Lengua Inglesa I

Inglés Instrumental III

Prof. Rubén Chacón Beltrán
Prof. Jim Lawley

Pronunciación

UNIT 4

Consonant groups

Adding <ed> or <s> to the end of a word can sometimes result in a

very long sequence of consonants. Long sequences of consonants can be
difficult to pronounce of native speakers too. There are several ways to
make consonant groups easier to pronounce in fluent speech.

a) Link the final consonant to a following vowel. Remember to reduce

pronouns and auxiliary verbs and drop /h/ in unstressed function
words.

- getsÌup - lovesÌit - changedÌhis mind

- findÌout - mostÌof them - pickedÌupÌhis date
- toldÌher - firstÌofÌall - grabbedÌit

b) Hold the final consonant and go right on to the following consonant.

Begin making the following consonant while holding the preceding
consonant so that they connect smoothly to each other.

- a hardÌday - answeredÌcorrectly - sinceÌthen

- the firstÌtime - savesÌmoney - servesÌthe wine
- they servedÌdinner - walkedÌslowly - failedÌthe test
- the birdsÌsing - learnsÌGerman - keptÌthem

c) Pronounce final /t/ as a glottal stop (holding your breath briefly)

when it is followed by a consonant.

- it was nice - felt fine - hurt the dog

- it shrank - can’t remember - short sleeves
- built the house - sent one - doesn’t think so

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d) Omit one of the consonants, but not final grammatical <ed> or <s>. It
is especially common in groups of voiceless consonants with a middle
/t/ or /T/ to omit the middle consonant.

- acts /akts /→/aks/ - tests /tEsts/→/tEss/

- asked /askt/→/ast/ - lengths /lENTs/→/lENs/
- lifts /lIfts/→/ lIfs / - depths /dEpTs/→/dEps/

e) Slow down and pause after the word. Sometimes you’ll just have to
pause after a difficult word.

Activity 1: Cross out any consonants that can be omitted

according to the previous rules. Then compare it with
your partner.

a) I think he trusts me.

b) He asked a difficult question.
c) We went to the crafts fair.
d) It’s three eights of an inch too short.
e) She acts strangely.
f) The communists took over six months ago.

Activity 2: Record yourself reading the following sentences. Then,

listen to the recording and check your pronunciation.

a) She said thanks for the Christmas card.

b) The skirt and blouse matched each other perfectly.
c) We haven’t had a chance to buy any gifts yet.
d) He asked for the test to be postponed until Friday.
e) Those girls are not strong swimmers.
f) He made several attempts to rearrange the desks.
g) Last year. I watched television nearly every night.
h) She clasped her hands together and begged for
forgiveness.