The 100 MOST COMMON WORDS in ENGLISH

you're probably over pronouncing all of the first 27 most common words in American English so today we're going to study the American pronunciation of the 100 most common words in English in these 100 simple words you're going to learn so much about the American accent Rhythm and Melody I'm Rachel and I've been teaching the American accent and English listening comprehension to non-native speakers for over 15 years check out Rachel's english.com to learn more about improving your spoken English to start let's look at 1 through 10 the most common most important most used words in the

English language we'll learn what exactly a reduction is and how it will help you understand fast English and speak more natural American English the number one most common word in American English is the in a sentence it will become theth very fast with awah this is when the next word begins with a consonant for example the most the the the most it's usually pronounced with an E vowel the the the if the next word begins with a vowel or dong for example the other the the the the most important important thing about the pronunciation of

this word is that it should be said very quickly the cat it should never be the cat the cat always the cat the the the very fast the next word is be and I assume this means the verb to be conjugated I am you are he is she is it is we are they are the important thing to know about these pronunciations is that they will almost always be said in contraction I am becomes I'm I'm I'm said very quickly I'm sometimes you'll even hear it as just the M sound I'm sorry I'm sorry this

is a natural pronunciation you are your reduces to your super fast basically no vowel you're going to be okay very fast he is becomes he's he's she is is she's she's it is it's it's it's sometimes we reduce this even further we change a sound we drop the vowel we say just TS it's cool it's awesome have you ever heard that it's cool it's raining it's a common reduction we are we're becomes were we're running late were were very fast they are their becomes the very fast the vowel changes they okay word number three two

almost never pronounced this way two we use a reduction the vowel changes to the schah t t said very quickly and sometimes the true T at the beginning changes to more of a D sound or a flap T let's go to the beach go to the go go how is two being pronounced there go a flap of the tongue and the schah said very quickly Goa go to the beach it's nothing like to is it of again we don't fully pronounce this word it's not of it's of schah very light V said very quickly and

actually you'll often hear this word without the V then it's just the schah and we pronounce it this way in phrases like kind of and sort of kind of sort of for example I'm kind of tired kind of kind of uh uh uh schah very fast kind of okay we're only four words in but let's review I'm going to put up a sentence look at it find the reduction and then say the sentence with the reduction say that reduction very quickly here's one sentence I am remember becomes I'm how quickly can you make that first

word I'm running late I'm running late TR is just the M sound I'm running I'm running I'm running late sorry guys I'm running late so natural when you learn the reductions in American English and you start to really use them in your speech you gain a native feeling also understanding Americans becomes easier because you can start to identify the reductions one more for you to try out loud right now I want you to try reducing the word to look at it think about it now try it out loud I know how to do it how

how how I'm making that with a flap te and the schah are you try it again Howa I know how to do it all right we'll keep going with number five and and another word that we rarely fully pronounce there are a couple of different ways to reduce this we'll start with the full pronunciation and we'll reduce from there a vowel followed by n consonant the tongue is lifted in the back for a a then relaxes before the N A so it's not a pure a sound a and and and and the first reduction is

just dropping the D and and and I think it'll be okay an an I an I no D just the N into the next word and I think it'll be okay another reduction more common is just to say the n Sound M and I think it'll be okay just straight from the N into the next word n and I think it'll be okay cookies and cream salt and pepper black and white up and down left and right all of these I'm just making a quick n Sound linking the two words up and down number six

okay we're actually going to do six and 32 together because they're related they're the Articles a and an now we don't say a and an we say and nwah very fast very little movement of the mouth uh uh a coffee uh or n an example NN uh number seven in we don't drop or change a sound here we don't reduce but it is still unstressed this mean it should be really short less clear instead of saying in we would say in he's in love in in she's in a hurry in in in so be careful

that it's not in that sounds stressed it's in number eight that you know what I realize I already have a video for a lot of these reductions I have a video on the pronunciation of that and how we really pronounce it in a sentence so I'll give a brief description here but I'll also link to that and other related reduction videos in the video description that is a word that can be used lots of different ways in American English and in some cases in many cases we reduce the vowel from a to the schah so

that becomes the now the ending T the pronunciation of that sound depends on the beginning of the next word if the next word begins with a vowel or D thong it's a flap T the I the if the next word begins with a consonant then it's a stop te that she that that that she I know it's a little confusing check out my video on the word that for a longer explanation and more examples but just note that we often don't pronounce this word that we often reduce it so it has the schah the number

nine the verb have just like the verb be this will often be used as a contraction in spoken English which is already a reduction we're already changing sounds for that I have becomes I've I've I've I've I've I've been wanting to see that I've I've you have becomes you've he has becomes he's he's he's youve you've he's been w in he's here's something interesting the pronunciation of the has contraction with he and she it's pronounced as a z he's he's been he's been she's she's she's but with it it's it's been raining then it's an

S sound it's he's Z its s s we have becomes weave weave weave and they have becomes they which sounds like they've when it's unstressed number 10 the pronoun I usually said very quickly it's not I but I I think so I I I I think I if you're speaking really quickly you can maybe even get away with something more like ah rather than I I think so H H uh I think so when it said so quickly you can't really tell if I'm doing the full diff thong eye or not wow there were a

lot of reductions there maybe you already knew some of these reductions if you did please tell me which ones you already knew in the comments below let's look at the next set of 10 there will be more reductions more opportunities to smooth out your spoken English one thing that will make it easier for you to hear reductions in fast conversational English is listening practice and training I have a free course where you can do this training transform the way you hear English and the way you speak English visit Rachel's english.com sfree to get this top

three ways to master the American accent I'll also put a link in the video description we're starting today with number 11 the word it this word doesn't reduce in a sentence we don't drop or change a sound but it is said very quickly and the pronunciation of the T depends on the next word if it begins with a consonant this T is a stop T it it it it won't be it it won't very fast it if the next sword begins with a vowel or div thong then this T is a flap t linking the

two words together it always it always it always it always said very quickly it always nothing too crazy here just say the word quickly not it but it number 12 one of my alltime favorite reductions for we almost never say it this way we say for isn't that funny I had a student once who lived in America and was married to an American she told her husband how she was learning about this reduction and his response was that's ridiculous we don't do that we don't pronounce that for then later he did it as he was

speaking naturally and she pointed it out most Americans aren't even aware of these crazy reductions that we do so to make this reduction drop the vowel f f f say the word very quickly low and Pitch F F this is for work F I made a longer video with more examples on the production of the word for check it out if you want more detail here I got it for my birthday f f what's for dinner F in conversation for not for number 1 not now this word in conversation will very often be contracted an

apostrophe T didn't doesn't can't shouldn't won't and so on notice I'm not releasing the te there didn't but didn't didn't it's an abrupt stop of air in the N to signify the T didn't didn't shouldn't shouldn't couldn't couldn't if we don't use a contraction then we're often stressing it I do not want to see her right now in these cases we'll probably do a stop te not I do not want to see her right now not stop the air and then keep going I do not W to not number 14 on this word doesn't reduce

we don't change any sounds like we did with for but it is unstressed you don't want to say on in a sentence but rather on on on put it on the table on when it's unstressed that gives good contrast to the longer clearer stressed words put and table and this contrast is very important in American English it's better than each word being long long and clear what would it sound like if it on the were also stressed put it on the table put it on the table put it on the table no that's not how

we speak put it on the table put it on the table that's how we speak not on but on try that with me now low in volume low in Pitch not very clear on on put it on the table number 15 the 15th most common word in English with there are two ways you can pronounce this word with a voiced th with with with or an unvoiced th with with I don't think I use the voiced th I think it sounds a little oldfashioned I would stick with the unvoiced th with with just like on

this word doesn't reduce none of the sounds change but it is unstressed it will usually be pronounced like this with rather than with it's with the other one with the with the with the with the withy low and Pitch notice I'm just making one th here to connect these two unstressed words withy with the withy it's the unvoiced th with the with the other one it's with the other one number 16 he oh yes this one reduces can I just say we're already at 16 and we still haven't seen one word that is stressed that

is a Content word wow when are we going to see it and what is it going to be I can't wait to find out but back to 16 he fully pronounced he it's the H consonant and the e as in she vowel but very often we drop the H and we have just the e sound what does he want what is he e e e we drop the H and connect it to the word before does he does he what does he want what would that sentence sound like if every word was stressed what does

he want what does he want what does he want no that's not natural English what does he want I have a video on dropping the H reductions click here or in the description below to see that video and to get more examples 17 as Yep this word reduces it's not pronounced as in a sentence that's stressed this word is usually not stressed the vowel changes to the schah and it becomes is a as is he's as tall as me is is tall is is tall as not as is is he's as tall as me I

have a video that goes over this reduction too click here or in the description below to see that and more examples 18 you another word that reduces this word can be reduced to yeah what are you doing what are you y y y you never have to do reductions and you could definitely say what are you doing you you you I'm not reducing that I'm not changing the vowel but I am still making it unstressed you instead of you this word will usually be unstressed that means don't pronounce it you which is stressed pronounce it

