a flap T. That is a  

true T. Attain. Attack. In both of these words,  the T sound is coming between two vowels, but  

the T sound also starts a stressed syllable, so  it's a true T. Is that enough information for you?

David: Oh, yeah.  

Rachel: Do you feel like you are finding your  

way through T pronunciations? Do you feel like  the structure of the rules is making sense to you?

David: It's making sense,  

and it's also a stunning amount of  things to think about for one sound.

Rachel: I know. It's ridiculous. I'm just  

going to bring up one more example. Italics. True  T, because it starts a stressed syllable, even  

though it's between two vowels. Then, a similar  word, Italy, how do you hear the T there? Italy.

David: D.

Rachel: Right. It's  

a flap. It comes between two vowels, and it  doesn't start a stressed syllable. Flap T.

David: Even though Italian is—

Rachel: Yeah, that's different.

David: True T.

Rachel: That's different, because there, it  

starts a stressed syllable. Italian. Italy. Stress  matters. Stress really affects pronunciation,  

but the general rule is, between vowels, it's  a flap. Okay, flap rule number two. T is a true  

T after an R before a vowel or diphthong. Let's  take the word party. Party. Party. Party. Party.

David: Flap.

Rachel: Flap T. Dirty. You say it.

David: Dirty.  

Rachel: Now flap your tongue when you do it. Dirty.

David: Dirty.

Rachel: Flap. Dirty. Party. Alerted.

David: Alerted.

Rachel: I was alerted to the problem. Alerted.  

Alerted. Flap. Imported. Another flap. In all of  those cases, the T comes after the R sound, before  

a vowel or diphthong sound. Flap T. But again,  true T rule is stronger. If that T is starting  

a stressed syllable, even if it's after an R,  before a vowel or a diphthong, it's a true T.

David: Farted.

Rachel: That's an example of a flap T. Thank you,  

David. David has brought up the very sophisticated  and mature word, farted. Yes. Good example.

David: It's right on.

Rachel: He's very pleased with  

himself. Back to the point I was making before  you had to say farted on my podcast. If the T is  

starting a stressed syllable, even when it's after  an R, before a vowel or diphthong, it's a true T,  

because the stressed syllable rule is stronger.  True T like partake. Partake. True T. This rule  

applies not just to sounds within a single  word, but when we're linking different words  

together within a thought group. For example, the  phrase a lot of, how do you hear that T? A lot of.

David: A lot of. I hear true T.  

Rachel: So, you're hearing a lot of?

David: You just slowed down.

Rachel: A lot of.

David: A lot of. Oh, right. It's a D.

Rachel: It's a D. I love  

this. Native speakers have no idea what they're  doing. They are making flap Ts all the time,  

and don’t even know what it is. If you ask  them, they'll be like, no. That's a T. Well,  

you're not making a T or making it like a D. A lot  of. What about this word? You read this phrase.

David: About it.

Rachel: Tell me  

about the T in about. How are you saying it?

David: About it. Like a D?

Rachel: Yep. Flap  

T. That I is another example. That I. That I.

David: Yeah. I hear it.

Rachel: Mm-hmm. It's a flap,  

because the T comes between two vowels. That's it  for flap T. Stop T. Now, we're moving onto stop T.

David: It's actually like true Ts are a rare thing.  

Rachel: Kind of.

David: It's mostly the beginning of a word.

Rachel: Right.

David: And those starting as syllables.

Rachel: Right. Starting stressed syllables.

David: I would guess,  

if you're learning a language,  you would assume that that  

true T sound would be used a lot, and it's not.  Conversationally, it's almost never a true T.

Rachel: Yeah. You would think, true T most  

of the time, but then there are a few other little  examples. No. It is not true T most of the time.

David: It's almost like you should  

be teaching them in the other order, because  the true T is the least important in a sense.

Rachel: Yeah. I don’t actually know what is  

the ratio of true T to flap T to stop T in normal  conversation. I would put it at about probably  

one-third, one-third, one-third, but I don’t  know that for sure. I haven’t done an analysis.

David: I wouldn't  

be surprised if the true T was not a third.

Rachel: Was less? Maybe, because you're right. If you're  

saying it's only words where it starts the word,  because words like attain, there's not that many  

where the T starts a stressed syllable when it's  not followed by an R. You're totally right. This  

is the sound of David’s mind being blown. Okay,  stop T. We're moving onto the final category.  

