Can vs Can’t: American English Pronunciation Trick You Need to Know | Shadowing Practice — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Hey everyone, and welcome back to
2. 0:01another shadowing practice. For those of
3. 0:03you who don't know me, I'm Claire, a
4. 0:05native speaker from the United States
5. 0:07and an online English teacher. So, as I
6. 0:10am from the United States, I will of
7. 0:12course be speaking with an American
8. 0:14English accent. So, if you do want to
9. 0:16improve your speaking in American
10. 0:19English, this will be appropriate for
11. 0:21you. But also, if you just want to
12. 0:24improve your fluency overall through
13. 0:27listening and building vocabulary, this
14. 0:30will also be a great practice for you. I
15. 0:32have many more shadowing practices just
16. 0:34like this over on my channel. You can
17. 0:36check out my shadowing practice
18. 0:38playlist. In this video, I'm going to
19. 0:40specifically cover the difference
20. 0:42between can and can't in American
21. 0:45English because a lot of non-native
22. 0:47speakers find it not only difficult to
23. 0:49pronounce these words themselves, but to
24. 0:52hear the difference when they are
25. 0:54listening to native speakers. So, I have
26. 0:57a quick tip for that that's going to
27. 0:58help with both of those situations. And
28. 1:00I'm going to point out some other pairs
29. 1:01of words that are easily mispronounced
30. 1:04or difficult to hear the difference
31. 1:06between them so that you can practice on
32. 1:09it and you can practice your listening
33. 1:11as well. All right, let's go ahead and
34. 1:13get started. English made easy with
35. 1:16Claire.
36. 1:19Okay, so as always, first I want you to
37. 1:21listen to me and then repeat and then
38. 1:25you will shadow it. So, then you will
39. 1:27say it at the same time as me, matching
40. 1:30my rhythm and inflection and
41. 1:32pronunciation.
42. 1:35Today, I have to finish a project for
43. 1:37work.
44. 1:38Your turn.
45. 1:44So, for this sentence, notice the
46. 1:45pronunciation of have to. Okay, not have
47. 1:50to.
48. 1:51I have to finish, but I have to finish.
49. 1:55When we have have to to mean the same
50. 1:59thing as need, I need to finish this, we
51. 2:02pronounce this pair of words have to.
52. 2:04So, listen again.
53. 2:06Today, I have to finish a project for
54. 2:09work.
55. 2:15I can finish it if I stay focused and
56. 2:18avoid distractions.
57. 2:27And again,
58. 2:29I can finish it if I stay focused and
59. 2:31avoid distractions.
60. 2:40Listen to the next sentence.
61. 2:42I can't finish everything before lunch,
62. 2:46but I'm confident I'll finish it by the
63. 2:48end of the day.
64. 3:00Listen to that one again.
65. 3:02I can't finish everything before lunch,
66. 3:05but I'm confident I'll finish it by the
67. 3:08end of the day.
68. 3:10Repeat.
69. 3:19Good. Okay, so in one sentence we have
70. 3:21the word can, I can finish. And the
71. 3:25second sentence we have can't. So,
72. 3:28that's the contraction of can not. So,
73. 3:31the pronunciations that you were taught
74. 3:33of these words would be can
75. 3:36and can't.
76. 3:38Okay, but in American English in rapid
77. 3:41connected speech, we actually don't end
78. 3:44up pronouncing them like this within a
79. 3:47sentence. So, actually the word can is
80. 3:51often unstressed
81. 3:53when it is within a sentence. And when
82. 3:56the word can is unstressed, it has a
83. 3:59different pronunciation.
84. 4:02So, we wouldn't say, "I can finish it."
85. 4:05We would say, "I can finish it."
86. 4:09"I can finish it." So, actually the
87. 4:12pronunciation goes from can, which is
88. 4:15the stressed pronunciation,
89. 4:17to can. That's the unstressed
90. 4:21pronunciation. Can. "I can finish it."
91. 4:25So, we don't stress the word can when it
92. 4:30is used as a modal verb within a
93. 4:32sentence.
94. 4:33"I can do it." "I can finish it." "I can
95. 4:37meet you." Okay? It's often unstressed.
96. 4:40So, therefore, the pronunciation changes
97. 4:42completely. Now, when we have the word
98. 4:44can't [snorts]
99. 4:45in American English, we have what's
100. 4:48called a stop T, often when the word
101. 4:51ends with a T. And I've talked about
102. 4:53this in my other shadowing videos. So,
103. 4:56we don't say can't, but can't.
