Hadar Shemesh breaks down how to say can and can't. The key: can uses a reduced vowel and no final sound, while can't has a full vowel and a hard /t/ at the end. Non-native speakers often mix up the vowel sound, saying it like the 'e' in 'bed' instead of the 'a' in 'cat'.
Welcome to the Influency podcast and this is your how to Pronounce Friday, where I share with you the pronunciation secrets of tricky and confusing words.
Hi, it's Hadar. And this is the accent's way, your way to finding clarity, confidence and freedom in English. I want to talk to you today about the two words can and can't. Can I can do it. And can't. I can't do it. Now, these two words are similar and maybe when you hear them, they sound pretty much the same and it's hard to distinguish which one's which. So I promise that after this video, you'll never confuse them again. Now, there is the basic pronunciation and there is the actual pronunciation in real speech. And I'm going to talk about both of them. Let's begin with a basic pronunciation. Both begin the can. Can we start with a K sound. Then you open it to an A, as in cat. So drop your jaw and pull the lips to the sides a bit before the N. The as in cat closes a bit and then you have an additional vowel that is inserted. Can. A transitional vowel. Can you kind of drag the sound? Can. The word can't has a t, but you barely hear it. Listen. Can't, can't. What you hear is not a t because you don't hear. Can't. You hear an abrupt stop of the n and that is the t. Can, can't, can't. Do you hear the difference? Good. But since it's not a big difference, we need another element to distinguish the two, and that is why the vowel is also different. Let me explain. The word can is usually reduced to can. I can do it. I can do it. That's because the can is a function word and function words are usually reduced. There are all the small words that, that are reduced to help the more important words like verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and nouns to stick out. In this case, the verb sticks out. I can do it. She can talk to him. She can talk to him. So I don't say she can talk to him or I can do it. It's too long takes, you know, it's too much, so you want to reduce it. She can talk to him. Now, the word can't is never reduced. All right? I can't do it. She can't talk to him. So even if I don't stress it, then it's still going to be an a as in cat sound. She can't talk to him. The word can is usually reduced unless you stress it like, yes, we can Then it's the proper A as in can't. Yes. Yes, we can. Alright, so the word can is pronounced as kn. The word can't is pronounced the way it's supposed to be pronounced can't. It's not reduced. Now, for non native speakers, sometimes the a sound is pronounced as e and like in the vowel pair bed and bad. Sometimes it sounds the same bed and bed. You can check out the video, by the way, to help you clarify the differences. So if you feel that you do that, then make sure that in this case you don't pronounce it as can't. Can't instead of can't. Why? Because then it's going to sound like you're reducing this word. Right. And people will think that you actually mean the positive form can. All right, so if you find yourself saying can't instead of can't, make sure that you open your mouth wide to pronounce fully the a as in cat. I can't do it. And not I can't do it. Okay. I can't do it. I can do it. You can do it. Yes. All right, that's it for today. Have a wonderful week and I will see you next week. Bye.
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