Common Mispronounced Words: The Invisible Y Secret

well hey there and welcome i'm keenan and this is the clear english corner in this lesson we're going to talk about something interesting that happens with our ooh as in blue vowel sound sometimes this vowel sounds like oo [Music] and sometimes it sounds like you as in the word boot versus cute q q cute do you hear that little ya ya y sound sneaking in there i call this the sneaky y because yes a lot of times this ya or y sound will sneak in there with our oo as in blue vowel making it sound like you you like this word you it happens in a lot of really common words like music music and future future so how are you supposed to know if the u is going to sound like ooh or you so just like everything with english there's no 100 every time rule that i can share with you but there is a pattern that you can look for there are six common consonant sounds that when they come in front of the oo as in blue vowel that sneaky y will come in between so that most of the time when the oo as in blue sound is after these consonants it sounds like you you instead of these six consonants are the m consonant as in communicate the n in consonant as in menu also the k k consonant sound which can also be often represented by the letter c as in the word accuse accuse also the f sound as in the word few few and the v as in view view and finally the b sound as in contribute contribute so you want to keep an eye or an ear out for these consonant sounds now here's another interesting thing let's take a look at this word accumulate accumulate so we have four syllables in this word and our stress syllable is the second syllable we have the consonant sound and our oo is in blue sounds like u a q a q then our third syllable is unstressed accumula now do you hear what happens here that vowel sound in the third syllable is not fully pronounced it's not accumulate no this syllable reduces it becomes a schwa or the sound if you're not sure what i mean by schwa definitely check out this lesson so the third syllable becomes a schwa and it sounds like accumula accumulate it's this contrast between that stressed syllable in the second syllable and then the other unstressed or reduced syllables that makes this word sound more natural accumulate all right so let's practice a few more words first let's practice a few words where our oo as in blue becomes you in the stressed syllable here's some common words where this happens computer future refuse abuse user accuse unusual distribution communicate dispute mutual funeral humor confusion all right now let's switch it up a little bit let's practice when that ooh as in blue is in an unstressed syllable and it reduces to schwa listen closely in these words the sound is as in regular regia do you hear it's not regular it's regular regular regular fabulous fabulous fabia fabia again we've got the ya yeah in the unstressed syllable a reduced syllable in that second syllable it's not fabu it's fabia fabulous evaluate evalia valia evaluate executive exec exec executive popular papya not popular papia popular particular paticca paticcia particular document daca daca not document daca document document manufacture menya menya manufacture reputation rep rep reputation calculate calcium calcium hear that in the second syllable calculate stimulus stimulus interesting right now let's try some practice sentences together with some of these common sneaky y words here we go that's a ridiculous accusation that's a ridiculous accusation he has a fabulous sense of humor he has a fabulous sense of humor she couldn't figure out how to use the computer she couldn't figure out how to use the computer you'll have an annual evaluation you'll have an annual evaluation they've built a huge user community they've built a huge user community this document is confusing i can't figure it out this document is confusing i can't figure it out that's an unusual excuse that's an unusual excuse she refused to contribute she refused to contribute at this point it's pure speculation at this point it's pure speculation we had a monumental argument we had a monumental argument i'm just a regular human being i'm just a regular human being he's a very popular musician he's a very popular musician i think they'll have a beautiful future i think they'll have a beautiful future and last one i don't find that particularly amusing i don't find that particularly amusing that one's tough to say particularly particularly amusing i don't find that particularly amusing so there you have it i hope this lesson has helped you to hear how sometimes that sneaky y comes in right before our oo as in blue sound making a syllable sound like you or sometimes ya the good news is if you're not certain how a word is pronounced with our ooh as in blue vowel you can look in your dictionary and you'll see in the transcription they'll include the yeah the y symbol so when in doubt go to your dictionary and come on over to the clear english corner website for a more comprehensive list of the most common sneaky y words you can get there by visiting the link in the video description as always thanks so much for tuning in and i'll see you next time [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Clear English Corner with Keenyn Rhodes

Views: 49,428

Keywords: mispronounced words, pronunciation mistakes, common mispronounced words, how to pronounce, long u, vowel u, long vowel u, vowel sounds, blue vowel, sneaky y, american english, american english accent, american english pronunciation, pronunciation american english, american english learning, american accent, american accent training, american pronunciation, accent reduction, how to speak american accent, clear english, clear english corner, keenyn

Id: V5_9BcFXpGE

Length: 10min 12sec (612 seconds)

Published: Tue May 11 2021