(Video Transcript)
How to Pronounce the Most Common Words in English
“Whaddya gonna do if it’s not ready right now?”
Ooh, that was fast! Let’s slow it down.
“What are you going to do if it is not ready right now?”
Did you notice the difference? Almost every word in that sentence is one of the one hundred most common words in spoken English — but in real life, we don’t pronounce them the way the dictionary shows.
In the next several videos, I’ll teach you how Americans really pronounce these one hundred most common words — so you can understand native speakers better and sound more fluent yourself.
These one hundred words are the foundation of English conversation. In fact, they make up about half of everything you hear in daily speech.
But here’s the catch: most of them are function words — little grammar words like the, of, to, for, and — and we almost never pronounce them in their full form. Instead, we reduce them, link them, and sometimes almost swallow them.
Over the next five videos, I’ll go through them in five groups of twenty words each. Each group of twenty will include several types of words, like articles and determiners, pronouns, common verbs, prepositions, connector words, and fillers and everyday expressions. So that means that in every video, you’re going to learn how to pronounce a variety of words, both function words and content words, but they are all common in spoken English, so you need to master all of them. We’ll look at how each word really sounds in fast speech, and I’ll give you example sentences that you can use to practice your pronunciation so you’ll sound fluent, relaxed, and natural!
Since this is video number one, we’re going to start at the top with the top twenty most common words in American English. I’ll introduce each word, and I’ll pronounce it with the full, dictionary pronunciation.
Then I’ll say the word in a sentence using a more natural pronunciation, and I’ll say it three times. Sometimes it will be reduced or linked up with another word, or it could even be stressed, depending on the sentence. Your job is to pay attention to the rhythm, intonation, and linking, and to imitate what you hear, not how the word is spelled or how you think the word is pronounced. And to help you with this, I’m not going to bog down these videos with explanations of what’s happening to the pronunciation. I want you to become comfortable with listening to something and immediately imitating it without much thought or direct instruction.
My one piece of advice? Close your eyes and rely on only your ears to guide you. Don’t read the sentence or the captions.
Get ready to improve your pronunciation, rhythm, and fluency - right now!
How to Pronounce Words 1-20
Word number one: the
The dog is outside.
Word number two: I
I was thinking about that.
Word number three: you
You should call her.
Word number four: and
Let’s grab coffee, and maybe a snack.
Word number five: a
That’s a good idea.
Word number six: to
We need to leave soon.
Word number seven: it
Did you see it?
Word number eight: of
That book is full of pictures.
Word number nine: in
She’s sitting in the car.
Word number ten: that
I know that guy.
Word number eleven: is
This is easy.
Word number twelve: was
He was late again.
Word number thirteen: yeah
Yeah, I can help.
Word number fourteen: on
Put it on the table.
Word number fifteen: we
We don’t have enough time.
Word number sixteen: they
They left already.
Word number seventeen: so
I think so.
Word number eighteen: but
I like it, but it’s expensive.
Word number nineteen: have
I have to say now.
Word number twenty: do
What do you do on the weekends?
Great job everyone! You just learned how to pronounce the top twenty most common words in American English. So…how did it go? Did you learn any new pronunciations today? Or were you surprised at any of the words that made this list? Let me know in the comments!
And we’ve only just uncovered the tip of the iceberg. We’ve got eighty more words to cover over the next four videos, so stay tuned for the next set of the most common words in American English, words twenty-one to forty.
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Thanks again for watching, and happy practicing!