you or reduced y 19 do our first content word content words are nouns verbs adjectives and adverbs they're usually stressed in a sentence our first stressed word sort of actually this word can reduce it depends on how it's being used in a sentence in a question where there's another verb we often reduce it for example what do you think what do you think think is another verb did you notice how I pronounced do what you what what a what a du du D plus schah reducing do like this is nice natural English I do have

a video there I'm stressing it I do have a video because it's a statement not a question I do have a video on the do reduction click here or in in the description below to see that video 20 the word at preposition function word and yes it reduces in conversation we often pronounce this word with a schwa instead of at with the a as in bat vowel the t is a flap T if the next word begins with a vowel or diff thong and a stop T if the next word begins with a consonant if

you're not sure what a stop te or a flap te is I do have a video on that click here or in the comments below sample sentence she's at school it at becomes it she's at school now let's look at the next set again almost all unstressed words including yep more reductions we start this video with this this is number 21 in the most comp common words in English it's not usually going to be pronounced this it's usually going to be pronounced a lot more quickly than that unstressed this this this is what I'm talking

about this this this sometimes it's more stressed not that one this one it depends on how it's being used but much of the time this word will be unstressed said very quickly this 22 but this word is usually going to be unstressed in those cases I would probably write it phonetically with awah I wanted to stop in but I was already running late but but but but but I but I the T here links into the next word with a flap T if the next word begins with a vowel or diff thong if the next

word begins with a consonant then it's a stop t we wanted to stop by but we were already running late but but but we but we there it's a stop te said very quickly unless someone is exaggerating on purpose but you won't hear this word with a true te number 23 his oh this one is fun this one does have a reduction it's really common to drop the H in this word what's his name what's is what's is his becomes is said very quickly reduced this is much more natural than making it sound stressed fully

pronounced what's his name what's his name that doesn't sound right what's his name sounds much better I have a video on dropping the H reductions so click here or in the description to see more examples number 24 by this word doesn't reduce none of the sounds change or are dropped but it's usually unstressed and said very quickly we'll be right by the door by the by the by the unstressed not too clear but we need this contrast of stressed and unstressed to sound natural when speaking English number 25 from this is often said very quickly

and I would write the vowel phonetically as theah from from when the schah is followed by the M it gets absorbed by the schah so what I'm saying is you can say the word so quickly that you're not even trying to make a vowel from from from I'll be back from work at 3 from from work very fast if I said this sentence with each word being clear no reductions what would it sound like I'll be back from work at three I'll be back from work at three pretty robotic not natural even though reductions might

seem wrong they might seem lazy they're right because they're part of a bigger picture rhythmic contrast in English number 26 they let's just start out with the sample sentence they already left they already left unstressed said very quickly they they they sounds don't really change it doesn't reduce but it's unstressed man we're on number 26 of the most common words in English and so far every single one either reduces or is often unstressed when will we get to our first real content word we'll see number 27 we it's just like the pronoun they not usually

stressed in a sentence we we we already left weit weit weit said quickly we already left not a reduction we don't change or drop a sound but unstressed wait we already left number 28 say oh my gosh this is a Content word this is a verb and it is usually stressed in a sent it took us 28 words to get here if this doesn't show you the importance of using reductions and speaking with rhythmic contrast making some words unstressed and less clear I don't know what will the first 27 of the most common words in

English are that way say let's put it in a sentence what did he say he said he's running late say said stressed longer clearer up down shape of intonation say s consonant aong we need jaw drop for that say there's something interesting about say said and says the dong changes check out a video I made on that change by clicking here or in the description below number 29 her okay we're back to a word that reduces it's very common to pronounce this word with no h it becomes what's her name when we drop the beginning

H we take the word and attach it to the end of the word before whater what's her name there are several words where we drop the H I have a video on that click here or in the description below to see more examples number 30 she unstressed you could probably even reduce it by dropping the vowel and just making a quick sh sound let me try that in a sentence we don't think she knows we don't think she knows I'd say that works so you can put a quick E I don't think she knows or

you can drop the vowel I don't think she knows and it sounds pretty much the same she knows she knows the next set of then more reductions more smooth linking we start this video with number 31 and yes it's a great reduction the word or you might have learned that the pronunciation of this word is or like it would rhyme with more or the number four but more and four are content words that means they will often be stressed in a sentence given more time or is a function word that means it's not stressed in

a sentence it's not one of the most important words and it's said very quickly remember English is a stress timed language that means all syllables are not equal in length we have long syllables and short syllables and speaking with that contrast is really important in sounding natural in American English so or isn't pronounced or in conversation that's too long it's too clear we need it to be shorter it's actually or said very quickly low and Pitch it can also be reduced then it's pronounced the vowel reduces to the schah you don't have to try to

make the schw it gets absorbed by the r sound just make an R let's put it in a sentence would you like white or brown rice white or brown would you like white or brown rice whiter Brown whiter just an R sound linking these two words I'm leaving Monday or Tuesday Monday Monday Monday or Tuesday just an extra R sound between great rhythmic contrast if you're just jumping into the series you may be thinking how important are reductions how frequent are reductions out of the 31 most common words in English that we've studied so far

only one is always stressed 30 are usually unstressed or reduced so there's your answer most common words what's 32 the indefinite article a n an unstressed it reduces to the schah n n we actually already covered that one when we learned about the indefinite article a a or uh back in video one of this series number 33 will if this is the only verb in the sentence I will he will then it's stressed but most of the time it's not the only verb it's used to indicate something in the future I like fishing that's right

now present I'll like fishing when I learn more about it this is the future the word will is usually written and spoken in a contraction I'll like fishing when I learn more about it I will becomes I but I reduced it all all all like fishing just like the word Al L said very quickly all all all all like fishing when I learn more about it what other will contractions might you hear U we pronounce this more like y heel in a sentence this will be more like Hill or Hull he'll be coming by it

three h she will she this can be reduced sh or sh she'll have the report ready soon sh it will becomes it with a flap T this is just like the word little with without the L these are both tough words and I have a video on the word little which might make this contraction easier to pronounce I'll put a link here and in the description below this schah L ending the contraction of will can go at the end of any third person singular noun the dog becomes the doggle the dog will need to be

walked soon Tuesday becomes tues Tuesday I'll be better John will becomes Jon John will be here soon note in writing these might show up as a misspelling as not a word but this is how we speak this contraction this reduction of will if it's a pronoun like shill then it's not considered a misspelling but this is a case where how we speak English is different from how we write it it's common to reduce and say Jon will John will be here at 3 rather than John will be here at 3 we will will you might

hear this as will or will two different reductions we'll be late we'll be late they will they'll often reduced to the they'll be hungry when they get here third person plural again if you write this as a contraction it will show up as a misspelling but speaking this way is very common the kids will becomes the kids will the kids will be tired the kids will be tired a dark L at the end of the word wow there was a lot to talk about with the word will because of the way it contracts and reduces

with so many different words number 34 my a possessive pronoun this is my boyfriend my shirt's too big we don't reduce it we don't change or drop one of the sounds but it's unstressed this is the word's most common use but it can be used another way it can be used as an expression or an injection to show surprise oh my maybe it's even showing a little disapproval my in these cases it would be stressed it would be longer it would have the up down shape of stress number 35 in the 100 most common words

in English list one it's a little word but it has a lot of different uses as a noun or an adjective it'll probably be stressed for example we're looking for one teacher to join our team one but it can also be used as a pronoun and in that case you might hear it reduced instead of one it'll be I need a new phone this one's going to die this this this this's going to die this one's going to last longer but that one's cheaper that this did you notice the pronunciation this that n the apostrophe

s is for the contraction is this that now you don't have to pronounce it the this way you can say this ones that ones but you'll definitely hear Americans occasionally reduce the word to n number 36 the word all this one I would say is usually going to be stressed and a little longer it's most commonly used as an adjective or a noun or an adverb did you eat all the cake we've been having all sorts of problems so here we are number 36 the 36 most common words in English and this is only the

second word that doesn't have a reduction or isn't unstressed in some cases wow the other one was say back at number 28 what does this mean many of the most common words in English are words that are unstressed or reduced if you ignore these you can never sound natural because they're everywhere and chances are when you you learned the words you did not learn the reductions and you did not learn how to make them unstressed so we're trying to fix that now let's keep going number 37 the word would I'm actually going to also work

on 67 at the same time the word could and I'll throw in as a bonus a word that's not on the list the word should actually with many of the reductions on this list I've made a video that goes over these pronunciations should I just put it in here would you like to see it should would it's a good one it's useful let's watch these words all rhyme the pronunciation is simpler than it looks the L is silent so they all have their beginning consonant the uh as in book vowel and the D sound should

would could they rhyme with good hood and would Yes W and would are pronounced the same they're homophones so this is the pronunciation of these words in full but as you know Americans like to reduce less important words in a sentence to make the important words stand out more and these are three words that can be reduced as with many reductions we change the vowel to the schah and speed up the word should should would would could could you'll hear Americans go even further though and drop the D I noticed I did this when I

was doing a Ben Franklin exercise on some of my own speech should we get dinner yeah should we get dinner one of the things I notice is I'm dropping the D sound sh we sh we sh sh just the sh sound and thewwa the lips are flared and the teeth are together sh the tongue tip is pointing up to the roof of the mouth but it's not touching it sh sh then for thewwa everything relaxes and you go into the next sound sh sh sh we should we call her sh we should we I should

