Speak FASTER and sound FLUENT in English — T Elision

Listen carefully. Which of these do you hear? I'll see you next week. If you said this one, then you're correct. But where did the T go? Removing the T at the end of words isn't a mistake. It's actually something that native British English speakers do all the time. It's called elision, which is basically the process of dropping a sound. In this case, the T sound. This makes your speech clearer, So in this video, you'll learn why the T disappears when you can drop it naturally and then we'll practice together using real examples and quick drills to help your speech sound more fluent and connected. I'm Emma, a qualified British English pronunciation coach with a degree in English language and linguistics, a Cambridge CELTA teaching qualification and a Master's degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages. I've been teaching since I was and I've helped thousands of learners from around the world sound more confident, clear and natural in English. And before we get started, a quick reminder, my online British English pronunciation course, Emma's Pronunciation Hub, is reopening for enrolment in January 2026. It's currently undergoing a huge upgrade with over 300 brand new lessons, activities, downloadable audios to practice your pronunciation on the go as well as personalised weekly feedback and corrections. So if you're serious about improving your British English pronunciation, you can join the VIP waitlist using the link down below. You'll also get access to free live workshops and exclusive bonuses when the doors open. Alright, let's dive into today's British English pronunciation lesson. Let's start with the question what is elision? Elision means leaving out a sound when speaking, especially in fast or casual speech. In British English, one of the most common examples is dropping the t sound when it appears in a consonant cluster. That means when the t comes between or even before other consonants. So instead of saying next week, which is a little difficult to say, many speakers say next week. Next week. The t completely disappears. And you're not being lazy when you speak like this. This is just a natural feature of fluent rapid speech. The t simply drops out just to make your speech smoother. So if you find that you sometimes get tongue-tied when you're talking tongue-tied when you're talking that's a tongue twister it's normally because you're trying to pronounce every single letter when actually you can remove some of them, like we're looking at today. So coming back to the t you'll often hear t disappear when it comes between two consonants more specifically when the word ends in a consonant sound and a t, and then the next word starts with another consonant sound. Here are some common examples Next week Next door Last night Must be Just told Wrist watch Left leg Left leg. You'll notice that your mouth sometimes naturally struggles to pronounce that t before another consonant sound. So it's easier just to cut it. And as I said before, this is not lazy or bad English this is simply just a feature of natural rapid speech that native speakers use all the time. So why does this happen? Well, it's all about speed and your flow of speech. When we speak naturally we aim for smooth transitions between the sounds and words. If you start to separate all of the words or pronounce every single sound in those words it can sometimes sound quite robotic or unnatural. So try saying this phrase slowly Next week Now try saying it faster and remove the t Next week Next week. Do you hear how your tongue doesn't have time to release that t sound? And that's exactly how native speakers sound. It's efficient, sounds more fluent and your speech sounds much more connected. Now let's practice some short sentences together. We'll start with some phrases and then we'll build them up into sentences. Repeat slowly after me. It happened the next day It happened the next day Last night I saw him last night I saw him last night. With this you can also pronounce last as last. Just depends on what kind of accent you want to go with. I speak using the a Just told She just told me She just told me. Must be Must be He must be tired He must be tired. Wrist watch Wrist watch My wrist watch is broken My wrist watch is broken Left leg He hurt his left leg He hurt his left leg Here's a little tip to help you improve your English pronunciation and remember to remove the t at the end of words in your natural speech. Record yourself saying both versions of the sentences that we've just practiced. Slow down your speech for the t and then say it quicker and then remove the t in the second sentence. Then compare the two. You'll quickly notice that the second version without the t sounds faster, more fluent and still clear and understandable. One of the biggest questions I get from my students when I talk about removing sounds is will people still understand me if I remove the sounds? And the answer is yes if you do it correctly. That's the main thing. If you're just removing sounds willy nilly and taking out any sound that you like then no. That means that people may misunderstand you or not understand you at all. However, if you follow the specific rules and you know exactly which sounds to remove and when then people will still understand you just fine. Now here's your little challenge for this week. For today, choose one sentence from the examples that we practiced and try to drop the t when you naturally say it. For example, I'll see you next week. Repeat it until it starts sounding natural to you. You'll start noticing that dropping the t in these positions makes your English sound much smoother and more natural. And make sure you record your voice so you can hear your own pronunciation. So that's the end of today's British English pronunciation lesson. I hope this has helped you understand why the t sound sometimes disappears at the end of words in fast speech and how you can use it naturally while still sounding clear and understandable. And if this video has helped you, give it a like, share it with a friend who's also learning English and subscribe for more practical British English pronunciation lessons every week. And don't forget, Emma's Pronunciation Hub reopens in January 2026. Join the VIP waitlist below for early access, free workshops and exclusive bonuses when the doors open. I'll see you in the next lesson. Bye bye!