Study English | American English Pronunciation | What Makes American English SO FAST?

There are two main tricks how Americans  speak so fast. Linking and reductions.  

Let’s study a scene from the TV series ‘Friends’  

to look at these two important characteristics  of spoken American English. You’ll improve your  

listening skills and sound more natural speaking  English when you link and reduce this way.

This is the scene that we’ll  study. It’s about 35 seconds long.  

The New Year’s Eve party has just ended and  they’re all talking about their New Year’s  

resolutions. Are you making any this year?  If so, let me know in the comments below.

Blair forgot her glasses. Man. She’s going to be  needing these to keep an eye on her boyfriend. Who  

from what I hear needs to keep his stapler in his  desk drawer if you know what I’m talking about.

Hey Rach, maybe your resolution  should be to, um, gossip less.

Wha-? I don’t gossip.

(laughing)

Wha? Maybe sometimes I find out things or  I something and I pass that information on.

You know, kind of like a public service?

It doesn’t mean I’m a gossip. I mean,  would you call Ted Koppel a gossip?

Well, if Ted Keppel talked about his  coworker’s botched boob jobs, yeah, I would.

How do they do that? I mean  at the beginning of this clip,  

Rachel is speaking so fast, how  do people still understand her?  

It has to do with pulling out the stressed  words. Let’s take a look at the analysis.

Blair forgot her glasses.

The first thing I like to do is to study  what are our most stressed syllables that  

gives us our anchor for the sentence.  So, listen to this sentence three times  

and see if you can figure out what you  think are the most stressed syllables.

Blair forgot her glasses.

Blair forgot her glasses. I hear  two stressed syllables. The name,  

Blair forgot her glasses and then  also the first syllable of glasses.

So, we have a stressed word that has more than  one syllable, it’s just the stressed syllable  

that feels stressed. The unstressed syllables even  if a stressed word are not stressed. So, Blair  

forgot her, forgot and her, a little bit less  clear, said more quickly to give us that contrast  

with our stressed syllables that are a little  bit longer and have that up down shape of stress.

Now, one of the things that happens  in unstressed words is sometimes we  

have reductions. And that means the sound  changes or is dropped. Here, we do have that.

The word ‘her’. How is that  pronounced? Let’s listen again.

Blair forgot her glasses.

Forgot her, forgot her, forgot her, her, her, her.  

The h is dropped isn’t it? That's a pretty  common way to pronounce her. Also he, his,  

him, those can all be pronounced without the h.  Forgot her. Now this t, t is not a true t is it?

The rule for t pronunciations is when it’s between  two vowels or diphthong sounds like it is here,  

it becomes a flap T which sounds like  D between vowels in American English.  

So, forgot her, forgot her, forgot her [flap],  forgot her. Those two words link with a flap.

Forgot her--

Now, don’t try to say forgot. For, I know  you see f-o-r but its actually fur, fur.  

That is written with the  schwa R. in phonetics in IPA  

and the schwa gets absorb by the R so it’s like  the vowel drops out. Fur, forget, forgot, forget,  

forgot. Very fast first syllable with no  vowel, forgot. Blair forgot her glasses.

Blair forgot her glasses.

Man. She’s going to really be needing these.

So, this next thought group  very fast and she speaks so  

quickly with her reductions. Now  a native speaker has no problem  

understanding what she’s saying because of the  anchors she gives us, the stressed syllables.  

So let’s just listen to the first few words, see  if you can feel the one stressed syllable here.

Man. She’s going to really.

Man. She’s going to really. So, peak of  stress I would say for there, she’s. Man.  

She’s going to really then we have four unstressed  syllables said so quickly, going to becomes gonna  

and really, we don’t have any reductions  of changes there but it’s just said  

very quickly. And it’s flat. There’s not  a lot of energy and volume in the voice,  

not length, no up down shape. Gonna really,  gonna really, gonna really, gonna really,  

gonna really, gonna really. I can do that  without moving my lips or my jaw at all,  

it’s all tongue. And by simplifying those mouth  movements that helps me get that out more quickly.  

