Can vs Can t American English Pronunciation Trick You Need to Know Shadowing Practice

Hey everyone and welcome back to another shadowing practice. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Claire, a native speaker from the United States and an online English teacher. So as I am from the United States, I will, of course, be speaking with an American English accent. So if you do want to improve your speaking in American English, this will be appropriate for you. But also if you just want to improve your fluency overall through listening and building vocabulary, this will also be a great practice for you. I have many more shadowing practices just like this over on my channel. You can check out my shadowing practice playlist. In this video, I'm going to specifically cover the difference between can and can't in American English because a lot of non-native speakers find it not only difficult to pronounce these words themselves, but to hear the difference when they are listening to native speakers. So I have a quick tip for that that's going to help with both of those situations. And I'm going to point out some other pairs of words that are easily mispronounced or difficult to hear the difference between them so that you can practice on it and you can practice your listening as well. All right, let's go ahead and get started. English made easy with Claire. Okay, so as always, first I want you to listen to me and then repeat and then you will shadow it. So then you will say it at the same time as me matching my rhythm and inflection and pronunciation. Today, I have to finish a project for work. Your turn. So for this sentence, notice the pronunciation of have to. Okay, not have to. I have to finish, but I have to finish. When we have have to, to mean the same thing as need, I need to finish this. We pronounce this pair of words have to. So listen again. Today, I have to finish a project for work. I can finish it if I stay focused and avoid distractions. And again, I can finish it if I stay focused and avoid distractions. Listen to the next sentence. I can't finish everything before lunch, but I'm confident I'll finish it by the end of the day. Listen to that one again. I can't finish everything before lunch, but I'm confident I'll finish it by the end of the day. Repeat. Good. Okay, so in one sentence, we have the word can. I can finish. And the second sentence, we have can't. So that's the contraction of can not. So the pronunciations that you were taught of these words would be can and can't. Okay, but in American English, in rapid connected speech, we actually don't end up pronouncing them like this within a sentence. So actually, the word can is often unstressed when it is within a sentence. And when the word can is unstressed, it has a different pronunciation. So we wouldn't say, I can finish it. We would say, I can finish it. I can finish it. So actually, the pronunciation goes from can, which is the stressed pronunciation, to can. That's the unstressed pronunciation, can. I can finish it. So we don't stress the word can when it is used as a modal verb within a sentence. I can do it. I can finish it. I can meet you. Okay, it's often unstressed. So therefore, the pronunciation changes completely. Now, when we have the word can't, in American English, we have what's called a stop T, often when the word ends with a T. And I've talked about this in my other shadowing videos. So we don't say can't, but can't, can't. And that's why it's so tricky, because to a lot of non-native ears, that sounds like the word can if we drop the T. But the difference here is that when we're using the word can't, so the contraction of cannot, that is stressed within a sentence. So we have, I can't finish everything before lunch. I can't finish it. I can't go. I can't meet you. So that is stressed within the sentence. If someone said, oh yeah, I can do that. You can hear that the word can is unstressed. I can do that. So if you're wondering, are they saying they can or they can't do it? I can't really hear the difference. Well, if it's unstressed, that means can. And if it's stressed, I can't do it. Then that is the negative. Okay. So hopefully now when we shadow the whole thing and you can always pause the video and go back, hopefully now you can hear the difference between these two words when they are within a sentence. So let's go back and shadow this first section all together. So you say it with me. Here we go. Today, I have to finish a project for work. I can finish it if I stay focused and avoid distractions. I can't finish everything before lunch, but I'm confident I'll finish it by the end of the day. Okay, let's keep going. So listen first. I'm glad it's almost the weekend. My family and I were planning a trip to the beach. Your turn. So here we have the word were, which is often a tricky word to pronounce, were. My family and I were planning a trip to the beach. But because of the weather, we're going to stay home instead. In this clause, we have the word we're, which is a contraction of we and are. We're going to stay home. We're. Here's the catch though. In American English, when we say this word within the context of a sentence in rapid connected speech, we often pronounce this word as were. So it sounds the same as the word were. You will be taught that W-E-R-E is were and W-E-apostrophe-R-E is we're, but you will hear native speakers pronounce we're as were. Okay? I do it all the time. But because of the weather, we're going to stay home instead. We're going to go to the movies. We're having a great time. So you can either pronounce this we're or were. Whatever is easier for you. Repeat the final sentence in this section after me. It's a little disappointing, but we'll find something fun to do. Same with the word we'll, which is the contraction of we will. We'll is what you will have been taught. But in rapid speech, myself and native speakers will say we'll. We'll find something fun to do. So more of a schwa sound. Okay, let's shadow this section. So say it with me. I'm glad it's almost the weekend. My family and I were planning a trip to the beach. But because of the weather, we're going to stay home instead. It's a little disappointing, but we'll find something fun to do. Moving on. First, I just need to get through this project. And then I can think about our weekend plans. Good. So the word I want to point out here is then, then. Listen again. First, I just need to get through this project. And then I can think about our weekend plans. It's taking a lot more time than I expected. So I should really focus now. And here we have the word than, which is different from then, right? We have then, than. It's taking a lot more time than I expected. So I should really focus now. Okay, so let's shadow this section. Of course, if you do need to listen again to the difference between then and than, feel free to pause the video, go back, repeat this part as many times. It's very subtle. But if you really break it down and listen and practice it slowly at first, then you can try it up to speed with me later. Here we go. First, I just need to get through this project. And then I can think about our weekend plans. It's taking a lot more time than I expected. So I should really focus now. I probably should have started earlier. Your turn. Here, I want to point out the word probably. So you may have learned probably, or at least that's what it looks like. It looks like it has three syllables, probably. But many native speakers pronounce this word with two syllables, probably, myself included. I say probably, probably. And that is a really natural, normal way to pronounce this word. I probably should have started earlier. Once I'm finally finished, I'll pour myself a glass of wine and relax. Good. Same with the word finally. Again, this looks like it might be three syllables. Maybe you learned finally, which again, just like probably is not wrong. You could say finally, three syllables. However, many native speakers end up saying this with two, finally, finally. Once I'm finally finished, I'll pour myself a glass of wine and relax. Okay, let's shadow this final paragraph together. Say it with me. I probably should have started earlier. Once I'm finally finished, I'll pour myself a glass of wine and relax. All right, guys. So now's the time in our practice that we're going to shadow the entire thing together without stopping. If you enjoyed this practice, if it was helpful, don't forget to take a moment right now to give this video a like, share it with a friend who's learning English, subscribe to my channel if you haven't already, and if you do want to support my channel a little bit more to help fund these types of videos so I can keep making them, click the join button below and check out becoming a member of my channel. If you are looking for a more consistent practice, I do a live shadowing practice every week within my online community, and we also have live group calls and daily practice materials. So if you want to learn personally with me, check out the link in the description of this video to join my online community, Next Level English. Okay, guys, here we go. Let's shadow this entire text together. Today, I have to finish a project for work. I can finish it if I stay focused and avoid distractions. I can't finish everything before lunch, but I'm confident I'll finish it by the end of the day. I'm glad it's almost the weekend. My family and I were planning a trip to the beach, but because of the weather, we're going to stay home instead. It's a little disappointing, but we'll find something fun to do. First, I just need to get through this project, and then I can think about our weekend plans. It's taking a lot more time than I expected, so I should really focus now. I probably should have started earlier. Once I'm finally finished, I'll pour myself a glass of wine and relax. All right, guys, thank you so much for joining me for today's practice. Let me know how it went for you in the comments, and I'll see you in the next one. Bye for now.