go should go should go I should go now if the next sound is a vowel or a diff thong I wouldn't drop the D it would be too unclear to go from the schah into another vowel so for should I should I for example I make a really quick flap of the tongue for the D should I should I should I say that should I try it should I call him if dropping the D feels like too extreme of a reduction for you you certainly don't have to do it just keep should unstressed really quick

should should should now let's look at could the k sound is made when the back part of the tongue comes up and touches the soft pallet in the back CK c c could we try later could we could we again just dropping the d k sound schah next word kwi kwi saying it with a d when the next word begins with a vowel or diff thong could I could I come back later could I could I so just a nice short could finally would for the W sound the lips are in a tight Circle and

the back part of the tongue lifts w w w will we want to do that will we will We Will We want to do that or with a really quick D sound where would I go would I would I would I so you can reduce these words by changing the vowel to the schah you can reduce them further by dropping the D unless the next sound is a vowel or a diff thong number 38 actually we're going to do 38 and 39 at the same time because they're homophones what are homophones words that are spelled

differently and have different meanings but that are pronounced exactly the same 38 is there and 39 is there if homophones seem confusing to you you're not the only one I actually have a very long video that goes over many homophones in American English you can click here to see it or check the video description there there fully pronounced we have there but both of these can reduce the word there can be used lots of different ways and a common way is the phrase there is or there are these phrases will often be in contraction theirs

and their but these contractions can reduce when we say them then it becomes THS and their there's a good reason why I can't tell you there's a good reason there's there's there's it has the schah rather than the E vowel it's said more quickly the contraction there are gets even less clear it's really just one syllable the r reduces and we lose it it has the same sounds as the reduced there so it Blends in there are lots of reasons why I can't tell you there are lots there there there are lots of reasons what

about the contraction they are there yes that also reduces it might not be pronounced there but instead the with the schwa they're in the kitchen they're in the kitchen and the last word for this video number 40 what this word can reduce fully pronounced it's what and the t is a flap T if the next word begins with a vowel or diff thong what are you going to do water water flap the t is a stop T if the next word begins with a consonant what were you thinking what were what were stop T but

if the next word begins with a d then we can reduce the word what by dropping the T make the vowel awah so the word what becomes a very quick ww whated and Wu are common word combinations where we do this what do you think what what what the word what is simply W what did you say whated what what again the word what is simply w w okay now the next set of 10 we're getting into some stressed words now but still some reductions today we're starting with number 41 the word so does this

word reduce yes it does fully pronounced it has the O as in no diff thong so so I don't think so so your hair looks so so good so but you'll hear it reduced to S when it's used as a filler word at the beginning of a sentence as a filler word the word doesn't really have meaning for example so what do you think so what do you think s so you're going to need another one s you'll definitely hear Americans do this number 42 up hey we found another word that doesn't reduce this word

will be stressed we're on number 42 of the 100 most common words in English and this is only the third word that generally is always stressed how amazing that so many words are unstress or reduce for this word we have the uh as an butter vowel and the P consonant up up p is a stop consonant which means we stop the air up p and release it PP the release is very light up up sometimes we don't release stop consonants like if it's at the end of a thought group what's up what's up there I'm

not releasing the P what's up also we often skip the release if the next word begins with a consonant sound what's up Mom what's up mom my lips came together for the P but then when they parted rather than the light escape of air I just went right into the M sound I think up is so common because it's used in so many phrasal verbs crack up break up throw up act up creep up butter up burn up bone up just to name a few there are so many phrasal verbs in English at the beginning

of 2017 I made a new video every day going over phrasal verbs click here to see that collection or see the link in the video description number 43 out oh this is funny this is another word that is common in phrasal verbs workout figure out burnout blackout block out Stand Out bring out not Sur surprising that some of these phrasal verb parts are showing up on this list there are a bunch without and this word doesn't reduce we have the a diff thong ow and the t consonant out out and just like p t is

a stop consonant we don't usually release it t if it comes at the end of a thought group or if the next word begins with a consonant let's look at some examples watch out end of the phrase an unreleased T watch out I cut off the air so it's not watch out watch out that would just sound like there's no tea but with an abrupt stop watch out without the falling intonation it sounds like a t to us watch out you can't back out now out now there the T was followed by a word beginning

with a consonant another stop T out now out now T is special if the next word begins with a vowel or diff thong then we flap it a single against the roof of the mouth for example get out of here out a flap T to connect the two words and did you notice the reduction of of yep that's just the schah of is word number four in the 100 most common words in English list number 44 the word if this word is usually a conjunction and then it's unstressed it's said very quickly call me if

you get lost call me if you get lost call me if you get lost here it's part of a string of unstressed words low and Pitch flat said quickly if if if me a few me a few call me if you get lost you might even hear the word reduced at the beginning of a sentence just the F sound attached to the next word no vowel if you want to leave that's okay if she doesn't care that's okay F if you wna f f reduced number 45 the word about this word can be a preposition

an adverb or an adjective it doesn't reduce none of the sounds change sometimes it's stressed in a sentence for example I was out and about and I thought I'd stop by about about it's longer and it has more volume a higher pitch out and about but it can also be unstressed it's all about the timing it's all about the timing about the about the about the it's lower in pitch and volume and a little less clear than when it was stressed about it's all about the timing all about the about the about the so it

can be unstressed but nothing changes it doesn't reduce since it's a two syllable word it still has one syllable that's stressed that's a little clear even when the word is being used in an unstressed way okay now I did make a mistake here when I was originally filming it there is a reduction for about and it's about can you hear me how about now how about how about about you will hear native speakers do that dropping thewwa bout number 46 the word who we already talked about one question word and that is the word what

that word cam reduce we do drop the T if the next word begins with a d but generally question words don't reduce generally they're stressed who is that who does she think she is when who begins a question it doesn't reduce it's the H sound and the O as in bu vowel who who but some sometimes we use the word who in the middle of a sentence then it can reduce for example anyone who wants to come can come anyone who wants anyone who wants did you notice how I reduced that I dropped the consonant

it was just the u vowel U anyone knew anyone who wants this is a reduction you might hear Americans do number 4 seven the word get a verb this word is a Content word and is generally stressed in a sense so this is the fifth word we found in our list of the 100 most common words in English that I feel confident I can say is always stressed just five out of 47 wow unstressed and reduced words are so common let's talk about the pronunciation G consonant e as in bed vowel and the T we

already talked about an ending T in out the same rules apply here because the t comes at the end of the word just after a vowel or diff thong if the word ends a thought group or is followed by a consonant it will be a stop T example I'll get the biggest one get the get the get the abrupt stop I'll get the biggest one if the next word begins with a vowel or diff long then you'll flap the T I don't get it get it get it I don't get it do you hear the

flap get it I don't get it number 48 the word which this word can be stressed or unstressed depending on how it's being used in a sentence but nothing changes it doesn't reduce so stressed it's which which do you want which which up down shape of stress which which but unstressed its lower and pitch and flat which which the movie which I saw last night was terrible the movie which I which which which which unstressed there flat which which let's talk about the pronunciation it begins with WH this can be pronounced two ways first a

pure W sound this is how I've been pronouncing it ww which which the other way is to pronounce it I think it's more oldfashioned with a sound before a little Escape of air first which which do you hear that which this is actually how my mom pronounced wh words and I made a video with her about these two possible pronunciations click here or in the description below to see that video w i as in sit vowel and CH which which stressed and which which unstressed quick question did studying this word make you think of any

other words which and and which are homophones when you use the clean W sound for which that means they're two totally different words different spellings different meanings but they have the same pronunciation number 49 go a verb let's conjugate it I go you go she goes just add a light z sound at the end goes goes goes he goes we go they go go yes in this form I would say the word is always stressed the G consonant and the O diff thong go jaw drop then lip rounding for the diff thong o go go

goes but you know what there's another conjugation for this word the ing form going I'm going to go to the store I'm going to go to the mall there I'm using the ing form and the infinitive going to go now if you've seen any of my real life English videos or any of my speech analysis videos then you know the phrase going to is very common and you know we do reduce that what do we reduce it to do you know going to let me say that in a sentence again I'm going to go to

the mall mall I'm going to go there did you hear it GNA GNA Gunna I'm going to go to the mall right it's Gunna one of the most common reductions in all of English now occasionally I get a comment from someone saying Ghana is not proper English hm not true I would never tell anyone to write it okay don't write it but it's perfectly natural and normal in spoken English it's proper it's a beautiful reduction I made a video several years ago where I took a couple of presidential speeches and I found examples of Gunna

so even world leaders giving important speeches to large groups of people use this reduction if you're interested in seeing that video click here or in the description below what's the pronunciation of Gunna first syllable is stressed we have the G const the uh as in butter vowel n gun gun gun and then the schah in the unstressed syllable uh uh Gunna Gunna if you have not already noticed this reduction now that you've learned it you're going to hear it all the time it's everywhere gonna you're GNA hear it number 50 wow we're halfway down the

