In this lesson I'm going to show you two simple changes
that you can make to sound more like a native English speaker, and also to understand native English
speakers when they speak. Okay? So, that is with two simple words: "and" plus "the". Okay?
Now, of course, "and" plus "the", we say them pretty often. Right? We say them quite a lot.
So, what's this little change that you need to make to sound more like a native speaker?
Let's start with "and". Now, if I just say this word: "and", then of course, you're going
to say it like that: "and", but we don't usually just say that word. We say it as part of a
sentence or part of a phrase. Right? So, what happens then? What happens is that this entire
word "and" is reduced or shortened to sound just like "n", just like an "n". Okay? For
example: "over n over", "n". Okay? Instead of "and", we're just saying: "n", "n", "n".
Okay? So, let's say lots of phrases so that you can hear it, because your eyes are telling
you to say "and", but I want your ears and your mouth to start recognizing and saying:
"n" instead of "and" when it's in the middle of a phrase. And later, we'll look at sentences.
Okay? Say it... You can say it with me, you can also repeat it after me.
"Over n over", "over and over".
"Again n again", "again and again".
Good.
"Bread n butter", "bread and butter".
"Hide n seek", "hide and seek".
This is a game that children play. Okay?
It's called hide and seek, somebody hides, somebody goes to look for them. Another
word for "looking" is "seek". All right? Let's continue.
"Cream n sugar", "cream and sugar".
"Pros n cons". What are "pros and cons"? "Pros and cons" are advantages and disadvantages.
All right? So, even if you said those longer words, you'd say: "Advantages n disadvantages".
Right? Now you know: Don't say "and", just say "n". Okay? "Black n white", "black n white".
Not: "black and white", "black n white". "John n Mary", "John and Mary". "Mr. n Mrs. Jones",
not: "Mr. and Mrs." Sometimes we don't even say "Mrs." nowadays, but in some countries,
this forms are still used, so I'm giving you that example. "Mr. n Mrs. Jones". Or we can
use it for companies, too: "Microsoft n Google".
It doesn't matter what we're talking about,
whether we're talking about cream and sugar or Microsoft and Google, we're still saying:
"Cream n sugar", "Microsoft n", right? "Microsoft n Google". So we almost swallow the word "and",
Except when you want to emphasize the word "and". All right? Now, this is not true most
of the time; this is an exception. All right? This is what happens 99% of the time, but
sometimes you really want to emphasize the word "and". For example:
"I want you to call your sister and I want you to apologize!"
Now, in this case, the person who was saying that really wanted to emphasize this second part, that I don't just want you to call your
sister, but I also want you to apologize. So that's why in that particular sentence,
we don't just say: "I want you to call your sister n I want you to apologize." They were
emphasizing it, so that's why they said "and" like "and". But most of the time, this is
what you need to do. And in the next section, we're going to look at what happens when we
Okay, now let's look at another word, a simple word, and that's the word that is spelt t-h-e.
Why don't I say it? Because have you realized that this word is often pronounced in two
different ways? Sometimes we pronounce it: "thuh", and sometimes we pronounce it: "thee".
Why? What's going on? I'm going to tell you. Now, what I'm explaining to you is not a rule.
Okay? But it is a pattern. This is what native speakers do kind of naturally. They haven't
been taught that, and it's not a rule, but it is a pattern which you will recognize,
and which you might want to adopt yourself. All right? So, let's understand what's behind
it. So, we say: "thuh" when the word that comes after "the" starts with a consonant
sound. Not just with a consonant-we'll see some exceptions in a minute-but with a consonant
"thuh show", "thuh phone", "thuh bus". Right?
Now, all of those started with consonants, but more importantly, with a consonant sound.
Because here... Okay, well, let's look at the exceptions in a minute.
Let's go on this side. Now, we use "thee" before a vowel sound. For example, we usually say:
"thee ice cream", "thee office", "thee umbrella".
