Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
00:00
In this American English pronunciation video,
we’re going to go over the difference between
0
269
5320
00:05
a Stop T and no T at all.
1
5589
3160
00:15
Sometimes I get questions from people asking
what the difference is between a Stop T and
2
15120
5440
00:20
just leaving out the T. Other people say,
“I can’t hear the Stop T at all.” It
3
20570
5500
00:26
sounds like nothing. So today we’re going
to sort out the difference. A Stop T is different
4
26070
6470
00:32
than dropping the T.
5
32540
2240
00:34
A Stop T is when you stop the air, but don’t
release the T sound. For example, the word
6
34780
6320
00:41
‘wait’. Wait. First I’ll say it with
a True T. Wait, wait. Now I’ll slow it down
7
41100
10450
00:51
so you can hear the stop that happens before
the release: Wait. Did you hear the stop?
8
51550
10900
01:02
Wait. Now I’ll say it with a Stop T. Wait,
wait. I bet you can hear the difference between
9
62450
10379
01:12
a Stop T and a True T. Wait, wait. [2x]
10
72829
9970
01:22
Now let’s compare the Stop T and no T at
all. We’ll compare ‘wait’ and ‘way’.
11
82799
7331
01:30
Except for the T, they have all the same sounds.
I’m not releasing the T, but I am stopping
12
90130
6979
01:37
the air, which makes it sound different. Wait,
way. Wait, way. How would you describe the
13
97109
11841
01:48
difference? Way, wait. The word ‘way’
is just a little longer, and the voice falls
14
108950
10140
01:59
off more in pitch. Way, way, wait. With ‘wait’,
we stop the air. So it’s shorter, and the
15
119090
11580
02:10
sound stops before the voice falls off in
pitch. Stop the air with your throat. Also,
16
130670
7240
02:17
depending on the context, you might lift your
tongue into position for the T. But that’s
17
137910
4950
02:22
not actually necessary to stop the air. Way,
wait.
18
142860
5770
02:28
Let’s look at some more word pairs. You
identify what you’re hearing.
19
148630
6060
02:36
Which word are you hearing?
20
156860
1470
02:38
It’s this word, can’t. Can, can’t.
21
158330
7940
02:48
Which word are you hearing?
22
168800
1900
02:50
It’s this word, stay. State, stay.
23
170700
7680
03:00
Which word are you hearing?
24
180460
1740
03:02
It’s this word, know. Note, know.
25
182210
8560
03:12
Which word are you hearing?
26
192980
1920
03:14
It’s this word, feet. Fee, feet.
27
194920
9580
03:24
I hope this video has made the Stop T more
clear.
28
204500
4360
03:28
If there’s a word or sound you need help
pronouncing, put it in the comments below.
29
208870
4710
03:33
And don’t forget to sign up for my mailing
list for more information on speaking better
30
213580
5040
03:38
English – it’s free. Click here or in the description below.
31
218620
5460
03:44
That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.
32
224080
5520
New videos
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.