Linking Words
Textbook English is different than spoken English, and a big part of this comes down to pronunciation and how things are said in real conversations.
You may understand English learner material easily, but then really struggle when it comes to watching TV or movies. What I discuss in this episode may be the reason why.
This is the first part of a series I’m going to do on pronunciation, and this episode will be about something called Linking.
Linking is when a consonant sound connects from the end of one word to the beginning of the next word. Listen to find out more!
Consonant + Vowel
When the last letter of a word is a consonant, and the first letter of the next word is a vowel, the consonant sometimes moves into the next word.
An elephant ➜ A – nelephant
An apple ➜ A – napple
Not at all ➜ No ta tall
Consonant + Consonant
A similar thing happens when both letters are consonants. Instead of saying the sound twice, it turns into one sound.
hot tea ➜ hotea
grand design ➜ gran design
best time ➜ bes time
Think of more examples? Or maybe you have a question? Leave them in the comments!
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