All right? Did you see how that happened? Okay? So, "thuh" before a consonant sound, and "thee"
Now, sometimes a consonant, like "h", sounds like an "h", so then we can say: "thuh hotel".
But sometimes "h", which is a consonant, is silent, and so it actually sounds like a vowel,
so then we say: "thee hour". Okay? "On the hour", for example. And sometimes a vowel
doesn't sound like a vowel. Sometimes a vowel sounds like a consonant. For example, in this
word: "university". Even though it starts with a "u", it sounds like a "y", so we would
say: "thuh university", but we would say: "thee understanding", because, here, in the
word "understanding", the "u" sounds like "uh", which is a vowel sound. So, you have
to keep those exceptions in mind also a little bit. All right?
And there is one other exception, that sometimes when we want to emphasize something, then
we do say "thee", and then it doesn't matter if it's a consonant sound or a vowel sound
for the word that comes after "the". For example: "This is the best restaurant in town." So,
here, look what happened. Even though it started with a "b", the word after "the", we didn't
say: "This is the best". You could say it, it's not wrong. Okay? But people would probably
say: "This is thee best restaurant in town." because they want to emphasize it. All right?
But that's the exception. Most of the time, this is what happens: "thuh" before the consonant
sound, and "thee" before a vowel sound. Now, it's your turn, so you're going to try to
pronounce "the" and "and" according to what we've just learned.
All right, so now let's practice what you've learned. Okay? Here we go. The first four
sentences are going to have the word "and", but you decide how to pronounce it. And the
last four will have the word "the", but you decide how to pronounce it. Because what were
the options? "And" is usually pronounced just like "n",
and "the" can be pronounced: "thuh" or "thee".
So, now, let's try number one: "Life is full of ups and downs.", "ups n downs". Okay? Good.
"By and large, he's a good man.", "By n large". What does that mean,
"by and large"? It means in general. Okay? Overall.
"The kids come and go.", "The kids come n go." Not: "come and go", "come n go". Good.
"I'm sick and tired of this mess.", "I'm sick n tired of this mess.", "sick n tired". Okay?
Good. See? Is it starting to come? Is it starting to flow? The more... Once you understand what's
being done, it's a lot easier. Right? You've probably... Because you've been hearing this,
you've been hearing this on TV, you've been hearing this in the movies. If you're watching
American shows or North American shows, this is the standard way to speak and you've been
listening to it all along, but now you understand what it is that they're doing, so you might
start to sound a lot more like that. Okay? All right.
Let's try number five. What do we say? "Thuh time has come!" or "Thee time has come!"?
What was the rule? Before a consonant sound, we're going to say: "Thuh".
"Where's the house?" Here, "house" started with an "h" and sounds like an "h": "h-house".
So, we just say: "thuh". "Where's the house?"
Number seven: "The apples are over there." This time it's a vowel and it's a vowel sound:
And number eight, what is it? "What are the advantages and disadvantages?" So, let's say it properly:
"What are thee advantages n disadvantages?", "What are thee advantages n disadvantages?",
"What are the advantages and disadvantages?" Okay?
I know it's kind of long to say, but
this one actually was helping you to practice both, the word "the" and the word "and". All
So, now, when you're watching TV, when you're watching movies, when you're hearing... Overhearing
conversations among... Between people, listen and you'll hear it, and you'll be so happy,
because, like: "Hey! I know that! I learned that on engVid!" Okay?
And also, you can start talking like that. It'll make you sound a lot more natural, and it'll help native speakers
to understand you better because now you're speaking in a way that they expect to hear
So, of course, this is a pronunciation lesson, so we don't have a quiz on engVid about this.
But what you can do, as I said, is go out and listen, and go out and practice. All right?
And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more lessons in pronunciation.
In fact, I have a lesson which you might want to check out right after this, it's on three
prepositions which we use very often: "to", "for", and "from". And if you think that that's
how we pronounce those, well, go watch the lesson and you'll find out that, again, native
speakers pronounce them a little bit differently, and you can learn how. Okay?
Thanks very much for watching, and good luck with your English.