How to Pronounce T and D in British English | Elision, Assimilation & Connected Speech

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]How to say T and D? For T, say the word to, where do you place your tongue? Not sure. It's on the gum ridge, which is situated just above your front teeth here.

[00:00:20]Lift your tongue to touch your gum ridge, but make sure the tongue does not touch your teeth.

[00:00:30]I want a nice crisp sound like this. T with the tip of your tongue.

[00:00:39]T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T.

[00:00:43]Not like this when I touch my teeth with a lazy tongue. T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T M M. We want a nice crisp T t with the tip of your tongue. So take a breath and let the air build up by blocking the air with your tongue tip on your gum ridge. Remember no teeth touching.

[00:01:10]Now as you release the air in a puff, whisper t.

[00:01:22]Why do we whisper? Because T is unvoiced.

[00:01:27]So T is a quick light explosion of air.

[00:01:32]T.

[00:01:34]Now for D.

[00:01:36]D. Do exactly the same, but place your hand on your throat like this.

[00:01:46]Now take a deep breath and lift your tongue tip to touch your gum ridge.

[00:01:52]Let the air build up by blocking the air with your tongue tip on your gum ridge.

[00:01:59]Just as we did before, remember not to touch your teeth.

[00:02:05]Keep the tip of the tongue on the gum ridge. Now, as you release the air, voice it like this.

[00:02:15]Duh.

[00:02:17]Because duh is voiced.

[00:02:20]That's why you should feel a vibration here. Copy me. Duh.

[00:02:29]Now alternate the two sounds. Copy me with your hand on your throat. You should only feel a vibration for D. T D T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D Got it. If not, go back and practice until the sounds are crisp and short.

[00:02:52]The only difference between these two sounds is that T is unvoiced and d is voiced. Now, let's practice T. Say these words and phrases where T is linked to a vowel sound.

[00:03:09]Tiger, batter, attempt.

[00:03:14]I lost it. He kept it all day.

[00:03:19]Put it on.

[00:03:22]Well done. Did you notice how the schwa sound uh replaced e r at the end of tiger and batter?

[00:03:32]Now for a tongue twister. Listen and repeat.

[00:03:37]Two tiny tigers take two taxis to town.

[00:03:47]Two tiny tigers take two taxis to town.

[00:03:52]Let's move on to D. Remember for D, the position of your tongue is in exactly the same place as for T. The only difference is the sound is voiced. So place your tongue on your gum ridge just above your top teeth. Block the air and voice it.

[00:04:15]Duh.

[00:04:18]Now say these words and phrases with D.

[00:04:22]Ready?

[00:04:23]Day.

[00:04:25]Ready.

[00:04:28]Breed.

[00:04:30]Paid.

[00:04:32]Sad.

[00:04:34]Laughed.

[00:04:35]I stayed all day.

[00:04:38]I had a good evening.

[00:04:41]Top tip. When duh is at the end of a word and is not linked to a following vowel, it's much softer. It sounds like a t. Go back and listen to the words breed, paid, sad, and laughed.

[00:05:00]Now place your hand on your throat and say t and d. Keep it there and alternate these words.

[00:05:10]Tie die down town to do tummy dummy.

[00:05:25]So hopefully you felt a vibration in your throat for voiced D, but not for unvoiced T. Now for my top tip on connected speech. Listen to what happens when two T sounds meet in connected speech.

[00:05:45]Fat toe. Did you hear it? Listen again.

[00:05:50]Fat toe.

[00:05:52]I didn't say the T in fat.

[00:05:55]Instead, I jumped to the T in toe like this. Fat toe.

[00:06:02]Fat toe.

[00:06:04]Now listen. When T meets D in connected speech, meet David. Did you hear it? I didn't say the T in meet. Instead, I jumped to the D in David. Like this. Meet David.

[00:06:22]Meet David.

[00:06:24]Now listen. When final D meets T, he was glad to see it. Did you hear it?

[00:06:32]I didn't say the d in glad. Instead, I jumped to the t in to like this. Glad to. Glad to. This emission of sounds is known as elision. It's basically a shortcut to save time when speaking quickly. And this happens here because both T and D are produced from the same place on the gum ridge.

[00:07:05]The only difference being that T is unvoiced and D is voiced.

[00:07:12]It's usually the end of the first word that's emitted in favor of the first sound of the next word.

[00:07:21]Try it with these pairs. are missing the end of the first word. Then hold the air for a split second.

[00:07:31]Leave your tongue where it is. Then say the beginning of the second word like this.

[00:07:38]Hate ducks.

[00:07:41]Hate ducks.

[00:07:43]Listen and copy me.

[00:07:46]Hat doesn't fit.

[00:07:48]Made tea.

[00:07:51]Bad day.

[00:07:54]paint trucks.

[00:07:56]This takes time and practice. If you're serious about improving your pronunciation, don't stop here. Just join my school community to get a free assessment of your pronunciation, training on how to practice your pronunciation, and access to me for real dialogue practice with stress, linking, rhythm, and intonation. I'd love to see you there. The joining link is in the description.

[00:08:27]Love and peace.