Man. She’s going to really, Man. She’s going to  really, gonna really, gonna really, gonna really,  

gonna really. See if you can match that  speed and simplify like crazy to get there.

Man. She’s going to really--

Man. She’s going to really be needing these--

Be needing these. Be needing these. Then we have  two more stressed syllables, be needing these.  

They both have the e vowel, needing these. Do you  notice needing becomes needin , needin. So the ng  

ending gets changed to just the ih as in sit  n, needin. Needin, be needin these. Uhuhuhuh.  

Do you hear that up down shape? That's the  feeling of stress. Be needing these, Uhuhuhuh.

be needing these--

And those syllables are  definitely way more clearer than  

gonna really, gonna really,  gonna really be, gonna really be.

Man. She’s going to really--

Man. She’s going to really be needing  these to keep an eye on that boyfriend.

To keep an eye on that boyfriend. So, we have  a little bit more stress here. To keep an eye.  

I would say a little bit on eye. To keep an eye  on that boyfriend. And then quite a bit on boy.  

So those are our stressed words. Those are the  only syllables with length and more clarity,  

the rest of the syllables really  mumbly. And if that was all we did,  

was speak in unstressed syllables, nobody  would ever understand anyone. But by  

having that mixed in with stressed  syllables, we understand perfectly.

To keep an eye on that boyfriend.

Actually, if you go to my video “Rachel’s English,  Native speakers can’t understand this”, it’s  

really funny, I actually play parts of sentences  from Friends that would just be unstressed words  

and my friends and family cannot figure out what  is being said but when I play the whole sentence,  

they understand. So that just goes to show how  unclear these unstressed words are by themselves.  

Even a native speaker can’t understand them  but in the context on the whole sentence,  

then we understand them. So you really have  to keep that in mind when you’re trying to  

speed up and simplify your unstressed syllables,  they are not going to be clear and that’s okay.

Man. She’s going to really be needing  these to keep an eye on that boyfriend.

Needing these to. Now, the word to, I  barely hear it. Extremely light true T  

and a schwa but it’s so fast. I almost don’t hear  that word. Needing these to keep an eye, keep an  

eye, keep an eye, keep an eye. And everything  links together smoothly. The ending p into the  

schwa, ən, ən, ən, ən. The ending n into the eh  as in bed vowel, sorry the ai as in buy diphthong.

to keep an eye on that boyfriend.

To keep an eye on that, to  keep an eye on that. So fast,  

a little bit of a peek on eye but those words  said so quickly. To keep an eye on that,  

to keep an eye on that, to keep an eye on that.  And you have to simplify to say those words  

that quickly. We have a stop T in the word  that, t, because the next word begins with  

a consonant so it’s not that but  that, that, that, that boyfriend.

to keep an eye on that boyfriend.

Boyfriend. And a really  light d, release of that d.

Boyfriend.

Who, from what I hear

Who, up down shape of stress.  Who, from what I hear.  

From what, lower in pitch, flatter, from what  I hear. And then another peak of stress on I.

Who, from what I hear--

From what, from. So, we don’t have a full uh as  in butter vowel there I would say it’s a schwa.  

From, from, from. From what I hear. What I, do  you hear how that T is a flap T because it’s  

linking to a vowel or diphthong sounds  together, the uh as in butter and the I  

diphthong, that helps us move through  that word and that sound more quickly  

rather than a stop and a release, it’s  just a flap. What I, What I, What I.  

From what I hear. We really like our  words linked together in American English.

from what I hear--

What I hear. And I would say we have a little bit  of a curve back up here. Hear. So that’s signaling  

she’s going to say more, this change of direction  of pitch shows us stress. So, stress is usually  

up and then down but sometimes it’s down  The word hear, written in IPA, h consonant,  

I vowel, schwa r. But a couple of things. The r  absorbs the schwa so it’s just the single r sound.  

And this r sound changes the i vowel, it’s not  I, hit, I, hear, hear, hear. But it’s hear,  

hear. It’s a lot more like the E  vowel. The R changes I into e. Hear.