list what is number 50 me a pronoun which is a function word which means it will generally be unstressed in a sentence it doesn't reduce we don't change any of the sounds but it's flat and Pitch said quickly compared to the other stressed words in a sentence he gave me his number gave and number are stressed the rest of the words unstressed he gave me his number m m Miz m is both flat and Pitch unstressed said very quickly do you hear how I'm reducing the word his dropping the H wow did we cover that

yeah we did that was number 28 the next set of 10 more question words more verbs but still some very important reductions can you guess any of them can can you number 51 the word when this word definitely reduces fully pronounced it's the W sound the e as ined vowel and the N consonant when you may be thinking I've heard this word pronounced differently you may have heard it pronounced when when wh words can be pronounced with a sound before the W it's not necessary and it's not my preference I think just keep it simple

just use a clean W sound when but in a sentence this word can be unstressed and said more quickly then you could write the vowel with the schah or the I as in sit vowel in IPA when becomes went said very quickly if you don't know what IPA the International Phonetic Alphabet is I have a playlist of videos that goes over that click here or in the description let's look at some example sentences when are you going to stop by when when are you I said that very quickly unstressed when when when are you going

to stop by another sentence it was better when we were kids when when when when when we were when we were unstressed said very quickly it was better when we were kids you see we don't want every word in American English to be fully pronounced when some of the understandability of English depends on the contrast of stressed and unstressed syllables clear and less clear let's look at number 52 the word make now this is a stressed word we have two categories of words in American English content words and function words content words are nouns verbs

like this verb make ad Ives and adverbs and content words are what are generally stressed in a sentence make M consonant a diff thong and the k sound is usually stressed in a sentence make make it has an upd down shape that's the stressed shape of intonation make that's different from when when when which was flatter and pitch and lower make longer shape of stress more clear sentences I'll make you one make make it would make things easier make make number 53 here we have a beautiful reduction it's the word can if can is the

main verb then it's not reduced who can help tomorrow I can also it doesn't reduce if it's a noun a can of soup but most of the time can is a helping verb not a main verb and that means it reduces we change a sound let's go back to the example who can help tomorrow I can in the question who can help tomorrow help is the main verb can is the helping verb did you hear how I pronounced it who can help tomorrow who can help it's no longer can but can who can who can

help short flat no vowel we write it in IPA with thewwa try that can who can help I can see you see the main verb can the helping verb can I can I can see you that's quite a reduction very common number 54 the word like this word can be used lots of different ways so it can be an adverb a noun or an adjective which would mean it's stressed or it can be a preposition or conjunction which means it will be a function word and is unstressed however even when it's unstressed this word does

not reduce let's look at an example where it's stressed I don't like it like I don't like it here it's stressed like like up down shape of stress but what about this sentence he acted like nothing happened he acted like like like lower and Pitch much faster he acted like nothing happened he acted like nothing happened like unstressed none of the sounds change so it doesn't reduce but it's pretty different from the stressed version like like like like like one more example and this is a really common use of the word we use this when

we're telling a story something that happened to us and we're talking about what someone said or someone's reaction for example yesterday I saw Jim walking home from school and I was like do you need a ride and he was like no I'm just going to walk I was like he was like she was like you were like like like like like like all of these are examples of like unstressed number 55 time now this word a noun an adjective a verb is always a Content word that means it will likely be stressed this is only

the sixth word in this list so far that's always stressed we're on number 55 that's crazy czy so if you thought every word you spoke needed to be clear and fully pronounced I hope this series is helping to change your mind this word is pronounced with the true T because it's stressed it has the I as in by diff thong and don't forget that M time lips have to come together time there's no case where the lips don't come together for the M always time time crisp clear true te teeth come together for it t

time up down shape of stress let's look at a sentence what time is it time a noun or you do sit-ups for a minute and I'll time you time time there it's a verb still stressed same pronunciation number 56 no another word the seven word that will generally always be stressed there's not a case where it would usually reduce or be unstressed no no up down shape no and please don't ever forget the lip rounding that goes into this diff thong oh no no I have no idea he voted no on the sugar tax no

no that was a simple one wasn't it what about 57 57 is interesting the word just it's either an adjective or an adverb and those are both content words so it will generally be stressed and for the most part we don't reduce stressed words they're important we only reduce and say quickly the words that are a little less important the function words but this word is interesting because it has a t and T has its own set of funny rules if you've seen many of my videos you know them I talk about the T pronunciations

a lot if the t comes between two consonants we often drop that t well that's a reduction let me show you what I mean when the word just is followed by a word that starts with a consonant there's a good chance that a native speaker will drop the T and just say just just instead of just I just thought why not just just just thought just thought just the St ending is followed by th the t comes between two consonants we drop it just thought just thought I just missed the bus I just missed just

missed the bus STM drop the T just missed just missed I just missed the bus now if just is followed by a word that begins with the vowel or diff thong don't drop the T just make it a light true T for example it's just Alex just Alex just just Alex it's just Alex number 58 another word that reduces this one is a function word him and just like number nine have number 16 he number 23 his number 29 her we often drop the H and Link this to the word before for example I gave

him another one gave them gave them gave them a very common reduction we do this with these function words that begin with an H simply schw M gave them gave them another example we want them to succeed want them want them wait what's happening to the T in want I'm dropping the H so it doesn't come between two consonants well we'll find out soon because that's number 93 on the list of the 100 most common words in English number 59 no you're thinking wait we already did that that was number 56 yes but different word

no and no are homophones that's right that means they sound exactly the same even though they're two different words and they're spelled differently no no a verb usually stressed in a sentence n consonant o def thong no however with really common phrases we often make some reductions like how going to becomes gonna and with the really common phrase I don't know we make a reduction I don't know I don't know I don't know and this can sound like the last sound is not o I don't know I don't know I don't know I don't know

oh oh oh oh oh it's more like a quick uh there certainly certainly not no o o with a full and stressed o d thong I don't know number 60 the last word for this video the word take usually a verb sometimes a noun it's a Content word and generally it's going to be stressed in a sentence just like time it's a one syllable stressed word that begins with a true t t a then the a diff thong and the k sound take sentences can you take me there take take take or I need to

take it back take take take longer up down shape more time a stressed syllable in this set we've got some words that are tricky to pronounce like year and people number 61 is the word people this is the first time we're starting one of these videos with a word that is not an example of a word that will be unstressed this word is a noun a Content word and generally it will be stressed now this is a tricky word and I don't have too many videos where I go over the specific pronunciation of a single

word but I do happen to have one where I talk about this word so I'll put in a clip here that will go through the pronunciation step by step it's a two- syllable word with stress on the first syllable Dada people it begins with the p consonant sound lips are together for thatp then we open into the e as in she vowel p p so the tongue tip is down here but the front part of the tongue is stretching up towards the roof of the mouth p p now we have the pwwa L Sound this

is unstressed so it's going to be low and pitch and very fast pull pull pull people so the lips will come together again for the p p pull pull then we go into the schah dark l sound don't worry about making a separate schah sound just goes straight into the dark sound of the dark l so to make that sound your tongue will pull back so the back part of the tongue here is Shifting towards the throat a bit P pull and that's how we get that dark sound now it should be very short because

it's unstressed people people the second half of the dark L involves bringing the tongue tip to the roof of the mouth people but you can actually leave that out a lot of people will just make people the dark sound to signify the dark L and not necessarily bring the tongue tip up people people let's do a couple of examples exle sentences with people I'm a people person people people up down shape of stress longer more clear than the unstressed words I'm a I'm a I'm a people person what does people person mean it means that

I'm very social I like interacting with a lot of people I'm very outgoing I'm an extrovert I have room for three more people in my car people people stressed number 62 is it as clear as the word people no it's the word into into is a preposition and prepositions are function Words which means they'll generally be unstressed in a sentence let me show you what I mean I ran into my teacher at the movies I ran into my teacher at the movies ran teach move these are the most stressed syllables all the others including the

word into unstressed less clear low and Pitch flatter given less time end up if it was clear and fully pronounced it would have that up down shape of stress into and a true T the final vowel would be the O as in bu vowel into but that's not how I pronounced it I ran into my teacher in and and a couple of things are different first of all it's not stressed so it's flat and Pitch low in Pitch second two sounds have changed the T sounds more like a d and the final vowel is thewwa