How do you make a stop T? At the beginning of the  podcast, I said I couldn't make a stop T sound by  

itself, because it's actually not a sound. It's stopping sound. It's a lack of sound. Let's take  

the word what. W-H-A-T. What. What. That's how  you would say that most of the time, right, David?

David: Mm-hmm.

Rachel: What? Do you hear a T sound? Do you hear T? What?

David: You're using it on  

its own as if to clarify what has just been said.

Rachel: Yeah. If I say what, do you hear a T sound?

David: What? I want to argue that I hear a T sound.

Rachel: I love it. Let's argue. What?

David: What?

Rachel: What? Now, just make the T sound, then.

David: T.

Rachel: No. I mean, in the word.

David: What?

Rachel: Yeah,  

okay. There it is with the true T. Now, let's go  back to the way you're doing it with the stop T.  

David: Why can't it be a flap T? What? What?

Rachel: 

It can only be a flap T if it's  followed by another vowel sound.

David: Oh. What? What are you doing?

Rachel: There was a flap. You connected it.

David: Oh, right, but we never say what, except to—

Rachel: Of course we do. Hey,  

Rachel, can you blah-blah-blah? What?

David: Yeah. That's  

true. Conversationally, we say it a lot. Written,  you don’t see it, because it's not a sentence.

Rachel: Well,  

you would if you were writing dialogue. What?

David: Yeah.

Rachel: What? You're saying—

David: Even politely. You can say, I'm sorry, what?

Rachel: Right.

David: Yeah.  

Okay. Rachel: 

And what is just one example. There are tons  of words that end in a T that can be this way.

David: I can't wait.

Rachel: Wait. David just said,  

I can't wait, and he made a stop T. He's proving  my point. They're all over the place. But David,  

I want to get back to our argument where you  said there's a T in the word what. Where is it?

David: It's half a T.

Rachel: It's not  

half a T. Let me tell you  what's actually happening.

David: But it's not  

just what. Oh, yeah. It is the same.  In my mind, I tried to say W-H-A.

Rachel: Okay, which would be wha.

David: Wha.

Rachel: Okay, yeah.

David: You could just say it like that.

Rachel: No, this is amazing, though. This is  

bringing me to the point, what is a stop T? It's a  stop of sound, but what it does is, it changes the  

feeling of the syllable. You're hearing it as a T.  You're like, Rachel, there is absolutely a T here,  

because you don’t buy it when I say there's no  T, because you're hearing it. It's different.  

What is different from wha, but not because of  a T sound. It's different because of the vowel  

and the shape of the syllable. Wha, with no T.  It's like, uh. Up-down shape. What is -uh. Abrupt  

stop. I have some examples. What isn't the best,  but listen to this example. Away. That's A-W-A-Y.  

Then, the word await. A-W-A-I-T. Now, we would  say that with a stop T often. Await. Away. Await.  

Away. Await. You don’t actually hear a T sound. There's no T sound happening.  

What's happening is the quality of the  syllable is changing. Away. My voice goes,  

uhh at the end. Await. It doesn't.  It gets cut off. The sound stops.

David: The pace seems faster.

Rachel: It does,  

because it's chopped off. That's what  a stop is. It's a stop of the airflow.

David: So,  

that's just tricking your ear  to say that you said it faster?

Rachel: I'm not only saying it faster,  

it's like I'm cutting the uh part of the word off.  I'm not going away. Away. That's just saying the  

word faster. I'm going, await. Await. It's like  if I was drawing a curve. Away. That would be  

no T. Away. If I cut the curve off and I stop  it before it falls all the way down, await.

David: Then, the curve is tone?

Rachel: Yeah.

David: Like low to high.

Rachel: Yeah. I  

call it the shape of the stressed syllable.  -Uh is the shape of the stressed syllable,  

but when there's a stop at the end, we  stop the sound before the voice falls off  

in pitch all the way. This is why people say,  I don’t hear a T. I think there's no T at all,  

and I say, you don’t hear a T, but there is a  T. We hear the T because we hear the changed  

quality of the syllable. Buy. B-U-Y. I'm going  to go shopping. I'm going to buy some things.  

Or bite. I have a mosquito bite. Buy. Bite.  Buy. Bite. A non-native speaker might hear  

bite and say, I'm not hearing a T at all, but  to a native speaker, we hear the T because  

of the change in quality. Now, I'm going to tell  you something that's going to blow your mind.