I hear--

I hear, needs to keep his stapler--

Needs to keep his stapler. Okay, so she is  giving some good juicy gossip here so she’s  

slowing down a little bit. Needs to keep  his, doesn’t drop the h in his, doesn’t  

even reduce the vowel in to which is a little  bit unusual. That’s a true t and the uh vowel.  

So she’s being extra clear here because of how  good this gossip is. Needs to keep his stapler.  

Really stressing that. Stapler, a lot of  pitch change, going pretty high there.

Need to keep his stapler--

In his desk drawer

In his desk drawer. Drawer. Up down shape  of stress and then going up a little bit at  

the end to show a little bit more she wants  to say about it. And again, really clear,  

Doesn’t drop the h in his, everything a  little bit longer, a little bit more clearer  

because she thinks, wow, this is so important,  so juicy, I’m so excited to share this gossip.

In his desk drawer--

If you know what I’m talking about.

If you know what I’m talking about.  Okay, she gets a little bit more playful.  

If you know what I’m talking. And we have  one big peak of stress on talking. So talking  

becomes talkin. She changes the ng sound to just  an in sound. Ih as in sit, n unstressed syllable,  

talkin, talkin. Now, the l in talking dropped.  Not dropped but not pronounced, it’s silent.

If you know what I’m talking about.

If you know what I’m. Said a little bit more  quickly than that. If you know becomes if jə know,  

if jə know, not you but jə. Jə, jə, If  jə know what I’m, If jə know what I’m,  

If jə know what I’m. What [flap] I’m.  

Again, we’re linking those words with a flap t  that’s what we do when a word ends in a vowel  

or diphthong plus t and then the next word  is a vowel or diphthong. Link that smoothly  

with a single flap, t, really feeding into that  characteristic of smoothness for American English.

If you know what I’m talking about.

If you know what I’m talking  about. About, about, about.  

Stop T, not released. That’s usually what we  do with T’s at the end of a thought group.

If you know what I’m talking about.

So on the first slide, she was speaking so  fast. Here, she’s slowing down a little bit,  

we still have contrast. We still have  the clear up down shape on some syllables  

but definitely not all of them. The other  syllables are just flatter. They don’t have uhuuh  

or uhuh changes in pitch the same  way that those stressed syllables do.

Needs to keep his stapler in his desk drawer--

Keep his stapler in his desk drawer.  Okay, this is a sexual inuendo which means  

we use a phrase that has a normal, plain  innocent meaning in English but we use it  

to mean something sexual. So, of course,  stapler here being penis and desk drawer  

being pants. In other words, she’s heard  Blair’s boyfriend is sleeping around.

Who needs to keep this  stapler in his desk drawer--

If you know what I’m talking about.

Hey Rach,

Hey Rach, hey Rach, hey Rach. Hey said quickly,  going up towards that peak of stress on Rach. Hey  

Rach, hey Rach, hey Rach.

Hey Rach,

Maybe your resolution should be to, um,

Maybe your resolution should be to, um. So we  have a couple of stressed syllables there. Your,  

because they’re all making resolutions  there. Maybe your resolution should be to.

Maybe your resolution should be to, um,

Actually, she doesn't reduce to, she actually says  tu instead of to. Maybe your resolution should be  

to, um. She’s thinking about how to say this.  It’s a little bit of a touchy subject. Nobody  

wants to be a gossip and here, she’s basically  telling Rachel that Rachel is a gossip.

Maybe your resolution should be to, um,

Maybe your resolution. Do you notice that  those words are link together with a single r  

sound. There’s no reiteration of the r  or any lift or break. This is what we do  

to help link in American English, if one word  ends with a sound, the next word begins in it,  

we link that single consonant sound. Maybe your  resolution should be. Smooth linking no breaks.  

Resolution should, those are  all lower in pitch and flatter  

but ther’re not rushed quite as much as Rachel was  rushing her speech at the beginning of this scene.

Maybe your resolution should be to, um,

Should be to, um, Should be  should. The L in should is silent  

and the d is not released if the next word  begins with a consonant so it’s not should be,  

should be but it’s should be, should be. Do you  hear how I hold that d in my vocal cords? I’m  

exaggerating it there but I don’t release  it, I just go right into the b sound then.  