IND IND IND IND so instead of into it's Inda IND this T is not following the rules for the T pronunciations the rules are after an N we can drop a te completely but if not it's a true T but many Americans will say Inda with more of a d or flap T sound connected to the N if you only learned the stressed pronunciation of this and every word in American English your English wouldn't sound too natural because we use so many reductions so frequently number 63 the word year a noun a con ENT word

this is a word that will generally be stressed in a sentence no reduction here year year up down shape of stress longer clearer than the unstressed words in the sentence will be a lot of people have problems with the pronunciation of this word because of the Y sound year how is it different from ear I actually have a video on that let me put in a little clip here ear and ear are exactly the same except for the Y sound the main vowel is the I as in sit vowel but I do feel like we

squeeze it a little bit so it sounds a little more like e i air e ear ear let's take a look first the word ear for the I or e v the jaw drops just a bit and the corners of the lips pull out wide just a little the tongue tip is down here touching the back of the bottom front teeth the front part arches towards the roof of the mouth without touching it next is the schah r sound look for the tongue pulling back as the lips flare the tongue pulls back and up with

the tip pointing down so it's not touching anything now let's take a look at year the jaw dropped a little bit more here why to accommodate the movement of the tongue while the tip is down in the same position for the next vowel the middle part of the tongue actually touches the roof of the mouth and pushes forward a bit at the same time the throat closes off down here to add a different dimension to the sound e e let's watch the Y several times to see that motion of the tongue pulling down from the

roof of the mouth y y now the lips flare and the tongue pulls back for the r now let's compare the beginning position of these two words ear is on the left and year is on the right notice that the jaw has dropped more for the forward motion of the tongue on the roof of the mouth for year also the corners of the lips are more relaxed than for the initial vowel in ear where they pull slightly out you can see this from the front as well the jaw has dropped more for the tongue movement

so we have the tongue movement which is different for the Y as well as the Y sound in the throat G this is how we want to start the word year y y year now I'll say the minimal pair several times can you hear the difference year ear year ear ear year ear year let's do a sentence or two we're going to Italy this year year year it's the last word in the sentence in the thought group and naturally in American English our energy in our pitch goes down in a sense so the ending word

is often less clear even if it's stressed even if it's a Content word like year but it still has the length of a stressed syllable we're going to Italy this year year year a little bit of that up down shape of stress what year were you born year year there the word year is closer to the beginning of the sentence so it's a little clearer year number 64 another great reduction the word your this is related to the word or which is number 31 fully pronounced your and or rhyme with more or War but they're

almost never fully pronounced they're almost always reduced in a sentence your so the vowel changes to the schah stressed your fully pronounced longer up down shape of stress but in a sentence here here unstressed low and Pitch said very quickly year sample sentence what's your name year year you're your name can I borrow your car you're you're you're borrow your car in this question can I borrow your car can I bar car those are the two stressed syllables can and you're reduced can your and I is unstressed stressed can I borrow your car what would

it sound like if they were all stressed if they were all said very clearly fully pronounced can I borrow your car can I borrow your car can I borrow your car can I borrow your car completely unnatural can I borrow your car it's so important to learn about reductions and learn about the unstressed pronunciation of words so that you can sound more natur more relaxed and be more easily understood you're in the right place for this okay let's keep going number 65 good this is our first word in the 100 most common words in English

list that's primarily an adjective an adjective is a Content word content words are nouns verbs adjectives and adverbs and content words are what generally will be stressed in a sentence good good up down shape good longer clearer the O here represents the uh sound like an push or book good uh the D is a stop consonant and stop consonants have two parts a stop of air and a release good good stop and release but with stop con it's common to skip the release then the de becomes a lot more subtle I want to show you

what I mean good my tongue is lifted into position for the D and my vocal cords make a sound good good good do you hear it at the end it's clear on its own but of course we never use it that way it's always part of a word or sentence and that can mean it's harder to hear good good good pronouncing your D this way will help your English sound natural if you're linking the D into a word that begins the vowel or diff thong then it will sound like a flap let's look at an

example I feel good about the project good about good about good good about there the next word begins with the vowel sound so I flap the tongue and connect the two words good about it's a good restaurant good restaurant there I make a very quick D sound in the vocal cords before going into the r good restaurant 66 the word sum this word generally reduces and can be said very quickly in sentences it depends on how the word is being used for example if it's being used to show that something was great or unique like

that was some party then it's fully pronounced also if it can be switched out for the word certain then it's stressed some days I work from home and some days I go to the office fully pronounced sum Su up down shape length uh as in butter vowel but usually it's not stressed it's actually reduced then it's more like s flat low and Pitch said very quickly and the vowel reduces to the schw we pronounce it this way when we use Su to mean an unknown amount or unit or thing some water may I have some

water s we need some more volunteers some more said very quickly low and Pitch flat s stressed some unstressed some number 67 the word could actually we've already gone over this word we did that when we talked about would number 37 number 68 another word that reduces the word them a pronoun which is a function word fully pronounced the word has the vo th which I know is a tricky sound the e as in bed vowel and the M consonant them I have good news for you if the th is one of your hardest sounds

this reduction involves dropping the th so let me give you an example sentence we gave them the tickets gave them we gave them money gave them gave them you might be thinking wait we already studied gave him and it's when we were talking about him yes both him and them sound the same when reduced so we gave them money we'll sound just like we gave them money it doesn't matter that they sound the same we use a pronoun when we've established who we're talking about so these two pronouns sounding the same shouldn't add any confusion

to your conversation you can pronounce it quickly with the thththth Thum but you'll also hear it with the th dropped and this is something you can do in conversational English too number 69 C this is a verb a Content word and generally yes this will be stressed in a sentence we're on number 69 here of the 100 most common words in English and there have only been a handful of words where it's never stressed wow unstressed words so common reductions so common C is a simple word just two sounds the S consonant and the e

as in she vowel c c stress with that upd down shape c c and it will be one of the longer syllables in a sentence I didn't see you there see see or the CEO asked to see me see number 70 the word other this word can be used as an adjective a noun a pronoun so this word can be both a Content word and a function word it can be stressed or unstressed for example stressed I don't love it on the other hand it is cheaper other other or I read about that just the

other day other other it's usually stressed but it can be unstressed for example Le someone or other will help out someone or other or other or other or other or other other other other lower in pitch a little mumbled less clear however I don't change any of the sounds so it's just unstressed not reduced in the stressed syllable we have the uh as in butter vowel and voiced th of of just the very tip of the tongue comes through the teeth for that th other then the schw r ending in the unstressed syllable other in

the next set of 10 you'll learn another important reduction today we start with number 71 and that's the word van fully pronounced we have voiced th a as in bat followed by n consonant van van when a is followed by n we relax the back of the tongue and change the sound there there then then so it's not a than than but then there's an extra sound in there from relaxing the back of the tongue sort of like an uh vowel then then then but we don't need to focus too much on the full pronunciation

of the word since it is a word that reduces remember when a word reduces that's called a reduction and that's when we change or drop a sound so rather than saying than in a conversation it will be then we change the vowel to the schah which is absorbed by the N so you don't even need to think about making a vowel there from the th into the N very fast then we use this with compar comparisons she's taller than I am than I they're older than we are older than taller than older than then then

a reduction not a fully pronounced word if you go around fully pronouncing every word it will not sound natural so you need to know and use these reductions number 72 a very similar word then than is used with comparisons and then is used with timing sequences and if then statements it got really dark then it stormed all night or if we go grocery shopping then we can cook dinner you won't always hear it reduced but often you will I reduced it in both of these sentences fully pronounced it has the E vowel the then but

reduced we change it to to the schwat then it sounds just like than when we reduce it it was really dark and then stormed all night then then then and then it and then it and then it and then it stormed those three unstressed words together are not very clear and then it and then it and then it and reduces then reduces it is said quickly with a stop te some people might think that's very unclear that's not good English but I want to stress that it is good English is made up of a contrast

between stressed words and unstressed words you have to have unstressed words for this contrast and then it stormed all night and then it stormed all night if we go grocery shopping then we can cook dinner then we can cook dinner then we can then we can then we can then we can then we can do you hear that can reduction that was number 53 it's interesting that our first two in this video two different words sound exactly the same when they reduce then and then both become then that's okay this is true of a few

other reductions as well because of the context of the sentence there isn't confusion number 73 the word now this is one word that doesn't reduce it's an adverb and adverbs are one of four kinds of content words adverbs verbs nouns and adjectives we generally don't reduce content words or make them sound unstressed generally these words are stressed in a sense this is what provides that contrast that I was talking about being so important in American English stressed and unstressed or reduced long and short now has the end consonant and the ow diff thong for the

diff thong we start by dropping the jaw then let the jaw come up as you round the lips ow now now for the N keep the tongue nice and wide as it lifts for the sound n now now number 74 the word look what part of speech is the word look it's a verb most of the time look at me it can also be a noun she gave me a look noun verb these are both content words stressed words and yes this word will be stressed in a sentence there are six different pronunciations possible for

the letters o o I made a video about all of the possible pronunciations recently and I'll put a link to that video at the end of this video also in the description below in this word the pronunciation of oo is uh like in push uh uh L look look it's not L oo ooh where you round your lips more Luke the lips are more relaxed uh look look number 75 the word only this is another content word at the beginning of this 100w series most of the words we were covering were reductions now we're getting

down the list and we're getting into a L more content words I can tell you one mistake that I hear all the time with the pronunciation of this word instead of only people will say only the vowel is more like the a as in father or the a as in law but the correct pronunciation is a diff thong that means we change the mouth position o jaw drop then lip rounding o o only so make sure your mouth isn't staying stationary o o only only o o there has to be that movement jaw drop then

lip rounding right after the O diff thong a flat wide tongue goes to the roof of the mouth for the n Only then light l e vowel unstretch only another possible mistake here is to make the unstressed syllable too relaxed then it sounds like only e e it should be e the tip of the tongue is down but the front part is arched reaching towards the roof of the mouth e if it's too far away from the roof of the mouth then it sounds like I instead of e only only only you're the only one

if only it were true number 76 the word come this is a verb so yes it's a Content word and generally we don't reduce this or make it unstress in a sentence it's one of the stressed words oh come on why don't you come over for dinner it's the K consonant the a as in butter vowel and the M consonant come come by later c c uh this vowel is very relaxed if there's any tension in the back of your tongue it will sound different C uh come keep it relaxed come on over number 77

it's not with an apostrophe that's the contraction it is this word is showing possession it's pronounced just like I T apostrophe s but it has a different meaning and is grammatically different where's the remote it's in its usual place here I used it apostrophe s as a contraction it is and then also without the apostrophe showing possession the usual place of the remote It's Not Unusual for Americans to drop the vowel and just make this the TS cluster it's gone it's gone there I'm using the contraction it is it's gone this can also happen with

the possessive its though it might be a little less common let's look at an example where's the remote it's usual place it's usual place there I'm just making the TS sounds but usually this word is not at the beginning of a sentence then I would pronounce the vowel it's it's it's it's the watch is in its case it's it's it's said quickly so even though I'm not dropping the vowel it's still unstressed I'm saying it very quickly this is not a stressed word number 78 the word over this is usually a preposition that's not a

