Hadar Shemesh breaks down how to say "21st century" and "20th century." The /t/ in "21st" often disappears when you link it to "century," and the tongue shift between the /θ/ and /s/ sounds in "20th" needs careful attention. Practice lines and examples included.
Welcome to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar, and this is how to Pronounce Friday, where we take a confusing word or word pair. We learn how to pronounce it and how to use it with confidence. Let's get started.
Today, I want to talk about the phrase 21st century. 21st century. And as a bonus, I'm gonna add 20th century, but it's a bit more advanced, so we'll start with 21st century. Okay, so let's start with the word century. Century. This word has two syllables. The primary stress is on the first syllable, sen, and then the second syllable is tree. Tree. So it's a ch sound, an r, and a high e. Tree. Century. Century. Okay, so let's put this on the side. Then let's start with the word 20. As you've noticed, I'm not pronouncing the T here because the T after an N is often dropped, especially in popular words and especially if I want to speak fast. So I'm not saying 21st century. I'm saying 2020. Okay, and then first, for the first. For the word first, we want to begin with this R sound. So we shift from the F to the R immediately. Fur. Fur. Then we have the s first. And then you abruptly stop the S with a t first. Okay, I don't need to pop the t to let the world know that there is a t there first. No, basically, a T after an S is just an abrupt stop of the s consonant sound. Okay, so listen to this. First, I just held the S. Okay, so we have 21st and century. But the real secret on pronouncing this phrase is how to connect the three words together. So 21st. Pretty easy, right? 21st, because there is a vowel before, and then to connect it to the consonant of the word first. 21st. That's pretty simple. But when you try to pronounce first century, it may be a bit more difficult because you get stuck there because of the t, because you have an s and then a T that you have to stop your breath with first and then another S. First century. Now, this is the proper way to say it, however, and this is what I do, I just eliminate the T. I. I don't pronounce it. I disregard it. I say it fast, and I put the two words together, combining them with 1s. Listen. 21st century. 21st century. If I pronounce all the other words correctly and I put the stress on the right word and the right syllable, then it doesn't matter that I don't Pronounce the T. It's super clear, and it's actually more fluent and less choppy. 21st century. Right. That's not how you want to say it. 21st century. 21st century. Now say it. 21st century. How easy is that?
Right.
If you just pronounce it with one long S. 21st century. Okay, so this is a little trick, however, when you say 20th century, that's. That's a little more difficult because there is no cheating here. Okay. You have to go through the transition between a th sound, 20th, right? The tongue is out for the th, and then you have to pull it in for the S sound. So let's look at the main differences between those two phrases. So centry remains the same. If we want to say the word 20th, it starts again with 20, but then it has the ending. If. If. So basically it's 20. Then you end it with a high e, and then you drop your tongue a little bit to a relaxed E, as in sit. 20th century. You do want to have that mild transition in your tongue. Otherwise it's going to sound like 20th century. Then it already sounds like 20s. Okay? And that's a little different. So you want to have that shift between the 20 to the. So if it's hard for you to pronounce a high e and then a relaxed ih, because it's very subtle, just use a schwa there. So it sounds something like 20, and then a th. 20th. 20th. Okay. And then the distinction between those two vowels is more clear. So 20th, the tongue is out. Then as you breathe out for the th, you want to pull the tongue in 20th, make the S a little longer to make sure that you brought it inside, you brought it back home, and then you're actually pronouncing a nice, clear s sound. 20th century. Okay? And then you continue to the rest of the word. Now, I know it's a difficult. It's a difficult transition. This is why I have a video just about the transitions between a th and an S and a th and a Z. So I'm going to put the link to this video right below this video. Okay? So check it out if it's still a problem for you. Okay, so let's try Both phrases again. 21st century. 21st century. Now let's say it really fast. 21st century and 20th century. 20th century. Okay, good.
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.
