8/6/2019 5 Rules of American Pronunciation That You Should Know

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5 Rules of American Pronunciation That You Should Know

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

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

y OfEven 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".

y "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".

y -ed endingsMany 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".

y -ng endingsThere 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.