Stoney, our son, who’s 18 months old, is starting  to repeat a lot of words, learn lot of words. One  

of the words that he's learned this month is the  word hot, H-O-T, and I'm saying this when the food  

I'm giving him is maybe too hot and he should  wait a little bit. I've noticed that I said  

hot. Stoney, it's hot. It's hot.  It's hot. I'm making a stop T,  

and he is repeating back to me with a true T. He  says, hot. Hot. I don’t know what is happening for  

him already with language that he gets that that  change in quality is a T, but he totally gets it,  

and he started saying hat, too. Hat. At. He  doesn't say an H yet, so it's at. At. He put  

a book on his head the other day and he said,  at. At. I know that I say hat. Stoney, put on  

your hat. We're going to put on your hat now. I'm  always saying a stop T. This kid knows it's a T.

David: Wild.

Rachel: I know. I don't know how,  

but the whole point is, native speakers  get the stop T, understand the stop T,  

not because of the sound of the stop  T, because there's not really one,  

but because of how it changes the quality  of the word. That's what a stop T is.

David: Or you could say it the other way, too,  

right? You could say that you have to shape the  space before a flap T correctly to imply the T.

Rachel: Stop T, you mean.

David: I mean stop,  

T. In order to correctly imply a stop  T, you have to cut off the sound.

Rachel: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Exactly.

David: You could say you are doing something.

Rachel: Yeah. You are.

David: You're doing  

something. You're just not making a T sound.

Rachel: Yeah. You're doing something. It's just not making  

a new sound. It's stopping the sound. Actually,  that brings up a good point. What are you doing?  

Position for the T is with the tongue tip  up towards the roof of the mouth. The top  

of the tongue is on the roof of the mouth, and you stop the air. T. Then, you release. If you're  

doing a stop T, you stop the air. You may or may  not lift your tongue up. It's not required to stop  

the air. You can just stop the air in your throat.  What? What? Not lifting my tongue, but you can.  

What? I think it depends a lot on what you're  going to do next, what position you want your  

tongue to be in for the next sound, whether or  not you would have lifted your tongue. That's how  

to make the stop T. What is the stop T, and the  difference between a stop T and no T? Now, let's  

talk about when would you make a stop T? What are  the rules? We make a stop T when it's followed  

by a consonant. Remember, again, we're talking  sounds, not letters. The word definitely, which  

is written with a E, the letter E, after T, before  L, is still a stop T because it's not a sound.  

The letter E there isn't a sound. Definitely.  Definitely. Let's try it with a true T to see the  

difference. Definitely. Now, you would never hear  a native speaker say that, would you say, David?

David: Mm-mmm.

Rachel: No. It's always a  

stop. Definitely. Definitely, this is how native  speakers pronounce it. Definitely. Definitely.  

There, I exaggerated the stop. I've picked  out a couple other words here with a stop 

T. Let's have David read them.

David: Basketball.

Rachel: Now, can you try to say basketball with a true T?

David: Basketball.

Rachel: That was a stop.

David: Basketball. Basketball.

Rachel: Yeah. Very unnatural, right?

David: Mm-hmm.  

Rachel: Yeah. Bluntly.

David: I would  

say that basketball is one of  the ones where there's zero T.

Rachel: But that would be basketball.

David: Basketball.  

Conversationally, if you're  talking with sports—basketball.

Rachel: Yeah. Okay,  

I buy that. If you're being really lazy, casual,  conversational, you might say basketball,  

but also basketball. I'm guessing most people  out there can't tell the difference between  

what I'm doing when I'm totally dropping  it and when I'm making a subtle stop.

David: Okay.

Rachel: The first time I'm thinking baska,  

with a schwa. Baskaball. Baskaball. There,  I'm not making a stop T. Now, I'm going to  

think of a stop T. Basketball. Basketball.  There, I exaggerated it. But actually, David,  

that's a good point. In that word, it really is  extremely subtle. What about the word bluntly?

David: Bluntly.

Rachel: Bluntly. Bluntly.

David: Mm-hmm. That's a good one.

Rachel: Yeah. It's a good stop. Outlast.

David: Outlast.  

Rachel: Why do you look so confused? Outlast.

David: I initially  

looked very confused because  there's two Ts. I was confused.

Rachel: Oh, good point,  

David. Great point. Outlast. I'm talking  about the stop that happens between the  

syllables. O-U-T-L-A-S-T. The last T  is going to be a true T here. It's part  

of a cluster. Outlast. Outlast. But what  about that first T? Where is it? Outlast.

