Learn American English Word Reductions
Every language has ways we reduce the pronunciation of certain words and phrases. Word reductions give language rhythm. Naturally, it is confusing for non-native speakers to make sense of these reductions. For this reason, it is important to learn some common English reductions to improve your comprehension and make you sound more like a native speaker.
Why else do you have to learn reductions?
You have to learn reductions because they are used extensively in TV, movies, music and conversations. Additionally, American English reductions are not usually taught in English language schools.
When should we use word reductions?
Something to keep in mind is that word reductions are only used in speech. You should never use them in writing, unless you are writing a story where the characters are speaking a specific dialect. It’s not important to remember that last part since you probably won’t be writing English stories. Just remember that word reductions are used primarily for oral language.
Which word reductions should you learn?
The reductions below are the ones most often used by native English speakers.
Pronounce “to” as “tuh”
| Written | Pronounced |
|---|---|
| He asked her to go. | He asked her tuh go. |
| The movie is tonight. | The movie is tuhnight. |
| Let’s hang out tomorrow. | Let’s hang out tuhmorrow. |
Pronounce “for” as “fer”
| Written | Pronounced |
|---|---|
| Do you have room for two? | Do you have room fer two? |
| What’s for dinner? | What’s fer dinner? |
| Will you get that for me? | Will you get that fer me? |
Pronounce “your” and “you’re” as “yer”.
This is nice because you learn one word for two. Additionally it means you don’t have to remember where to put the apostrophe.
| Written | Pronounced |
|---|---|
| Is this your bag? | Is this yer bag? |
| You’re almost there. | Yer almost there. |
| Place your things here. | Place yer things here. |
Pronounce ”can” as “kn”
| Written | Pronounced |
|---|---|
| How can I get there? | How kn get there? |
| Which chocolate can I have? | Which chocolate kn I have? |
| Can I go with them? | Kn I go with them? |
Pronounce “and” or “an” as “n”; Pronounce “or” as ”er”
| Written | Pronounced |
|---|---|
| Peanut butter and jelly. | Peanut butter n jelly. |
| She and I are classmates. | She n I are classmates. |
| Soup or salad. | Soup er salad. |
Word reduction using He, him, her, his, and them
The pronouns he, him, her, his, and them are sometimes reduced and the first sound is dropped.
| Written | Pronounced |
|---|---|
| Give this to her. | Give this to er. |
| She likes him. | She likes im. |
| He dropped his fork. | He dropped is fork. |
| What does he want? | What does e want? |
| Get them while they’re hot. | Get em while they’re hot. |
Pronounce “you” as ”yuh”
| Written | Pronounced |
|---|---|
| You need more? | Yuh need more? |
| How are you? | How are yuh? |
| Talk to you later. | Talk to yuh later. |
Word reductions with two words
Reductions get more complex when used with other words.
| Written | Pronounced |
|---|---|
| Why don’t you… | Why don’tcha… |
| I’ve got your back. | I’ve gotch yer back. |
| Would you help me. | Wouldja help me. |
| I can meet you at 5:00. | I can meetcha at 5:00. |
| He’s kind of cute. | He’s kinda cute. |
| I don’t eat those kinds of things. | I don’t eat those kindsa things. |
| She makes a lot of money. | She makes allotta money. |
| I sort of have to. | I sorta hafta. |
| Let’s get out of here. | Let’s get outta here. |
| This is going to take awhile. | This is gonna to take awhile. |
| I want to go! | I wanna go! |
| Let me try. | Lemme try. |
Multi word reductions
Word reductions with multiple words Perhaps the most difficult word reductions are those using compound reductions.
| Written | Pronounced |
|---|---|
| How do you…? | Howdaya…? |
| What are you..? | Whadarya…? |
| What do you…? | Whadaya…? |
| Who did you…? | Who-didja…? |
| Where did you…? | Where-didja…? |
| How did you….? | How-didja…? |
| You could have told him. | You coulda told im. |
| What is up? | Wassup! |
Further help with word reductions
When you learn word reductions, you will sound more like a native speaker. They will also make your speech sound more natural.For help with your communication and pronunciation skills, check out Packard Communications’ services page for an initial assessment, small classes, individual training, or online training!
Related information
The above content relates to the following topics: Accent Modification, Accent Reduction, Speaking English, Speech Skills, Learning American English. Secondarily, it relates to: Speech Pronunciation, Intonation Vowels Consonants, Talking Communication, Spelling, Presentation Skills, Interviewing, Conversation, Speech-Language Pathologist. Finally, these topics are related: Online Training Coaching, Private Classes, Seminars, SLP, and Speech Therapist.
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