Content word so usually this word won't be stressed it will be unstressed but no sounds reduce we don't change or drop anything just like only we start with the O diff thong jaw drop then lip rounding o o over a quick VW r ver ver ver unstressed the schwat is absorbed by the R so you don't need to try to make a vowel in that second syllable just make a quick low simple R sound o over over for the V sound the bottom of a lip comes up to gently vibrate on the bottom of the

the top front teeth VV over we jumped over the creek we jumped over the creek jumped and Creek are stressed the rest of the words including over are unstressed we jumped over the creek we jumped over the creek we traveled all over Italy all over all over over over over over unstressed less clear than all all over flatter and Pitch less clear number 79 the word think a verb a Content word a word that is usually stressed fully pronounced this word is tricky to pronounce it's got that unvoiced th at the beginning the only way

to make this sound is to bring the tongue tip through the teeth the air should flow there should not be a stop but rather flowing air two common mistakes would be to make an S instead syn or a t instead Tink try to avoid these substitutions and get comfortable with the th sound F now in IPA this would be written phonetically with the I vowel I but when I is followed by NG it changes it becomes more like e i e let's compare this with the word thin the first two sounds are the same th

h i vowel in thin it's followed by the n Sound and in think it's followed by the NG sound which as I said changes the vowel so let's start with thin thin th thin and now think thing th thing thing thing th e e do you hear how the vowel sound is different [Music] think think think so even though it says I it's a lot more like e in real life you may say why is this letter N the n Sound there's no letter G G that's true when the letter N is followed by the

letter k then the pronunciation of n is usually the NG sound where the back of the tongue touches the soft pallet this is also where the k sound is made think think other examples sink sink Bank bank so in both of these words the N represents the NG sound number 80 the last word for this video the word also this is an adverb and generally it's stress in a sense I also want to get coffee or that was also a problem I want to make sure you know not to fully pronounce that L it's a

dark L because it comes after the vowel in the syllable don't lift your tongue tip for this L make a dark sound with the back of your tongue oh lifting the tongue tip brings a sound forward and tends to mess people up it's a dark sound all back of the tongue doing the work tongue tip can stay down this word ends with an O diff thong it's in an unstressed syllable so there won't be as much jaw drop or lip rounding still make sure your lips round a little bit to give us that feel also

Al I also want to get coffee now it's time for the next set of 10 and we're still not done learning reductions we start with number 81 the word back a noun a verb this is a Content word and will usually be stressed in a sentence please step back or it was moving back and forth please step back back and forth stressed back we have the B consonant the a vowel and finally the k sound the back of the tongue lifts to touch the soft pallet and is released C back back careful with the vowel

a the back of the tongue stretches up a and the jaw drops you might also lift your top lip a little bit ba a back back number 82 the word after this word can be a Content word or a function word depending on how it's being used so it can be stressed or unstressed we don't reduce this word though we don't change or drop a sound let's look at an example it's raining so we can't go to the beach well let's go to the movies after all I already took the day off after all after

after it has that same a vowel in the stressed syllable doesn't it a after next we have an F then a really soft T sound a after it's a true T but not as sharp or strong as it would be at the beginning of a stressed syllable like time T time so a soft te then a quick schw r ending flat low and Pitch said quickly after after often this word will be unstressed for example in the phrase after all I could stress all instead of after now it sounds like this after all after after

after after after after after after the stressed syllable in the stressed version is longer and has more of an upd down shape of a stressed syllable after unstressed after after after it's flatter less clear a little bit more mumbled let's look at another sentence he left after everyone went to bed left after left after after after after unstressed let's leave after dinner leave after after after after after unstressed leave and dinner are stressed let's leave after dinner let's leave after dinner after so the unstressed words are less clear said more quickly and are flatter and

lower in Pitch the contrast is the stressed Words which are longer stressed syllables and an upd down shape in that pitch in that intonation that contrast is what makes good English number 83 use this is one of those words that's pronounced differently depending on the part of speech as a noun use the final sound is an S as a verb use the final sound is a z lots of words change like this depending on part of speech for example house the noun ends in the S sound and how the verb ends in z address can

have first syllable stress address address that's the noun but the verb has second syllable stress address address use use both nouns and verbs are content Words which means they're stressed in a sentence they both begin with the U dong U you tongue tip presses the back of the bottom front teeth and the middle part of the tongue presses forward along the roof of the mouth y u y u then the lips round U use with an S or use with a z what's the use a noun or I'll use it later a verb we're on

number 83 and this is the 19th word that is Rel reliably stressed in a sentence that means we've covered a lot of words that can be unstressed or even reduce what about number 84 nope this is another content word the word to this word is interesting because it's a homophone that mean it shares a pronunciation with a different word it sounds just like to O the number two I like it too to to exact same pronunciation you might say this is just like to O that's also pronounced to not really fully pronounced sure but we

don't fully pronounce the word to that one reduces so it's usually T and not truly a homophone with t wo we learned the two reduction back in the first video in this series it's number three in the most common words of American English list so the number two t wo will be fully pronounced in a sentence its pronunciation is simple a true T and the u vowel which has quite a bit of lip rounding two the u vowel is tricky because you don't want to start with your lips in a tight Circle two two let

them be more relaxed to start then come in two two two the game's at 2:30 two number 85 a question word the word how we already studied what at 40 who back at 46 which at 48 and when at 51 question words are generally stressed let's look at a few example sentences how did it go how tall are you how hungry are you in all three of these sentences how was one of the words that was stressed how How tall how tall are you how how hungry how hungry are you these words are longer clearer

and have the up down shape of stress how how did it go how how did it go how tall are you how hungry are you for this word we have the H sound and the ow as in now diff thong make sure your H isn't too heavy how how or dropped out ow a light easy H how then jaw drop and back of the tongue lifts how then lips round how how did it go number 86 the word our now this is a function word and it will reduce so when I'm saying the word on

its own and giving it its full clear pronunciation our our it's not really how we would be pronouncing that in a sentence but you might think full clear that's good that's how I want to pronounce things but remember good English is made up of contrast more clear and less clear words so we have to have the less clear words for good contrast for good English for the English to sound natural and understandable it's ironic sometimes we have to pronounce things less clear for English overall to be more clear and more natural this is a pronoun

and pronouns are function words that is the less clear words let's look at some example sentences what time is our meeting is there is there is there what time is our meeting now I can say it with the other pronunciation with the r r pronunciation what time is our meeting r r r what time is our meeting r r r r or really they sound almost the same the two reductions because I'm saying them so quickly and that's really what matters saying it quickly flat low and Pitch so that the word is less clear so

that it doesn't sound at all like the stressed version so that's what we want a definite unstressed feeling not our but are are it's our son's birthday tomorrow it's our Suns r r r r listen to how different that is from Suns which is stressed are suns are Suns unstressed stressed number 87 the word work work is a verb that's a Content word and that's a word that will be stressed in a sentence so this one is longer clearer has the up down shape of stress now I know this is one of the hardest words

out there all of the words with the r vowel is going to be a tough word for most non-native speakers because they feel like they should make a vowel and then an R well let's learn this right now in American English this symbol is always followed by R and the two symbols together make just one sound W don't drop the r sound and make it something like w w w that's not clear enough we want the r and we want the up down shape W work work the biggest problem for people is how to make

this R the lips round but they're not as rounded as they were for the W so they will relax out some were the tongue movement is simple the tip is forward for the W and then the tip pulls back and up a bit it's not a huge movement and your jaw drops just a bit work if you know you're not getting the right sound one thing to do is to make sure you don't drop your jaw Focus only on the tongue I have a video with some illustrations of this vowel I'll put a link to

that video at the end of this one if you struggle with this word or vowel you'll definitely want to check it out let's look at this word in some sentences we'll work it out work work she doesn't work Mondays work work number 88 first interesting another word with this R vowel you see the letter I and you try to do a vowel but don't don't do it just the r sound f F ER F make your F pull back the front of the tongue don't drop your jaw fur fur and the St cluster first first