104. 4:59Can't.
105. 5:00And that's why it's so tricky, because
106. 5:03to a lot of non-native ears, that sounds
107. 5:06like the word can if we drop the T. But
108. 5:09the difference here is that when we're
109. 5:11using the word can't, so the contraction
110. 5:13of cannot, that is stressed within a
111. 5:18sentence. So, we have, "I can't finish
112. 5:22everything before lunch." "I can't
113. 5:25[snorts] finish it." "I can't go."
114. 5:29"I can't meet you." So, that is stressed
115. 5:32within the sentence. If someone said,
116. 5:34"Oh, yeah, I can do that." You can hear
117. 5:37that the word can is unstressed. "I can
118. 5:40do that." So, if you're wondering, "Are
119. 5:42they saying they can or they can't do
120. 5:44it? I can't really hear the difference."
121. 5:46Well, if it's unstressed, that means
122. 5:49can, and if it's stressed, I can't do
123. 5:53it,
124. 5:54then that is the negative. Okay, so
125. 5:56hopefully now when we shadow the whole
126. 5:58thing, and you can always pause the
127. 6:00video and go back, hopefully now you can
128. 6:03hear the difference between these two
129. 6:06words when they are within a sentence.
130. 6:09So, let's go back and shadow this first
131. 6:11section all together. So, you say it
132. 6:14with me. Here we go.
133. 6:16Today, I have to finish a project for
134. 6:19work.
135. 6:20I can finish it if I stay focused and
136. 6:23avoid distractions.
137. 6:25I can't finish everything before lunch,
138. 6:28but I'm confident I'll finish it by the
139. 6:31end of the day.
140. 6:33Okay, let's keep going. So, listen
141. 6:35first.
142. 6:36I'm glad it's almost the weekend.
143. 6:43I'm glad it's almost the weekend.
144. 6:49My family and I were planning a trip to
145. 6:52the beach. Your turn.
146. 7:00So, here we have the word were,
147. 7:03which is often a tricky word to
148. 7:05pronounce. Were.
149. 7:07My family and I were planning a trip to
150. 7:10the beach.
151. 7:17But because of the weather, we're going
152. 7:20to stay home instead.
153. 7:28In this clause, we have the word we're,
154. 7:31which is a contraction of we and are.
155. 7:34We're going to stay home. We're. Here's
156. 7:38the catch, though.
157. 7:40In American English, when we say this
158. 7:42word within the context of a sentence in
159. 7:45rapid connected speech, we often
160. 7:49pronounce this word as were. So, it
161. 7:53sounds the same as the word were. You
162. 7:56will be taught that w e r e is were and
163. 8:00w e {apostrophe} r e is we're, but you
164. 8:04will hear native speakers pronounce
165. 8:07we're as were. Okay? I do it all the
166. 8:10time. But because of the weather, we're
167. 8:13going to stay home instead. We're going
168. 8:15to go to the movies.
169. 8:17We're having a great time. So, you can
170. 8:20either pronounce this we're or were.
171. 8:24Whatever's easier for you. Repeat the
172. 8:25final sentence in this section after me.
173. 8:28It's a little disappointing, but we'll
174. 8:30find something fun to do.
175. 8:37Same with the word we'll, which is the
176. 8:40contraction of we will. We'll is what
177. 8:44you will have been taught, but in rapid
178. 8:46speech, myself and native speakers will
179. 8:49say wo.
180. 8:52We'll find something fun to do. So, more
181. 8:54of a schwa sound. Okay, let's shadow
182. 8:57this section. So, say it with me.
183. 9:00I'm glad it's almost the weekend.
184. 9:03My family and I were planning a trip to
185. 9:05the beach, but because of the weather,
186. 9:08we're going to stay home instead.
187. 9:11It's a little disappointing, but we'll
188. 9:14find something fun to do. Moving on.
189. 9:17First, I just need to get through this
190. 9:19project, and then I can think about our
191. 9:23weekend plans.
192. 9:31Good. So, the word I want to point out
193. 9:32here is
194. 9:34then. Then. Listen again.
195. 9:38First, I just need to get through this
196. 9:40project and then I can think about our
197. 9:43weekend plans.
198. 9:52It's taking a lot more time than I
199. 9:55expected, so I should really focus now.
