How to pronounce the days of the week in English

Hey everyone, it's Adar. Thank you so much for joining me. Today we are going to talk about the pronunciation of the days of the week. Yes, I'm talking about Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Now, it might be obvious to most of you, if not all of you, the pronunciation of the days of the week. I mean, that's probably the first thing you'll learn when you start learning English. However, I'm going to teach you the pronunciation or the nuances in the pronunciation of each of these words. Those. Those seven words. But also talk about what to do when you're used to a certain pronunciation. And now you need to relearn the pronunciation of a word that you use so often because it's not enough to know that you need to change the pronunciation if that's the case, but also how you practice it so you actually start using it spontaneously without thinking about it. But before we go into the days of the week, if you are new to my channel, then hello and welcome. My name is Hadar. I'm a non native speaker of English and I am here to help you speak English with clarity, confidence and freedom. I share videos every Tuesday on my YouTube channel and I also share daily content on my social channels. So come on over and subscribe. You can also check out my website@hadarshemish.com where I share a lot of free resources for you to practice and learn on your own. So. So check it out. The first day is Sunday. Sunday starts with an S sound, then the as in cup. Then there is an N. You lift the tongue up and you touch the upper palate. Sun. Sun. Some people might pronounce it more like o. Son. Son. So make sure you keep the tongue kind of flat, slightly high, and that your lips are relaxed. Su. Su. The first syllable is the primary stress, so it's going to be longer and louder. Sun. And then day. A D sound. And then the a as in day. Day. Day. Make sure you transition from one vowel to another, that you actually hear the e sound at the end. Not de, but day. Sunday, Sunday. I'm off this Sunday. I'm off the Sunday. The next is Monday. Monday starts with an M sound, then another cup vowel sound. Ma. Ma. And an N. Mun. Mun. Mun. Just like in the word month. Monday. Monday. Call me on Monday. Okay, the next one is Tuesday. But before that, I want to tell you a quick story. When I used to live in New York, I used to date this guy. And every time I would say Tuesday, which is how I learned how to say it, he would make fun of me. He'd be like, oh, it's so cute how you're saying this word. No, I hated it. And I was like, what is wrong with how I'm saying it? Tuesday. And then he said, oh, it's not Tuesday. It's Tuesday. Tuesday without the Y sound. I was like, okay, whatever. And then I started noticing that actually people don't put the Y sound in the United States. They don't say Tuesday, but Tuesday. So I'm going to teach you both versions. The first one is with Y. Listen, it's a t sound, a y, and then the tense u as in food. Tu, tu, tu. And then it's a z sound. Tuesday. Not an S. Tuesday. Tuesday. However, sometimes people might devoice the Z sound and it might sound closer to an S. Tuesday. Tuesday. Not a big deal. Do whatever is easier for you, as long as the first syllable is clear. Tuesday. Tuesday. Now, you can also drop the Y sound and then just connect the t to the oo 2, 2, 2, just like the number 2, 2, 2, 2. The t, by the way, is aspirated, so it feels like there is a little h right after the tuz. I'll see you on Tuesday. Now, here's something interesting to notice. When you pronounce a t sound and then a Y sound, what happens to the T is that it changes a little bit and becomes a ch sound, like a t and a sh sound. Chew. Tuesday. We hear it when we combine words like can't you? Or don't you? Can you hear it? Don't you? Now, of course you can say don't you? And use day. Totally fine. But if you want to make it easier, or if you find yourself pronouncing it with a ch sound, know that you're. You're good. You're good. Then we have Wednesday. This word is spelled in a very confusing way, but the pronunciation is pretty simple. When, as in when are you coming? When a w sound the e as in red, and then an n. When a z sound. When Z. And then day. Wednesday. Wednesday. My French class is on Wednesday. Wednesday. Then we have the word Thursday. This is a tricky one because of the th and the r. So here's the thing. Stick the tongue out for the th. It's a voiceless th. And then pull it in for the R. Make sure the tongue doesn't touch anything on the way in and elongate the r a little bit. It's a stir sound so it's a longer vowel. Th. Round your lips for the r. Thur and then a z sound. Thurs. Thursday. And then, as always, we go into day. Thursday. Thursday. I'm not available on Thursday. Thursday. Friday is pretty easy. Let's start with an F sound, then the R. Fur. So for those of you who struggle with clusters at the beginning of words, combination of consonants at the beginning of words that have the R. Then focus on transitioning from the F to the R directly. Bring the bottom lip to the top teeth for the F release air. And then lift the tongue up as you're pronouncing the. And then round your lips immediately. Fur. Fur. Don't add any sounds in between. Fry. And then it's the I as in my fry. Fry. Day. Two diphthongs. I A. Make sure you go through the entire diphthong. Friday. I A. Friday. Friday. Thank God it's Friday. Friday. Then we have Saturday. This is an interesting one. You start with an S sound. Then the A as in cat, as in I sat down. Sa. Then the T is a flap T, so it sounds like a D or like a very short R sound in some languages. Sara. Then you drop the tongue to a schwa. Sarah. Sada, Sada. And then from the schwa you go into an R. Sadder, sadder, sadder. Practice it. It's not an easy transition, but it's possible. The tongue flips against the upper palate and pulls back for the R. Sadder, sadder, sadder, sadder. And then we're home. Day satisfaction. Primary stress is on the first syllable. Saturday, Saturday. I love to meet my friends on Saturdays. Saturday. All right, that's it. Now, I promised you that I'm going to teach you what to do if one of the pronunciations that I explained is very different than how you were used to pronouncing it or are used to pronouncing it. And here's the thing. It's really hard to change a very common pronunciation because you're so used to saying it, and it's just like a habit. And changing habits is not something that is easy. So the best way to do it is to say first the word the way you're used to saying it. For example, maybe you tend to put an o sound in the word. Monday. Monday. And then you need to understand clearly the difference. Monday. Okay, so instead of a, I'm pronouncing it as an okay. Clarity is an important part of this process. Monday. Monday. Then you want to say the new pronunciation quite a few times, 30 times, even. Monday. Monday. Monday. Monday. Monday. Monday. Monday. Monday. Monday. Monday. Monday. Monday. Monday. Monday, Monday. And I'm going to let you continue a bit more. Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday. Then I'm starting a new job on Monday. Monday, Monday. And then you might want to say it again, I'm starting a new job on Monday. Play with the intonation a bit to make it interesting. I'm starting a new job on Monday. And then you want to use it intentionally when speaking with other people. So you might want to start a conversation with someone and plan to use the word Monday and think of it consciously and be intentional about the new pronunciation. I know it sounds like a tedious process, but hey, it works. It's a lot better than just expecting yourself to remember to use the new pronunciation after you've been pronouncing it in a totally different way all your lives. Alright, so try it. Give it a try. I promise it's going to work. By the way, when we talk about days, make sure that you use the preposition on, not in, not at, on. When we talk about days and dates, we use on, on Sunday, on Monday, on Tuesday, so on and so forth. All right, my friends, thank you so much for being here. If you like this video, make sure to like it and to share it and to subscribe. If you haven't yet, let me know in the comments which pronunciation is the hardest one for you. I'm really, really curious. Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the day and I'll see you next week in the next video. Bye.