Connected Speech — Why English Sounds So Fast (And How to Follow It)
🎯 B1–B2
⏱️ 5 min
💬 Why native speakers sound fast: When I arrived in Sydney, Australians didn’t sound like my English teacher. They sounded like one long blur of sound. They weren’t speaking faster — they were connecting words. This lesson explains why.
Connected Speech — Why English Sounds So Fast
1. Linking (consonant → vowel)
When a word ends in a consonant and the next starts with a vowel, they link.
“turn it off” → “tur-ni-toff”
“pick it up” → “pi-ki-tup”
2. Elision (sounds disappear)
Sounds get dropped, especially /t/ and /d/.
“last night” → “las’ night”
“next door” → “nex’ door”
3. Assimilation (sounds change)
A sound changes to match the next sound.
“ten boys” → “tem boys”
“that person” → “thap person”
4. Intrusion (sounds appear)
A /w/, /j/, or /r/ sound appears between vowels.
“go out” → “gow-out”
“see it” → “seey-it”
🎯 Quick Practice — What Process?
Identify the connected speech process (linking / elision / assimilation):
- “come_in” (said as one word) → ___
- “mos’ people” (t dropped) → ___
- “handbag” → “hambag” (n→m before b) → ___
Reveal Answers ▼
- Linking
- Elision
- Assimilation
✅ Takeaway: Connected speech = linking, elision, assimilation, intrusion. You don’t need to produce all of these — but you MUST recognise them to understand fast English.
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