Pronounciation

Question 1

Assimilation of /t/ and /p/
When a word ending in a /t/ sound is followed by a word beginning in a /p/ sound, sometimes, the two sounds come together - with the /t/ sound changing to /p/. Some examples of phrases where this might happen include:

A piece of white paper (say whi paper)
A split personality
I hate pears
Pablo Picasso was a grea”t” painter. (say:grea painter).

Question 2

Linking /r/

Words that end with an /ɔː/ sound are often pronounced with an /r/ sound at the end, which links to the next word if that word begins with a vowel. Some examples of phrases where this might happen include:

Can somebody call for an ambulance? (sya: foran)
I haven’t read War and Peace.
You’ve got something in your eye.

Question 3

‘Twinning’ or gemination
When one word ends in a /s/ sound and the next word begins with a /s/ sound, they come together to make a slightly longer /s/ sound. So, he looks sad becomes he lookssad. Native speakers of English often use gemination when they say phrases like these:

She’s silly.
He’s sitting over there.
Can you come this Saturday?
That’s so unfair!

Question 4

Elision of /t/
When a /t/ sound comes between two consonant sounds, it is often not pronounced. Fluent English speakers may not pronounce the /t/ sound in these phrases:

I can’t do it (say: I cun do it)
We must go (musgo)
Are we the first people here? (firspeople)

Question 5

Intrusive /r/
In fluent speech, if a word ends in an /ɔː/ sound, like law and the next word begins in an /ə/ (and), you’ll often hear a /r/ sound linking them together.

It doesn’t happen in all accents and some people say it’s not the proper way to speak. But it is something you will hear, although the /r/ sound is often not very strong. You may hear it in sentences like these:

Can you draw(r) a circle freehand?
We saw(r) a good film last night.
Law(r) and order is important.
I ate four(r) or five cakes.
We saw(r) another film last weekend.
Aliya will be off work fo(r) four or five weeks. (because they don’t pronounce the R in “for”, they pronounce FO.
We saw(r) another film last weekend.
The sto(re) at the end of the street is closed.

Question 6

The words ‘a’ and ‘of’ are both pronounced as /ə/ and they’re not stressed. This sound /ə/ is the most common sound in the whole English language. It’s so common that it even has its own name – schwa. Now, it can be difficult to hear the schwa because it is never stressed. However, it’s a vowel sound that’s used in many grammar words like articles and prepositions.

Here are some more examples.
It’s a piece of cake.
I like a cup of tea in the morning.
Could you get a packet of biscuits?
Can you give it to me?
I had an apple for lunch today.