Has this ever happened to you – someone asks you a question in English, and you don’t understand it at ALL?
One reason for the difficulty is that when native English speakers are talking fast, we often change how we pronounce the words at the beginning of questions.
It can be frustrating and embarrassing when you don’t understand a question… but this video will help! When you know about these pronunciation changes, then you can recognize them when you hear them – and understand questions a lot better.
If you want your own pronunciation to get better and clearer, come join my American English Pronunciation Course. The secret to improving your pronunciation is practice, practice, lots of practice – and you can get it inside the course.
OK, now let’s find out how questions sound when spoken fast.
Let me show you some examples.
Do You >> D’ya
- Do you like spaghetti?
- D’ya like spaghetti?
- Do you want to join us?
- D’ya wanna join us?
Are You >> Arya
- Are you at work right now?
- Aryat work right now?
- Are you hungry?
- Arya hungry? / Ya hungry?
Can You >> Kinya
- Can you call them back?
- Kinya callem back?
- Can you give me a ride?
- Kinya gimme a ride?
These pronunciation changes also happen when the question starts with a question word:
- What do you think?
- Whaddaya think?
- How are you feeling today?
- Howareya feelin’ today?
- When can you come over?
- When kinya come over?
DID YOU >> DIDJA
- Did you finish the book?
- Didja finish the book?
- Why did you do that?
- Why’dja do that?
WOULD YOU >> WOULDJA
- Would you like anything to drink?
- Wouldja like anything to drink?
COULD YOU >> COULDJA
- Could you close the window?
- Couldja close the window?
Now that you know about these pronunciation changes when speaking fast, you won’t be surprised and confused when you hear them.
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I hope you found it helpful, and I hope to see you inside my American English Pronunciation Course so that I can help you speak English more clearly and confidently!
