English Learning Tips For Students
· Previous · Next Return to Index › 5 Rules of American Pronunciation That You Should Know (American English)
John Doey

If you want to sound like an American speaker, you should learn rules of American English pronunciation. There is a lot of them but learning at least some basic rules will dramatically improve your accent. What are these rules?

Note: some of the rules listed below are not only used in American English. Many foreign speakers make mistakes when it comes to standard English rules so I decided to include these rules too.

"T" becomes "D"

"T" becomes "D" when it falls between two vowels.

For example: "bitter" is pronounced like "bidder". "Water" is pronounced like "wader".

Of

Even though the word "of" is spelled with "F", it's pronounced with "V". It's an exception.

For example: "it's made of wood" is pronounced "it's made ov wood".

"S" or "Z"

If a word ends with a voiceless sound (F, K, P, T, except for "S"), "S" is pronounced like voiceless "S", but when it ends with ch, dg, s, sh, z, a vowel or a voiced consonant, it's pronounced like longer, voiced "z" ("zzz").

For example: "He looks" is pronounced with voiceless "s" (it ends with a "K") but "judges" is pronounced with voiced "z" - like "judgezzz". "Tree" ends with a vowel, so it's pronounced "treezzz".

-ed endings

Many verbs that are in the past tense end in "-ed" but "-ed" is pronounced differently, depending on the word ending. If a word ends with a voiceless consonant, "-ed" is pronounced like "T". If a word ends with a voiced consonant, it's pronounced like "D". If a word ends with "T" or "D", "-ed" is pronounced like normal "ed".

For example: "I walked" is pronounced "I walk-t" (because it ends with "K"), "I moved" is pronounced "I mov-d" (because it ends with a voiced consonant). "I voted" is pronounced "I voted" because it ends with "T".

-ng endings

There are three nasal sounds in English and "ng" is one of them. "Ng" is a combination of "N" and "G" but "G" is not pronounced.

For example: "he is walking" is pronounced like "he is walkin". "G" is not pronounced!

These are some basic rules of English and American English pronunciation. There's a lot more rules of pronunciation but learning and practicing the above five will unquestionably improve your accent.

Click this link if you want to learn American accent: Learn American Accent http://www.learnamericanaccenthq.com/.

· Previous · Next Return to Index › 5 Rules of American Pronunciation That You Should Know (American English)





Go to another board -