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  • There are a lot of words  where Americans would drop a T  

  • sound but Brits wouldn't. For  example, this word: Identify.

  • Nine times out of ten, Americans  won't say that T. Identify.

  • Brits will. 5 examples of  Americans dropping this T.

  • 5 examples of Brits pronouncing the T.

  • So we have identify, American and British.

  • If you're trying to master a natural  sound in American English or you're  

  • curious about the differences between  American and British pronunciation,  

  • you'll want to know this rule about T after N.  What other words have a dropped T like this?

  • When a T comes after an N. What  other words have a drop T like this?

  • When a T comes after anbefore a vowel of diphthong,  

  • often, Americans won't say that T at  all but most of the time Brits will.

  • I'm going to give you lots of examples  here so you'll totally understand the rule,  

  • know the exceptions and start to build this habit.

  • The first word we're studying is  “identifyand alsoidentification”.

  • Identification, again,  

  • nine times out of ten an American speaker  will drop that T sound but a Brit won't.

  • American English examples.

  • British English examples.

  • Identification or identification.

  • The next one. Now, you may have noticed  this because it's so common, twenty.

  • It's very uncommon for an American  to say the second T, ['twen ti].

  • You'll almost always heat it as [twen I].

  • Twenty, twenty, twenty. British English,  

  • sometimes they do this but most of  the time it ['twen ti] for them.

  • The next word group: wantedwant a and want another.

  • Wanted. Studying speakers from the UK, I  noticed they will also drop this T sometimes.  

  • Often it's a true T, wanted.

  • But not always. In American English  however, 99% of the time, we'll drop that T.

  • ['wan id]

  • The first word we looked at, identifyhad the nt plus vowel within the word.  

  • But this rule applies to  linking words together as well.  

  • Want another, for example nt vowel. Americans  will usually drop that T, Want another.

  • Want a. ['wan ǝ]. Just like want to, ['wan ǝ]

  • These are both examples of dropping  the T after N before a vowel.

  • I want a Coke. That's want a. I want a Coke.

  • I want to leave now. That's want to.

  • I want to leave now.  

  • Want to, want to, these two phrases sound  exactly the same with this reduction.

  • Speaking of sounds the samethe phrase we just studied,  

  • want another sounds just like this phrase.

  • Want another, because of dropping the T.

  • I want another donut.

  • We have to love one another.

  • Want another

  • One another

  • I love this! Why do they sound the same?

  • Why drop the T? Doesn't  that make a word less clear?

  • In American English, huge priority  is given to the smoothness of sound,  

  • the flow of sound, no interruption  and linking between words.  

  • It's one of the most important  characteristics of spoken English.

  • So taking out, tt. A sharp sound. That stop of  air with the escape, smooths it out. Removing  

  • that smooths it out. And that's how this habit  came about. Think about it. The position of the N,  nnn.

  • very similar to the position of T , tt.

  • both have the front of the tongue  at the roof of the mouth. N, T.  

  • So somewhere along the way, dropping that  sharp stop to smooth out the sound came about.

  • There's another word set where it's  common for Americans to drop the T  

  • especially in conversational English but  even in more formal settings like speeches.

  • Count on

  • Counted

  • Counting

  • Counter

  • Counter. This is true especially in the  phrasekitchen counter”. For Americans,  

  • you'll almost always hear that with no T.

  • Counter ['kaʊn ər] Kitchen counter.

  • For British English, they  will say that T.

  • Counter. Counter.

  • Also the wordcount”. Linking into a vowel.

  • Count on

  • I count on that money every month.

  • To count on something means to need  it, to rely on it, to depend on it.

  • Say that with me.

  • Count on ['kaʊn an]

  • Linked smoothly to the N, no  T. Here's some other examples.

  • Counted.

  • I counted twenty. How many did you  count? Counted twenty, two dropped Ts.

  • Or counting. I'm counting on  you or I'm counting on that.

  • Disappointed

  • Disappointing

  • Another word said where it's pretty common  for Americans to drop the Ts. Disappointed.

  • Disappointed. British probably won't drop that T.

  • Also disappointing. No t a  lot of the time for Americans.

  • But usually with a T for Brits.

  • Now there's an exception to this rule.

  • We don't do it if there's a  syllable break between n and t.

  • Into

  • Entry

  • Antique

  • For example, T. Those all have that T sound.

  • More examples of dropping the T, we'll go more  quickly here. But first, I want to tell you about  

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  • Out next example, “pointed”.

  • Pointing. I pointed out that we don't need that.

  • Is he pointing at me?

  • Now, this example and the ones coming  up, it's less common to drop the T.  

  • Yes you'll hear it but only about half of the  time. The rest of the time, you'll hear a true  

  • T. This is different from identify or twenty  where you'll almost always hear the T dropped.

  • Printer

  • Printing

  • Printed

  • I need a new printer.

  • I'm printing it out after work.

  • I printed it already.

  • Paint. Followed by a word that begins withvowel or diphthong also painted and painting.

  • I'm going to paint it pink.

  • Paint it.

  • What a beautiful painting. Or, we're having  the house painted while we're on vacation.

  • Rented

  • Renting

  • I rented a car for vacation.

  • Do they own their home? No, they're renting.

  • This is also common withinterwords. For  example, Internation, Internet, Interview.

  • The internet is down.

  • She's studying international affairs.

  • I have a job interview next week.

  • Accounting

  • Accounted

  • The accounting office is closed.

  • Everything is accounted for.

  • What do you think?

  • Do you like this rule? Do you hate it?

  • Have you noticed other words?

  • My boys are going to the dentist next weekAnd I noticed myself dropping that T, dentist.

  • Can you think of another situation  that follows this rule of NT plus  

  • a vowel or diphthong where the T can be dropped?

  • Or an example you've heard and  noticed. Put it in the comments below.

  • Please be sure to like this  video and like and subscribe  

  • with notifications on for  your next English lesson.

  • In the meantime, keep your learning going  with this video, I love being your English  

  • teacher. That's it and thanks so much for  using Rachel's English.

There are a lot of words  where Americans would drop a T  

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