Cap-Cup-Cop (The 3 A's) | American English Pronunciation | vowels

Hey guys, it's Hadar. And this is the accent's way, your way to finding clarity, confidence and freedom in English. I got a lot of questions on how to pronounce the pair. Cap and cup and also cup and cop. So today we're going to talk about my favorite triplet cap, cup and cop, also known as the 3ah sounds in American English. The front, central and back. What defines the sound is the tongue position. For the front sound, the tongue pushes forward and the sound resonates in the front part of the mouth. A cat. Hat. Cap. Alright, so to make this sound, drop your jaw, drop, push the tongue forward and pull the lips to the sides a bit. The tongue is flat in the front and high in the back. You can also think of it as a sound that is right in the middle between. And hat. Last. Cap. All right, so it's not cup or lust. These are different words. It's cap and last. For the central, the tongue is. You figured in the center. Alright, so it's like a stress chua. The mouth is pretty much in neutral pose and the jaw drops a bit. Cup. You push the air out and create sound. Cup. Love. Fun month. And then you have the back ah. Ah. For that you drop your jaw, relax your lips and pull the tongue back a bit. Ah. Father. Cop. Lost and hot. So although it's spelled with an O, it's not hot, hot or lost. It's ah, lost. It's also not lust because then it's going to sound like the central U sound. Lust, Lost. All right, so again, cap, A front. A usually associated with the letter A. Ah. Then we have the central U. Cup, usually associated with O, O, U or U. Cup. Love, Country. And then we have the back ah. Ah. Usually spelled with o. A W, A U or O U. Aw. Aw. Cop. All right, good. Now let's try it in a few sentences. So first let's practice the three words. Last, lust, lost. Last night I lost my lust for chocolate. I hope this never happens to you. But just for the sake of practice, let's try it. Last night. La A A. Okay, it's not last night. Then it's going to sound like the central. Last night I lost my lust. Central for chocolate. Cap, Cup, Cop. The cop took off his cap and drank from the cup. The cop open. Ah, took off his cap. Right, not his cup. Right, his cap. And drank from the cup. Central. Hat. Hut. Hot. Stack, Stuck. Stock, Backs, Bucks, Box. All right, so remember, what defines the sound is the tongue position and the jaw drops. So to make the distinction between these words. Make sure that you use your entire face, the tongue and the jaw to make the sounds alright? And remember that practice makes perfect. So keep on practicing. And that's it for today. Please share this video with your friends if you liked it and come on over to my website to check it out and get more great content every single week. You can also get my free Accent crash course if you sign up. All right. So have a great week and I will see you. See you next week in the next video. Bye.