American English Pronunciation: The 5 Sounds of T 

Say "time," "dime" and "nine."  Notice how T, D, and N are made with the tongue in the same place inside the mouth.  This will help you understand the rules below.  

The Regular T   The T sound is almost always used when "t" is the first letter of a word.  ST or TS always keep the regular T sound as well.   

The D Sound   When T is between two vowel sounds (A,E,I,O,U) or between a vowel and L or R (these letters are called semi-vowels to linguists), it becomes a D sound.  In phonetics, this sound is called a "flap," which means the tongue touches the roof of the mouth quickly.  I usually teach it is a soft, fast D sound.  It should be a soft sound.  This is the key difference between British and American speech.  Americans do not like the crisp T. This rule is widely applicable—you may find a few exceptions, but you will be more surprised by how well the rule works. 

** This rule applies also when T is at the end of a word and the word is followed by a vowel sound, such as "put it on."  This phrase would read "pudidon."  This is very common in expressions that use "what" and "that," as in "what a good idea" or "wada good idea."
 

** Remember: this is only true for vowel sounds.  If the vowel is silent, the rule does not work.  Note the word "write."  The E is silent, so the T is not a D sound. 
 

** This rule does not apply when the middle T sound is stressed, such as "Italian." 

Practice

computer = compuder                                                 heater = header

water = wader                                                             little = lidle

sweater = sweader                                                      put it = pudit

pretty = pridy*                                                            matter  = mader

bottle = bodle                                                              ability = abilidy

better = beder                                                              university = universidy

*The “e” in “pretty” is a short “i” sound, as in the word “sit.”
 

The Silent T   When T comes after N, the T sound is dropped in many words.  "Interview" becomes "innerview," "interstate" becomes "innerstate" and "printer" becomes "prinner."  This rule is not as important, as it's more rare, but it's good to be able to listen for this change.  It's also good to remember not to pronounce a strong T at the middle or end of a word.  When not at the beginning or stressed, a T should be fast and soft or barely heard at all.
 

Practice:

interview = interview                                      plenty = pleny

interstate = interstate                                      wanted = wanned

intersection = intersection                               twenty = tweny

printer = prinner                                              don’t know = don’know

international = international                            internet = inernet
 

T Becomes Hard N   When T is before an N, the sound is stopped and turns into a hard N. The final N should be strong.  This sound is more difficult.  It may be best to listen for it for a while and then start trying to use it.
 

Practice:

mountain = mou’n                   curtain = cur’n

fountain = fou’n                      sentence = se’nce

written = wri’n                        button = bu’n
 

The Stopped T    When T is at the end of a word (and this is not followed by a vowel), the sound stops.  Examples are hot, what, went, mat, kit, and so on.  To say this correctly, emphasize the preceding vowel, put your tongue into place and simply stop the sound.  This one too can be difficult to master, so listen for it first, especially when people say "It's hot!" or "That's that."
 

Practice: hot, hat, mat, fat, lot, rat, pat, foot, want, sit, sat, fit, bat, pot
 

The 5 Step Method: This is Step 3 of the Method. Use the Method to practice diagramming the simple story below.

You can practice diagramming for All vowels with simple stories. You will need to cut/paste and print to do this. Otherwise, just look at the story and try to find all the T-sounds that change according to the rules above. The diagrammed story (answer) follows.

Pretty Baby

1.  This is a woman.

2.  She has a pretty baby.

3.  Her baby wears pretty sweaters.

4.  Her baby has a rattle and a bottle.

5.  Her baby is getting fatter.

6.  Her baby is getting heavy.

7.  It doesn't matter.

8.  She loves her pretty baby.

Now try this intermediate level story. This time you can cut/paste and diagram for all the rules except do not do all the vowels. Only put a dot over the schwa vowel. Once again, answers are below the story. Remember that some of your blends or stresses may not be exactly the same. Just make sure you're making the same kinds of choices.

The Doctor Appointments

1. I am going to a doctor's appointment with my child. My child has a fever of 102.

2. I am going to ask about her fever. She is three years old.

3. My doctor is a young man. He is ten years younger than I am.

4. I do not think he knows about three year olds. He does know about fevers and medicines.

5. I have to think about medicine too. Maybe the medicine is not good for my child.

6. Sometimes doctors like medicines more than they like people.

7. A good mother thinks about the doctor. Is he a nice person or not?

8. Maybe the doctor has a family or maybe not. A doctor with a family is better.

9. A doctor with a family thinks about children more than medicine.

10. It is hard to be a mother. It is hard to find a good doctor.

11. My child will get better. I want to learn everything about sickness.

Now you are ready for an everyday, advanced level conversation. This time, diagram only for stresses. You still have to use all the rules to read/speak with the American dialect, but try to "see" these rules without writing them. This is the format we will always use: beginning, intermediate, advanced.

Conversations

Two coworkers are talking about changing the company database.

Mary: This system drives me crazy!  I have to call Tech support again.

Bill: I know.  I have to call them at least once a week.

Mary: The computer's slow too.  You would think they'd give us new ones to increase productivity.

Bill: I don't know.  Maybe then they'd have to lay off somebody.

Mary: Who?  A few people from database Tech support?

Bill:  Yeah, yeah. I see your point.

Mary: I’d just like to see some accountability. 

Bill:  I know.  But is it for the right reasons? 

Conversation 2

A mother and son are talking about the internet. 

Mother: O.K.  Time to turn off the computer.

Son: No, mom.  I’m searching the Internet.

Mother: What for?

Son: Some games I want to buy.

Mother: Are these educational games or what?

Son: Of course.  What else would I need the internet for?

Mother: I don’t know.  Maybe to become an adult a little too fast.

Son: What does that mean?

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