David: Sorry. I was stuck on the last T. If  

that was part of a sentence, though, it wouldn't  get very much of a—we had to outlast them.

Rachel: Well,  

but there, you did S-T-T-H. There, when  you linked outlast into the word them,  

you were putting the T between two consonants.  This was not a good example that I chose,  

because it does have two T sounds. I put it  in because the first T, outlast, is a stop T.

David: Mm-hmm. Gotcha.

Rachel: And if I made  

it a true T, outlast, outlast, that would  sound pretty awkward to your native ears,  

wouldn't it, David? Yeah. Outlast. Out,  stop, last. What about pocket knife?

David: Pocket knife.

Rachel: Pocket knife. Does that sound weird?

David: Mm-hmm.

Rachel: Pocket knife. I brought a pocket knife. Yeah,  

we don’t want a true T in there. Here, it's  pocket knife, compound word. The T sound is  

followed by the N sound. Pocket knife. And it's  a stop. Pocket knife. Pocket knife. Okay. Stop T.  

It's a beautiful thing. David: 

I feel like stop T is like one-fifth of a true T,  

and a flap T is a D or R. Stop T actually has  a character of T. You're implying a true T.

Rachel: Yeah. Stop T is. It's an implied T.

David: It's an abbreviated true T.

Rachel: It's an implied  

T without being a T, whereas flap  T is a totally different sound.

David: Totally different thing.

Rachel: Yeah. You're right. Made totally differently.

David: Like those two are closer cousins than the flap T.

Rachel: Yeah. That's fair.  

Stop T is an implied true T, but flap T is a  completely different sound with a completely  

different mouth position. I like that. This is why  I want to bring David into the podcast, because  

his untrained and unstudied in pronunciation  mind comes up with interesting things.

David: Thanks, babe.

Rachel: You're welcome. When the T come  

after an R, before a consonant, you're thinking,  hold on. This is a T between two consonants. This  

is a dropped T. No. The R was an exception.  When it's after an R, before a consonant,  

then it's also a stop T. For example, the  word partly. Partly. There, it's R-T-L,  

three consonants in a row, but we do not drop  this T. It is a stop. Partly. What about this  

word? The next two examples have two different Ts  in them. We're focusing on the first T. Apartment.

David: Apartment.  

Rachel: Apartment.  

They can actually both be stops. Department.

David: Department.

Rachel: The point is,  

we don’t drop the T. It's a stop. This was—

David: Apartment. Department. It's a stop?

Rachel: Department.

David: Yeah.

Rachel: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm pointing  

this out, because I earlier, I said T between  two consonants, we may drop that. I'm saying,  

here's the exception. We don’t drop  it when the first sound is an R. Then,  

it's a stop. We make the T a stop T when it's  followed by a consonant. We may also make the  

stop T when a T is the last sound in a thought  group. A thought group is a natural grouping  

of words that you would say when thinking.  You could think of it as a sentence if you  

can't wrap your head around it. For example, she  was caught. There's no consonant after the word  

caught. There's no word after the word caught,  but I'm still making it a stop. She was caught.

This is just like the what example that we were  doing earlier. What? What? The T in the final  

position is often a stop. Not always. It can be  a light true T, but you will really often notice  

that this is what Americans do. Or, how about this  sentence? That was really great. That was really  

great. Stop T. Great. Great. Great. Or, this,  when you're really, really tired, you might say,  

I'm totally beat. I'm totally beat. My gosh, I'm  totally beat. Beat. Beat. Beat. Different from,  

I'm totally bee. Now, there, I made the voice  curve up and down. There was no feeling of a stop,  

but if I say, I'm totally beat, feeling of  a stop. Are you ready for your exception?

David: Mm-hmm.  

Rachel: Okay. When the T is in a cluster,  

even if it's the last sound in a thought group,  then we usually pronounce it. That's a fact.

David: When in a cluster.

Rachel: Right. Like, K-T  

cluster in the word fact. If I just said, that's  a fack, that would sound a little bit weird.

David: I agree.

Rachel: That's a fact. But  

we already said we can drop the T in fact when  it's plural. Facts. There, we're dropping the T.

David: Man. And again,  

the true T is a rare being, because that's a  fact. You can also get away with that being—

Rachel: You could.

David: A stop T.