So that d would be very quick, very  subtle before going on the b consonant.

should be to, um,

Gossip less.

Gossip less. Gossip less. Do you hear how we have  that peak of stress on our first syllable there.  

Gossip less. And then the two other syllables  just come in as the pitch falls away but it’s  

smooth, we don’t have a jump of a skip. Uh.  Uhuuh. Gossip less, all smoothly connected.

Gossip less.

Wha-?

Wha-? She cuts off the word what, she  can’t believe she’s being accused of this.

Wha-?

I don’t gossip.

I don’t gossip. So, pretty  high intonation. I don’t  

gossip. So, don’t and go both stressed,  the one is in up down shape and the next,  

down up, she can’t believe it. I don’t  gossip. And makes her intonation goes up.

I don’t gossip.

The n apostrophe t contraction here pronounced  as a quick stop. I don’t gossip. Don’t  

go, don’t go, don’t don’t. So the n apostrophe t  contraction has a couple different pronunciations.  

Usually, when it’s followed by a consonant,  that’s what we do, do a quick lift break,  

little tiny separation and  that stop signifies the t.

I don’t gossip.

Gossip. And she releases that p sound. She  kind of holds on to her g a little bit more to,  

she’s really stressing that word. She  can’t believe she’s being accused of this.

Gossip.

And everyone reacts with a sort of a chuckle.

Wha?

And again, wha? What without really a t.  

Wha? wha? what. You could think of that as  a stop, maybe signifying a stop t. Wha? Wha?

Wha?

Maybe sometimes,

Maybe sometimes. So we have two stressed  syllables there. Maybe sometimes. And then  

she makes her intonation go up a little bit,  she’s going up towards another peak of stress.

Maybe sometimes,

I find out things

I find out things. I find out things. So find  and things also stressed but things has a  

down up intonation because she’s going to keep  going, she’s going to keep defending herself.

I find out things

Out things, out, stop t there because the  next word begins with a consonant. Now,  

nothing here is reduced, it’s all more  clear, we do have unstressed syllables  

but they are just a little bit longer and clearer  that when she was gossiping at the beginning.

I find out things--

Or I hear something

Or I hear something. Or I, really being clear  hear, I think each of those has a little bit of  

a stressed syllable feeling. Or I hear something.  Definitely more on the word hear. And don’t forget  

that vowel is going to sound more like  e because it’s followed by r. Hear.

Or I hear

Or I hear something and I  pass that information on.

Hear something and she goes right back up for  

another little peak of stress on some. Hear  something and I pass that information on.

hear something and I pass that information on.

Pass, some up down shape on that  vowel. And I pass that information.  

A little bit on our stressed syllable,  information. In, pass that information on,  

on. Change in direction, definitely has  stress longer but again, she made her  

intonation go up at the end. Just like she  did here. She’s not done talking. She’s not  

giving it a statement, I’m done intonation  because she’s going to continue to defend herself.

pass that information on.

Here, something and I pass. So we have  three unstressed syllables here that are  

definitely said more quickly.  Something and I pass, [flap].

Here, something and I pass.

And the word and is reduced. We drop  that d. We just almost never say that d.  

So she doesn’t reduce the vowel. It’s still ae.  ae . A vowel after n changes. I’m sorry a vowel  

before n changes it’s not an,an but ae, ae.  Sort of like a relaxed a with an uh, ae, ae,  

and, and. And I pass that information on.

And I pass that information on.

Information. You see, f-o-r, don’t say for,  

say infur, schwa r, just an  r sound there, information.  

And the tion ending in this word is the sh  schwa n syllable, tion, tion. Information on.

Information on--

Information on. Actually, she does a little  bit of a breaking away from on the n.  

She doesn’t say information on, information on.  She breaks it away a little bit from that n. When  

we separate something and we don’t really make it  link in, that gives it a little bit more stress.

Information on--

You know,

You know, you know, you know. A little  quick phrase, one feeling, you know  

going up in intonation, no is our stressed  word, the word you reduces, it’s no you,  

it’s jə, jə. Said so quickly, jə, jə, jə,  jə, jə know, jə know. Linked on to that word.

