⏱ 5 Minutes · B1/B2

πŸ“– From Experience

When Vanessa and I first met, she spoke French fast and I spoke English fast β€” and neither of us could follow the other at full speed. Fast speech is not just quicker. The words join, change shape, and sometimes disappear. This is called connected speech, and understanding it changes everything about listening.

πŸ“š Four Key Processes

Process What happens Example
Linking Final consonant joins next vowel an_apple β†’ /Ι™’nΓ¦pl/
Elision Sound disappears next day β†’ /neks deΙͺ/ (t dropped)
Assimilation Sound changes to match neighbour ten boys β†’ /tem bΙ”Ιͺz/ (nβ†’m)
Reduction Unstressed words weaken I want to β†’ /aΙͺ wΙ’nΙ™/; going to β†’ gonna
βœ… Examples

  • Linking: ‘turn off’ sounds like ‘tur-noff’
  • Elision: ‘last night’ sounds like ‘las’ night’
  • Reduction: ‘do you want a cup of tea?’ β†’ ‘dja wanna cuppa tea?’
✏️ Your Turn

How would a native speaker say these quickly?

  1. ‘I have got to go.’ (reduction: have got to β†’ ?)
  2. ‘What are you doing?’ (reduction: are you β†’ ?)
  3. ‘It doesn’t matter.’ (elision: doesn’t β†’ ?)
πŸ’‘ Check Answers
  1. I’ve gotta go / I’ve gotta go
  2. Whatcha doing? / What’re you doing?
  3. It doesn’ matter (the t is dropped before consonant)

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