200. 10:06And here we have the word than, which is
201. 10:10different from
202. 10:11then, right? We have then
203. 10:15than.
204. 10:17It's taking a lot more time than I
205. 10:19expected, so I should really focus now.
206. 10:31Okay, so let's shadow this section. Of
207. 10:33course, if you do need to listen again
208. 10:36to the difference between then and than,
209. 10:40feel free to pause the video, go back,
210. 10:42repeat this part as many times. It's
211. 10:44very subtle, but if you really break it
212. 10:47down and listen and practice it slowly
213. 10:49at first, then you can try it up to
214. 10:51speed with me later. Here we go.
215. 10:55First, I just need to get through this
216. 10:57project and then I can think about our
217. 10:59weekend plans.
218. 11:01It's taking a lot more time than I
219. 11:03expected, so I should really focus now.
220. 11:07I probably should have started earlier.
221. 11:10Your turn.
222. 11:14Here I want to point out the word
223. 11:17probably.
224. 11:18So, you may have learned probably,
225. 11:21or at least that's what it looks like.
226. 11:23It looks like it has three syllables,
227. 11:26probably, but many native speakers
228. 11:29pronounce this word with two syllables,
229. 11:32probably. Myself included, I say
230. 11:35probably.
231. 11:36Probably. And that is a really natural,
232. 11:41normal way to pronounce this word.
233. 11:43I probably should have started earlier.
234. 11:51Once I'm finally finished, I'll pour
235. 11:53myself a glass of wine and relax.
236. 12:02Good. Same with the word finally. Again,
237. 12:06this looks like it might be three
238. 12:07syllables. Maybe you learned finally,
239. 12:11which again, just like probably, is not
240. 12:15wrong. You could say finally, three
241. 12:18syllables. However,
242. 12:20many native speakers end up saying this
243. 12:22with two. Finally.
244. 12:25Finally.
245. 12:27Once I'm finally finished, I'll pour
246. 12:30myself a glass of wine and relax.
247. 12:39Okay, let's shadow this final paragraph
248. 12:42together. Say it with me.
249. 12:45I probably should have started earlier.
250. 12:47Once I'm finally finished, I'll pour
251. 12:49myself a glass of wine and relax.
252. 12:53All right, guys. So, now is the time in
253. 12:54our practice that we're going to shadow
254. 12:55the entire thing together without
255. 12:58stopping. If you enjoyed this practice,
256. 13:00if it was helpful, don't forget to take
257. 13:03a moment right now to give this video a
258. 13:04like, share it with a friend who's
259. 13:07learning English, subscribe to my
260. 13:08channel if you haven't already. And if
261. 13:11you do want to support my channel a
262. 13:12little bit more to help fund these types
263. 13:15of videos so I can keep making them,
264. 13:17click the join button below and check
265. 13:19out becoming a member of my channel. If
266. 13:22you are looking for a more consistent
267. 13:24practice, I do a live shadowing practice
268. 13:27every week within my online community
269. 13:30and we also have live group calls and
270. 13:32daily practice materials. So, if you
271. 13:35want to learn personally with me, check
272. 13:38out the link in the description of this
273. 13:39video to join my online community, Next
274. 13:43Level English. Okay, guys, here we go.
275. 13:45Let's shadow this entire text together.
276. 13:49Today, I have to finish a project for
277. 13:52work.
278. 13:53I can finish it if I stay focused and
279. 13:56avoid distractions.
280. 13:58I can't finish everything before lunch,
281. 14:01but I'm confident I'll finish it by the
282. 14:03end of the day.
283. 14:05I'm glad it's almost the weekend.
284. 14:08My family and I were planning a trip to
285. 14:10the beach, but because of the weather,
286. 14:13we're going to stay home instead.
287. 14:15It's a little disappointing, but we'll
288. 14:18find something fun to do.
289. 14:20First, I just need to get through this
290. 14:23project and then I can think about our
291. 14:25weekend plans.
292. 14:27It's taking a lot more time than I
293. 14:29expected,
294. 14:31so I should really focus now.
295. 14:34I probably should have started earlier.
296. 14:37Once I'm finally finished, I'll pour
297. 14:39myself a glass of wine and relax.
298. 14:43All right, guys. Thank you so much for
299. 14:45joining me for today's practice. Let me
300. 14:47know how it went for you in the comments
301. 14:49and I'll see you in the next one. Bye
302. 14:51for now.