Subtitles section Play video
-
Do you hear a J sound in this phrase? "Could you? Could you?" There's no J sound written,
-
but that does happen sometimes in American English pronunciation. In this video, we'll
-
look at why.
-
I've had several people ask me about when the word 'you' follows a T or a D
-
sound. First, let's look at some examples. Could you, could you. Could you be there?
-
Want you, want you. I want you to come. Do you notice the JJ sound in 'could you', or
-
the CH sound in 'want you'? The JJ and CH sounds that you're hearing are coming in because
-
of the mouth position. The shape of these sounds -- JJ, CH -- is similar to the 'oo'
-
as in 'boo' sound. So what's happening is the lips are beginning to move for the oo
-
vowel sound, even as they're making the T and the D consonants. And these things blending
-
together make more of a JJ or CH sound. Let's look at some more examples. What would you
-
do? [3x] It doesn't have to be pronounced this way. Could you? Could you? Where you
-
make a separate D and Y sound: totally appropriate, and you will hear that. However, in more casual
-
conversation, the JJ and CH sound does tend to come into play. Let's look at some more
-
examples. I want to know what you thought. I want to know what you -- I want to know
-
what you thought. Would you hand me that? Would you, would you. Would you hand me that?
-
I hope this helps to clear up what many of my students hear and find confusing.
-
That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.