make your s with your teeth together then lift the tongue tip to touch the roof of the mouth which stops the air then release everything to make the t St as you release the tongue the teeth part and the air comes through first first of all first first we have a true T in that ending cluster first if you've seen many of my videos then you know that the pronunciation of the T can change depending on the next word here is an ending cluster St t a true T unless it's followed by a consonant let's

look at two examples first I want to try this first John wants to try this first I wna first I want there it's followed by the diff thong I and I'm making a true T first first I want to and the next sentence first John wants to try this first John first John here I'm linking into a word that begins with a consonant and I'm not making a t sound first John so when we have an ending St cluster followed by a word that begins with a consonant it is very common to drop the T

sound so this is a Content word that means we normally stress it in a sentence but because of this T we do sometimes make a reduction by dropping the T for a smoother connection into the next word number 89 the word well we we use this word in lots of different ways as an adverb an adjective or a noun they're all content words where we'll stress it things are going well I wish him well all is well well W consonant e as in bed vowel and the dark L well well the dark L is made

with the back of the tongue pressing down and back a little bit oh oh you don't lift tongue tip unless maybe you're going to link into a word that begins with a vowel or diff thong well well well up down shape of stress but this can also be an interjection and then it's often unstressed we use this a lot at the beginning of sentences well I want to leave by seven will I want to leave will I want to leave well will I want to will I want to it's it's really just the W and

a quick dark sound W I've dropped the a vowel turned it into awah which sort of gets lost in the dark l w wo W try that with me w w w w I want to well I want to well I want to well I want to leave by seven well that's not what she said well well well that's well that's well that's not what she said so this word can definitely reduce depending on how it's being used number 90 the last word for this video the word we this is fun this reminds me of

a video I just made from my online school Rachel's English Academy where my dad and I are talking about my way your way the best way the wrong way this is a noun and it is stressed in a sentence it's fully pronounced and has the upd down shape of stress way W consonant a as and say def thong we we've had lots of words beginning with w in this video haven't we work well way lips come together into a tight Circle for that w w way then the a as in say diff thong first jaw

drop way then the jaw relaxes up as the front of the tongue arches towards the roof of the mouth the tip stays down way way get out of the way we need to find a way to solve this problem you've come a long way the final 10 in the 100 most common words series we've learned so many reductions so far do you think we're done no in this final video we do have a couple of great reductions but our first word number 91 isn't a word that reduces the word is even and this is an

adjective an adverb or a verb so a Content word usually stressed in a sentence but as I wrote sample sentences I was thinking about how sometimes even content words seem unstressed because there are so many other stressed words that are more stressed in a sentence first let's Study word stress it's a two- syllable word with stress on the first syllable the E vowel e even e the tongue tip is down touching the back of the bottom front teeth and the top front part of the tongue arches towards the roof of the mouth e the corners

of the lips may pull out a bit e even then we have v schw n when the schah is followed by n it's absorbed by it so you don't need to try to make awah sound then an n Sound you can just think of going straight from V right into n v v v it's flat low in pitch and said very quickly it's an unstressed syllable Even in our stressed words unstressed syllables are fast less clear even even let's look at some sample sentences I didn't make much money but I did break even even numbers

can be divided by two even even in both of these sentences the word was longer and clearer but let's look at two other sentences this one's even better here this and better are more stressed the flow goes H this one's even better better is much more important than even so I stress that more this one's even better this makes even feel unstressed this one's even even even this one's even better do you hear how it's flatter and doesn't have the up down shape this one's even even even even even even better that means it's unstressed

I don't even know what to do I don't even know what to do even even even I don't even know I don't even even even even unstressed less clear than no and do I don't even know what to do even even even this makes even feel unstressed the contrast with the longer up down shape of those stressed syllables so when should you make sure to make it stressed I would say when it's a verb or a phrasal verb but if it's an adverb describing a verb or an adjective describing another adjective then you can make

it unstressed because the verb or adjective it's describing will be more stressed stressed or unstressed even even even even even number 92 the word new this is an adjective it's a Content word it's stressed if you look it up depending on the dictionary it might say that this word has two pronunciations that's not actually true we only use one and it's the N consonant and the u vowel new new the dictionary might give you an alternate pronunciation new with the U diff song like in F new but I really have not heard anyone use that

pronunciation in conversational or business or even more formal English new new you don't want to start with your lips in too tight of a circle for oo new new that's not quite right start with your lips more relaxed and then bring them in for the oo vowel new new new let's let's look at some sample sentences there's a new idea I lost my new camera she has a new book coming out new new up down shape of stress a little longer it's one of the more clear words in these sentences number 93 the word want

now we mentioned this when we were looking at number 58 the word him in the sample sentence we want him to succeed so we're going to revisit that sample sentence but first let's talk about is it a Content word or a function word will it generally be stressed or unstressed in a sentence it's a verb or it can also be a noun those are content words so this word is usually stressed in a sentence with stressed words we don't really reduce we don't drop or change a sound but every once in a while we do

and want is one of these words it's a Content word it's stressed but still it's not uncommon to drop the T at the end let's look at our sample sentence we want them to succeed want them want them want is stressed but there's no T I am dropping the H and him a very common reduction and we link the two words together one them one them one them it's common to do this when the next word begins with a vowel or diff thong I I want everyone to be there no t one everyone one everyone

we want to do better wner wner dropping the H want is now followed by a vowel and so I dropped the T wner Warner I want another one one another one another dropped te in all of these sentences it was stress longer with the up down shape of stress but at the same time it was reduced the T was dropped what if the next word begins with a consonant then we make that a stop sound just like with n apostrophe T endings it's a nasally stop sound because of the n one one so as you're

making the N you make an abrupt stop of the air stopping air flow one one and that's the stop sound I want that want that I want that I want this one want one okay we've talked about the ending a lot what about the rest of the word it begins with a W consonant then you have your choice of two vowels a as in father or a as inlaw according to the dictionary let's try them out a father a w want want or a law a want want want those both work but I also hear

a lot of Americans saying want uh W one this is what I do with the H as in butter vowel W one one I don't want that one W one one so you have your choice of three vowels you're also probably familiar with the reduction W this is want plus to and we drop the T I think in this reduction it's especially common to use the uh vowel w w I know they want to see you w so a stressed word but we might reduce it number 94 a function word that does often reduce the

word because just like with the word want the stressed syllable here might be pronounced with the a as in Father vowel because the a as in law vowel because or the a as in butter vowel because because because because but this word is a conjunction a preposition that is a function word and so we often reduce it we say it really quickly and not too clearly we change it even the stressed syllable to being the schah because because because because because because or we go even further and we drop the first syllable KZ CU you've

probably seen people write c u z i don't like that I don't like writing out reductions though it is really common but speaking with reductions that's great that is wonderful English let's look at a few examples we're late cuz there was a traffic jam cuz cuz late cuz or I could say we're late because there was a traffic jam because because because either way one syllable or two it's unstressed reduced not fully pronounced they're staying home because of the storm she's grounded because of her grades grounded means in trouble facing restrictions us usually this is

something parents do to teenagers for breaking rules or for bad behavior the K or because reduction number 95 the word any this word can be stressed or unstressed in a sentence but it doesn't reduce we don't drop or change a sound we just make the quality different to make it stressed or unstressed any versus any any we would stress this word when using it as an adjective describing a noun any kid would love that what kind of kid any kid at any rate that's a good deal any kid any rate otherwise it can sound unstressed

do you feel any better feel any better feel any any any any any there's not that upd down shape here compared to feel and be better feel any better any any any any lower imp pitch and flatter unstressed we also use any for an unknown amount then it sounds unstressed do you have any money have any any any any do you have any time any any any said quickly flat and low in Pitch any any the pronunciation we have the e as ined vowel e n the N consonant and an unstressed e any any any

or any Number 96 wow we're getting close to the end Number 96 is these this word can be stressed or unstressed depending on how it's being used but we don't reduce it voiced th e vow weekending these I want to point out that when this word is unstressed I'll even say anytime it doesn't begin a thought group it's common to cheat the pronunciation of the th a little bit it still sounds like a th to us but we'll make it without bringing the tongue tip through the teeth V these we make it like this these

these these the tongue tip is just behind the teeth these then it pulls down for the E vowel you might see my tongue behind the teeth these these but I'm not really bringing it out VV these instead it's these these these this is an important shortcut for non-native speakers since so many of them struggle with the full pronunciation of the T sound these these the tongue tip isn't at the roof of the mouth and it's not pointing down it's pressing the backs of the teeth and then pulling away these these let's look at some examples

first sentences where they're not stressed everyone wants one of these these these these we need these to be cut in half these these these simple th pronunciation where the tip does not come through now let's make it stressed like at the beginning of a sentence these are great these people need help these these tongue tip is coming through and we have that up down shape a little longer a little clearer these number 97 give this is a verb and verbs are content Words which means they're stressed and they don't reduce except certain ones can reduce

