A short instructional video by Hadar Shemesh teaching the connected-speech pronunciation of the phrases "have to", "has to", and "had to" in American English. It explains that unstressed "to" reduces to a schwa and that voiced consonants (V, Z, D) often devoice before the voiceless /t/, producing common reductions heard as "hafta", "hasta", and "hatta", with example sentences and repetition practice.
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How to pronounce have to, has to and had to Using Connected Speech in American English hi everyone, it's Hadar. Thank you so much for joining me. Today we are going to talk about the phrase have to or has to or had to when talking about the past. We use this phrase when we want to express necessity or obligation. It has to happen. But we can also use it when we are sure that something is true or or that it will happen. She has to be there. Now, today I specifically want to talk about how to connect this phrase together and what happens to the sounds of this word when it's connected. But first, if you're new to my channel, then hi, 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 have a ton of resources, free resources for you to learn with me. So go check out my website@hadarchemish.com you can also follow me on Instagram Hadar Accentsway or just subscribe to my channel and get notifications when a new video comes up every week. All right, so back to today's topic. Here's the thing about English. When we have very common phrases that are used frequently, or when there are parts of the sentence that are a little less important than other parts, we tend to reduce those parts and connect them together. Now, I've talked a lot about connected speech and I'm going to link to all those videos in the description below. But connected speech allows you to group a thought together and as a result, you deliver your message more clearly. So it's actually an important part of speaking English with clarity. And when there are parts in the sentence that are a little less important than other parts, we tend to connect them and reduce them. And that is going to be the case with these phrases that I talk about today. Let's start with the phrase have to. The to is a function word and it's connected to the word have. When we connect two words together, we just, we basically glue them as if it's one word.
Have to, have to.
However, the to when it's unstressed, is reduced to a schwa. So this is how it's going to sound.
Hav ta have ta.
We have to make this plain.
You have to remember to let me call my father. We have to get along.
However, there is something interesting that happens in English when there are two sounds, a voiced consonant and a voiceless consonant. A voiced consonant is a consonant that is produced with the vibration of the vocal Cords. And a voiceless consonant is a consonant that is produced just with air. So the V is voiced and the T is voiceless. It's actually really hard to pronounce a voiced consonant and then a voiceless consonant together within the same syllable. Have t. So the voiceless consonant kind of says to the voiced consonant, listen, don't work too hard. And the voiced consonant, the V in this case becomes voiceless. So it's actually easier to pronounce. So instead of saying have to.
Can.
You guess what sound it turns into? An F. So when we say it together and when we connect it, we don't say have ta.
We say hafta. Hafta. Try it. Hafta. Hafta.
So we want to treat this entire phrase not as two separate words, but as one.
Hafta. Hafta.
I have to go there. I have to pay my bills. We have to plan better. They have to be home. Now. Has to follows the same rules. Has. There is a Z sound at the end. Even though it's spelled with an S, it's a Z.
Has.
Has. And then we have to.
Has to.
But we want to reduce it.
Has to.
But now the T, the voiceless consonant affects the voice consonant. So what do we get?
Hasta. Hasta, hasta.
He has to make a choice.
He has to pay you half in advance.
Listening to what he has to say.
It has to be right. She has to be there. He has to find his cat.
Hasta, hasta, hasta.
The last one is had to.
Had to.
When we talk about the past.
Had to, had to, had to. Hat.
So we had to come finally. He had to try. I had to bring in the reinforcements.
The D turns into a T sound because that's the voiceless version of the D. Hadta.
Had to.
It had to be right. I had to go to the library. They had to tell him he was wrong.
Had to. Hata.
Okay, good. So to wrap it up, have to is pronounced as hafta. Has to.
Hasta.
Had to.
Hatta. Hafta. Hasta. Hatta.
Now say each phrase ten times out loud just to get used to it, and then try to use it in a sentence yourself. So this is a great vocabulary practice, grammar practice, and of course, pronunciation practice. That's it. If you like this video, consider liking sharing and subscribing to my channel and definitely come check out my website at Hadar Shemesh do for more resources for you to speak English with clarity, confidence and freedom. Thank you so much for being here. And remember, don't be afraid of making mistakes or not getting it right. The most important thing is that you share your voice. You speak up and you say what you want so you get what you need. Have a beautiful day, and I'll see you next week in the next video.