You know,

Kind of like a public service.

Kind of like a public service.  A little bit of stress on kind.  

Kind of like a public service.  And the stress on ser and again.  

It's the up down kind, she wants to keep  going. She wants to keep convincing them.

Kind of like a public service.

The word of, schwa v said very quickly. It’s  pretty common to drop that v, kind of like,  

kind of like but I do hear her making  it quickly. kind of like, kind of like,  

kind of like. kind of like a, kind of like a.  

So, of like a, just said quickly, linked  together before our stressed syllable pu.

Kind of like a--

Kind of like a public service.

Public service [flap]. Do you hear that  two stressed words in a row? Each has  

first syllable stress. So it’s,  sorry let me say that again.  

Each has first syllable stress.  So we have a stressed syllable  

and an unstressed syllable. A stressed syllable  and an unstressed syllable. And those should  

feel different. Stressed should feel different  than unstressed. Public-service. Public service.

Public service.

Doesn’t mean I’m a gossip.

Doesn’t mean I’m a gossip. So we have good stress  here. Doesn’t mean. Doesn’t mean I’m a gossip.  

And then she goes up at the end. Both of  those have a up down shape of stress. Again,  

she really stresses gossip by kind of holding on  to that g a little bit. Doesn’t mean I’m a gossip.  

We have an n apostrophe t contraction  here. Let’s look at how it’s pronounced.

Doesn’t mean I’m a gossip.

Doesn’t mean, doesn’t mean. I would  say that t is totally dropped.  

Doesn’t mean, now notice the s in doesn’t is  pronounced as a z, doez,zz,zz. Doesn’t mean I’m a,  

doesn’t mean I’m a. Mean I’m a, flatter we don’t  have that up down, down up intonation change,  

they’re also said more quickly but they’re all  linked together really smoothly aren’t they.

Doesn’t mean I’m a gossip.

I mean, would you call Ted Koppel a gossip?

I mean, would you call Ted Koppel a  gossip? So this is a yes no question  

and that’s why the intonation goes up at the  end. Gossip? So go, our first syllable there,  

definitely stressed. Would you call,  our verb has stress. Call Ted Koppel a  

gossip? Everything else said pretty  quickly. The words I mean, very unclear.

I mean, would you call--

I mean, would you. I mean, would you,  I mean, would you, I mean, would you,  

I mean, would you. Not clear at all right? So  the word would. L is always silent . When we  

have a word that ends with a d followed by you  or your. It’s fairly common, maybe half the time  

to not hear a d but instead for the d to  combine with the y to get a j sound. Would you,  

wouldjujuju, Would you. That’s written  in IPA with these two symbols together,  

jujuju. Would you, would you, would you,  would you. I mean would you, I mean would you,  

I mean would you. You have to say those words that  quickly to get the contrast. Call, I mean would  

you call. Those words have a really different  feel. And in order to say those words quickly,  

you have to really simplify, you have to make  them short of course, You’re going to do that by  

making your intonation more flat. Simplify mouth  movements. I mean would you, I mean would you.  

You can’t look at the black and white of the  words and think I need to say these four words  

because you would never say them more quickly.  So just imitate what you hear right now. I  

mean would you, I mean would you,  I mean would you, I mean would you.  

And try that, play with that, simplifying.

I mean would you--

I mean would you call Ted Koppel a gossip?

Would you call Ted Koppel. The word call has  a dark L. Don’t lift your tongue tip for that.  

Call, uhl, uhl, uhl,uhl. Making that with  the back part of my tongue pressing down a  

little bit. Call uhl,uhl,uhl,uhl. But the tip  stays down. The back presses down the back,  

pressed a little bit. That’s how we get that  sound. Call Ted Koppel. So, a proper noun,  

no matter how many names we have for someone,  we might be calling someone by their first,  

their middle, their last. Stress is always  on the last name. So, in this case, Koppel,  

it’s a two syllable word, with first syllable  stress. So Ted is less stressed than Koppel.

would you call Ted Koppel--

Ted Koppel. Ted Koppel.  

Again, dark L here. Make a dark sound.  Koppel, uhl,uhl, uhl, uhl. Koppel . Koppel.  