and this is one of them give G consonant I vowel V consonant I'll give you that for your birthday give I'll give you stressed fully pronounced we're going to give her a discount give give again stressed and fully pronounced but with me it's common to reduce this it's still a verb and it's still stressed but we drop the final V sound give me that g stressed but no V gimme gim me that in fact sometimes you might see it written gimme gimme gimme gimme gim me that can you give me more time so the GI

syllable is still stressed G even though we're dropping the final V this is just like want it's a Content word a stressed word and yet in certain cases we drop the final sound isn't it interesting as you study how Americans really speak you see that the full pronunciation often isn't the most natural or common pronunciation if all you learned was the book pronunciation you'd have a pretty hard time putting sentences together naturally that's what this video series is about getting you to see it's not always about a full clear pronunciation in English let's keep going

going number 98 the word day this is always a noun and it's always stressed we don't reduce it out of the most common words that we've studied so far almost 100 this is only number 25 that is never unstressed or reduced wow DC consonant a as in say dong first drop your jaw a then Arch the top part of the tongue towards the roof of the mouth and the jaw relaxes up a day day I need another day to finish what day is he coming back let's call it a day day day up down shape

of stress longer clearer that last sentence let's call it a day is an idiom that means let's stop doing what we're doing it usually refers to work for example if I'm working late at night David might come up to my office and say Rachel why don't you call it a day number 99 the word most this can be several different parts of speech but all uses are content words so this word is generally stressed but it still might get a small reduction and that's because of the ending cluster this is just like number 88 first

or number 57 just when the word is followed by a consonant it's common to drop the T most people like it most people most people it's the most challenging part most challenging most challenging most people most challenging we drop this T because it comes between two consonants and sometimes we do that to make speech smoother to make the transition between the two words smoother if the word is followed by a word that begins with a vowel or a diff thong or at the end of your thought group then do make the T I got most

of the questions right here it's followed by a vowel most of most of and I am making a t most most M consonant o def thong mo mo jaw drop then lip rounding Mo most then the St cluster most number 100 the final word us this word is a pronoun a function word and so it's not normally stressed it's unstressed they took us to the movies took us us us us us they gave it to us for our anniversary gave it to us us us us us you could write this in IPA as schw s

fully pronounced it's the uh as in butter us us but unstressed s s s if it's the last word in a sentence I would stress it this belongs to us us up down shape of stress but usually us s s unstressed flatten pitch said very quickly do you really need reductions what if you clearly and fully pronounce each word let's look at some conclusions from studying these 100 most common words in English when I gathered the 100 most common words in American English I wasn't thinking about going beyond that I wasn't thinking about 200 or

500 but after I finished it I got curious what does the next 100 look like do we have more content words so I decided I was going to expand upon that video series and put it here in the academy and what that means is I started looking for a list list of the top 500 words in American English now I found a list that I really like but it's not the same list as the top 100 words that I used when I did that original course so what does this mean I took this new list

which I really like and I looked at the top 100 words it was very similar to the list I used but a little different so in this video I'm taking 14 words that are included in the top 100 words of my new list that weren't included in the list that I already did so we'll call the list we'll cover today filling in the top 100 there are 14 words on this list so my goal is to do the top 500 and I'm really curious to see what this means for my students if you study the

500 most common words in English you really get to know the pronunciation and what they sound like in a whole sentence you study a lot of sentences to to get to know the various meanings for each word how will this impact your English I've got to think that it would make you speak much more confidently so I'm really excited to dive into these next set of words with you the first word is more this word will be stressed in a sentence it's a Content word this word has either the a as in law vowel or

the o d thong remember when the a as in law vowel is followed by r it changes it gets more closed it's not a but it's o Mo Mo so the lips round a little bit more the tongue pulls back a little bit more as this word is stressed it will have that up down shape more and the r comes as the voice falls down if you're pronouncing this with the O diff thong it sounds more like more more I think this pronunciation is less common I wouldn't actually recommend it you may hear it I

personally think it's a little bit strange more more more next we have very an adjective or an adverb this word adds intensity and I think because of that we tend to stress it even more I'm very tired do you hear how much I held on to that beginning V sound that really helped me to stress it so there's a big difference between I'm tired and I'm very tired very adds so much intensity so go ahead and feel free to play with really stressing this word so here we have the e as in bed vowel followed

by R again the r does change the vowel here it comes after the vowel in a stressed syllable pure e as in bed is e e plus r a er er that's not how we pronounce it it's not there but it's there so the vowel there e e has a lot less jaw drop very then a pure e very also watch the ending e vowel some people make it too relaxed and it sounds like I ver make sure your tongue stays High very e e e very the word find this is a verb a Content

word and it will be stressed in a sentence we have the I thong find but pay attention to that ending D when it comes between two consonants we will drop it like in the word finds finds I'm not making a D sound there it's right from the n Sound into a light Z this would also happen if we were linking this word into a word that begins with a consonant like in the phrase I found my book I found my found my you do not need to worry about the D there but when it's followed

by a vowel we will make a d for example in the phrase find out find find out there I'm making a D sound as I link to the next word also in the word findings there I've added a suffix and it starts with a vowel and I am making more of a D sound findings findings word where this word will often be stressed in a sentence and just like with very we have the a as in bed vowel plus r this is just like very where we had a plus r in the stress syllable very

where where where where so it's not e but it's e e less jaw drop where where some people will pronounce wh words with a light escape of air where where but most people now have dropped that I suggest you just do a clean W sound to begin where where thing that's a noun a Content word usually stressed in a sentence unvoiced th tongue tip must come through the teeth then the I as in sit vowel followed by the NG consonant when this vowel is followed by the NG consonant it does change it's no longer a

pure I that would sound like thing thing but this word is pronounced thing when I is followed by NG it changes to more of an e vowel that is the tongue arches higher it's closer to the roof of the mouth thing thing things that will be a really light z sound at the end when it's plural sometimes a plural Z is so weak so light that it sounds like a very weak S without the voice things take as much of the air out of that as you can things this word is also the ending of

several common words something nothing anything everything in those words it's unstressed so it's going to be thing thing thing thing flatter and pitch and said with a little bit less mouth movement a little bit more simple thing thing thing should I actually did cover this in the first 100 words when I did should would and could together all with number 37 remember we can definitely reduce this so it's just the sh sound plus the schah when it's followed by a word that begins with a consonant for example in the phrase should we try sh sh

should we try I did not make audio for this in the first 100 words so I'm going to make it now and put it here in this course next need a Content word the pronunciation of this word is pretty simple pretty straightforward the ending D this will link into a beginning vowel or diff thong like in the phrase I need another n n Nita there it's a flap of the tongue as the D comes between two vowel sounds now if the next word begins with a consonant I won't release the D I need my need

my need my so my tongue is in position for the D my vocal cords are vibrating but I don't release it need d d i just close my lips and go right into the next sound the M sound need my need my I need my other one I need my other one the D is quite subtle in these cases the word much an adjective an adverb or noun that is a Content word usually stressed in a sentence no tricks or changes in pronunciation here just the M consonant a Asm butter vowel and the CH sound

much much the word right let's get this right another content word with this this list we're really getting into a lot of content words aren't we right R consonant I thong t this ending T will be a stop T if the next word begins with a consonant like in the phrase right now also it will usually be a stop te at the end of a phrase like that's right it will be a flap te if the next word begins with a vowel or diong sound like in the phrase right away this is because the t

comes between two vowels remember we're not talking about letters the letter before the T here is the H that's a consonant letter but the sound is the i d thong so the T does come between two vowels or D thongs in the phrase right away the word mean a Content word as with so many words in English this word can be used different ways a noun a verb or an adjective mean M consonant e vowel n consonant mean now notice in the past tense the word changes becomes meant this is an irregular verb so it's

not an ed ending and adding that letter T changes the pronunciation it's no longer the E vowel but it's the e as in bed vowel meant meant you'll often hear this as a stop te if the next word begins with a consonant like in the phrase I meant that meant meant the word may a modal verb stressed you may want to study this one more M consonant a dong May don't forget that jaw drop for the beginning of the diff thong may may here an adverb this is a Content word and will normally be stressed

in a sentence here we have a vowel followed by R in a stressed syllable and the r consonant does change this vowel we have the E vowel follow Follow by r or schw R in the same syllable I is affected it's not a pure I that would sound like here here here that's not how we say that word we say here here when I is followed by R in the same syllable it's a lot more like the e as and she vowel here he e here so there's less space between the top of the tongue

and the roof of the mouth than in a pure is here many this word is sometimes stressed sometimes not many people want to meet you there it's stressed many how many people will be there there it's not stressed how many how many people many many the letter A here makes the e as in bed vowel me many again watch that ending unstressed e that it doesn't become I to relax keep the tongue higher e many e e e many and finally the word such this word can also be stressed or unstressed it's going to be

unstressed when followed by as for example online schools such as Rachel's English Academy are such a great way to learn there I used such Twice first it was unstressed such as such as such as such such such then it was was stressed such are such a great way to learn what a fun project it was for me to make these 11 videos and here finally to pull them all together into one video for you understanding reductions really will unlock a new level of spoken English fluency for you keep your learning going now with this video

and don't forget to subscribe with notifications on I love being your English teacher that's it and thanks so much for using Rachel's English