A short podcast episode (How to Pronounce Friday) by Hadar Shemesh teaching the American English H sound: how to produce the voiced breathy H, words where the spelled H is silent (hour, honor, honest, heir, herbs), when H is dropped in unstressed function words (he, him, her, his), and guidance on using the articles a vs. an before H-words depending on pronunciation. The episode includes pronunciation examples, minimal practice prompts, and an outro with subscription instructions.
Welcome to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar, and this is your how to pronounce Friday. And today we are going to focus on one of the sounds in American English. I'm going to teach you how to pronounce it, and then we'll practice it together. Are you ready? Warm up your tongue because this is going to be fun. Let's get started.
Today we are going to talk about the elusive sound, the American H, also known as in this video, we're going to talk about how to pronounce it, when to use it, when not to use it, when you can drop it, and what you're supposed to do around it. Is it a hotel or an hotel? The question of all questions. The H sound is sort of like a whisper. You push air out through the vocal cords, and the friction of the air passing between the vocal cords is the H sound. H. It's the same sound you make when you want to warm your hand on a cold winter day. It's the same sound you're making when you're whispering, hi.
Hello.
I just whispered the word hello, and everything just sounded like one big H. The beginning part is the H. Hello. Now, look, you don't need to breathe in and use all the air that you have in your body to say the H sound.
Hello.
You'll be exhausted after two seconds, but you do want to use a little bit of air that is already here in the lungs. Hello. Hello.
Hi.
Start with a whisper. Hi. Hello. Here. Home. House. Now, if you don't pronounce the H, then different words may sound the same. For example, hair. Air. Hate.
Ate.
Hi. I. So, for example, if your waiter at your favorite restaurant comes up to you and says, hey, did you try the new salad? And you're like, oh, I ate it. Then he'll think that you ate it already, but you actually meant to say that you hate it. Okay, so don't drop the h. But it gets tricky because sometimes you have to drop the H. There are some words that the H is there in the spelling but is absolutely not pronounced. And here are the words.
Our.
It's not hower. And yes, it sounds just like our, as in our company.
Our.
Honest. Not honest. Honor, as in your honor. Honor. Not honor. Air. And I don't mean the air we breathe or the hair on my head. I mean the heir to the throne. Herbs, as in I'd like an herbal tea, please. Just memorize those words that don't begin with an H. Although there is an H in the spelling. And you'll be fine. So again, honor, honest, hour, air, herbs. Now, to make it a little more confusing, because if we can, why not? There are some words that have an h at the beginning, but the h can be dropped depending if this word is stressed or unstressed. I'm talking about function words. Function words are all those small words that connect content words, the big words, the nouns and adjectives and adverbs. Function words are words like on and at. M is are the this, that, those him you do. These are all function words. Now, the function words he, him, her, and his are pronounced differently depending whether they're stressed or unstressed. If they're stressed, the h is absolutely pronounced. If they're not stressed, the h drops. So, for example, if someone were to ask me, hey, whose coat is this? I would say, it's his. His. I'm stressing the word his, so I'm pronouncing the h. It's his. Now, if I'm just using it in a sentence in an unstressed position, e.g. cisco, CIS coat, then the h is dropped. Let's take the word he. He thought it would be a really good idea for us to go out tonight. Did he really think it through? Notice that the first he was pronounced with an h. Now, because there is a high e right after you really hear the air passing between the tongue and the upper palate. He, He. I cannot say e thought. No, I have to pronounce the h here. He thought it would be a really good idea for us to go out tonight. Did he really think it through? Did he? Did he? Here the he is unstressed and I dropped the h. Did he? Connected it to the previous word.
Did he?
Did he? It's her choice. It's her choice. I'm stressing the word her and therefore I'm pronouncing the h. But in the sentence, you should tell her that. Tell her that I'm dropping the h and it just sounds like the er ending. Tell her. Tell her. You should tell her that. The last thing I want to discuss is whether we should use a or an before a word that begins with an h. So if the h is pronounced, the h is still considered to be a consonant, although a lot of you may find it hard to believe, but it is a consonant, which means it should have the article a before it. A house, not an house, a hospital, not an hospital, and a hotel. If the H is silent and dropped, then it should be preceded with an an hour. An honest person, and it's an honor okay. That's it.
Okay. That was your how to Pronounce Friday episode. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you like the podcast, then consider subscribing to the podcast. And if you feel really crazy, you can even rate and review the podcast. And you can find me at Hadar Accentsway on Instagram, where you can DM me and ask for all the crazy, fancy, confusing words that you'd like to know how to pronounce. Have a beautiful day, and I'll see you next time.