Now, when a dark L is followed by a vowel like  here and it’s followed by the schwa, I sometimes  

lift my tongue tip to give a little bit of a  feeling of clarity that I’m going to another  

syllable here. Ted Koppel a. But make that dark  sound first. Really quick dark sound or you just  

very lightly lift your tongue tip to link into the  schwa. Koppel a, Koppel a. Ted Koppel a gossip?

Ted Koppel a gossip?

Now, we’ve seen and heard the word gossip  over and over but I just want to point out  

in case you’re not hearing it you see the letter  o, it is the a vowel like in father. Gossip.

Gossip?

Well, if

Well, if, well, if. The word well,  not to clear is it? Well, if?  

I think I would write that w schwa l, well,  well, well, well. We use the word well quite  

a bit in spoken English and it’s often reduced  well, well, well. Not said very clearly. So  

she does a tiny little break here but well and  if linked together. Well if, well if, well if.

Well, if

Ted Koppel talked about his coworker's

Ted Koppel talked about his coworker’s.  Can you feel the stress there? Koppel  

talked about his coworker’s. Again the  stressed syllable of the last word of the name.

Ted Koppel talked about his--

Ted Koppel talked about his. Ted Koppel talked. So  

up down shape of stress on o,also here on  our stressed syllable on talked, now the ed  

ending here adds just another sound, the t  sound. Ted Koppel talked about his coworker’s.  

Coworker is someone you work with. Stress  on the first syllable there. Coworkers.

Ted Koppel talked about his coworker’s--

Ted Koppel talked about his. I love these true  t’s, they’re so clean and crisp. Ted. Talked. Ted  

Koppel talked about his, about his. Now, what’s  happening here? This isn’t a clear true t is it?

Ted Koppel talked about his.

Talked about his. It’s because the h is  dropped here. Now the t comes between two  

vowels and diphthong sounds and we make  that a flap t which sounds like the d  

between vowels in American English.  Talked about his, talked about his.

Talked about his--

Talked about his coworker’s botched boob job.

Coworker’s botched boob job. Two more stressed  syllables there, an adjective. Botched  

boob job. Boob job, that’s when  women makes their breast bigger.

coworker’s botched boob job--

A botched boob job. Botched means  something got messed up. Something wasn’t  

executed well, something went wrong.  If you’re going to have a boob job,  

you definitely don’t want anything to go wrong.

botched boob job--

Botched. Again, the ed ending makes a t.  So the rule for ed endings we have three  

different pronunciations. if the sound before is  unvoiced like here, ch,ch, then it’s a true t,  

actually the rules are pretty clear. Ah, we,  and as I said, there are three clear cases  

and I have a series of videos on that. You can  look up ed endings, Rachel’s English and get  

all of the rules and how we end up using them  in real life conversational spoken English.

Botched--

botched boob job, yeah, I would.

Yeah, yeah, yeah I would. The d, would, we hear  it in the vocal cords but it’s not released  

and again the L is always silent in that word.

yeah, I would.

So Monica, we have some reductions,  

we have out unstressed words contrasting with  our stressed syllables, everything links together  

smoothly. Some t’s changed. We have a dark L here  in Koppel. You don’t lift your tongue tip for  

that. All these different things, the linking that  make up the characteristics of American English.

Botch. A great vocabulary word.  Here are some more sentences.

They didn’t gather all the evidence;  they really botched the investigation.

Or

We ordered delivery and half the things we ordered  weren’t in the bag. They really botched out order.

Now, let’s listen to that  conversation one more time  

while we look up at the marked  up texts. Notice what you hear.

I love this kind of video. I have  tons of other videos like this,  

check out my playlist, “Learn American  Pronunciation through English conversation”  

on my channel to see more. I also have  over a hundred and fifty pronunciation  

analysis lessons just like this with  audio to train with in my online school  

Rachel’s English Academy, check it out and  join. I love to have you as my student,  

you will be transformed. I make new videos on  the English language here on Youtube every week,  

be sure to subscribe with notifications on  to stay up to date with the latest lessons. I  

love being your English teacher. That’s it  and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English