Rachel: You could. And  

that's a fact. That sounds a little bit like  a certain kind of accent. If I was saying,  

well, here's what I think and that's a fact. That  would sound strange. If you were speaking with a  

completely normal, perfect American accent and you  left the T off there, that would sound strange.

David: That's a fact. Yeah.

Rachel: So,  

light true T when it's part of a cluster.  Here's another example. That was the best.  

David: Mm-hmm.

Rachel: Again, it's  

in the final position of the thought  group, but because it's in a cluster,  

we don’t want to drop it. That was the best.  That's what I'm hoping people say about this  

podcast, although I'm afraid there's no  way they will, because it is so confusing.

David: It's really hard.

Rachel: Look at how long  

this podcast is. Extremely long. We're just  going to do a couple words here that we've  

gone over in the podcast. Now, we're going  to just say a couple true T words. David,  

let's alternate. I'll say a word, then you say a  word. All of these words have the true T. Table.

David: Top.

Rachel: Actually, first, I should say, hey, if you're  

listening, repeat these out loud. Let's give them  one beat in which they can repeat it. Okay. Table.

David: Top.

Rachel: Turn.

David: Toast.

Rachel: Teacher.

David: Talk.

Rachel: Attain.  

David: Until.

Rachel: Italics.

David: Return.

Rachel: Politics.

David: Military.

Rachel: Great. Now, we're  

going to do words where the -tr cluster is a part  of the word, and it can sound like a -chr. Try.

David: Train.

Rachel: True.

David: Attribute.

Rachel: Attract.

David: Intriguing.

Rachel: Did you  

notice the ending cluster? Attract. T. T. T. I  made a true T at the end there. Two Ts in that  

word. Two T sounds. Now, we're going to do a  couple words where the T is dropped altogether,  

either because it comes after an N or because  it comes between two other consonants. Center.  

David: Internet.

Rachel: International.

David: Exactly.

Rachel: Directly.

David: Perfectly.

Rachel: Facts. Let's  

do a couple words and phrases  with the flap T. Beautiful.

David: Better.

Rachel: Battle.

David: City.

Rachel: Political.

David: Party.

Rachel: Dirty.

David: Alerted.

Rachel: Imported.  

David: A lot of.

Rachel: About it.

David: That I.

Rachel: Awesome. Actually,  

in the phrase about it, they're linked with a  flap T, but then there's a stop T at the end. It  

is a stop T there. About it. I forgot about  it. A flap T connecting forgot and about,  

and about and it. I forgot about it. Let's do  a couple words and phrases. Oh, you know what?  

I think I forgot to say—no, I didn't forget  to say that the stop T happens when the next  

word begins with a consonant. I just didn't do the  sentences, but we'll do them now. Now, we're doing  

either words or sentences where the T is a stop  T, because the next sound is a consonant. Bluntly.

David: Outlast.

Rachel: Pocket knife.

David: I thought so.

Rachel: I met John.

David: I hurt my—

Rachel: You hurt yourself? Oh,  

no. David hurt himself trying  to think about T pronunciations.

David: That's right.  

Rachel: He cracked his brain in half.

David: That's right.

Rachel: Okay, guys. Well, wow. There  

it was in all its glory. The comprehensive lesson  on how to pronounce the letter T or a double T.

David: Yeah.

Rachel: Now, if you  

feel like you have no idea how you're going  to remember all of this when you're talking,  

that's totally fair. Here's my advice. Just  listen to native speakers and try to imitate them.

David: Right.

Rachel: The more you do that,  

if you're taking time out of your day  to imitate native speakers, 10, 15,  

20 minutes a day, and you're practicing these  words the right way, then when it comes time  

to say them in conversation, you'll probably  do it the right way. That's it for this lesson  

on how to pronounce T. David, thanks for  being a part of this super long podcast.

David: Absolutely.

Rachel: Guys,  

if you want a copy of the transcript, if  that would help you with the learning here,  

please go to Rachelsenglish.com/podcast, and you  can find this episode, and any episode, actually,  

and download the transcript. It's totally  free. Good luck with those T pronunciations,  

guys. Thanks for listening. To see the  show notes and links to related topics,  

please visit Rachelsenglish.com/podcast  and look for this episode. New podcasts  

are released every Wednesday. Be sure to go to  the iTunes store and subscribe. Also, please  

consider leaving a review in the iTunes store.  I'd love to hear what you think of the podcast.