/d/ - /g/ assimilation

Hi. I’m Tim and this is my Pronunciation workshop. Here I’m going to show you how English is really spoken. Come on, let’s go inside. In English, we have an expression - man’s best friend. Do you know what that refers to? No, not beer. Dogs. A dog is man’s best friend. But not always. What would you say to a dog who did this?

Bad girl! She’s a bad girl! The dog has been a bad girl!

Now, the word bad ends in /g/ doesn’t it? Or does it? Watch and listen again. Can you hear the /d/?

Bad girl! She’s a bad girl! The dog has been a bad girl!

In fluent speech, a /d/ changes to a /g/ when it comes before a /g/ or a /k/. So ‘bad girl’ becomes ‘bagirl’. This is an example of what is called assimilation. Here are some more.

He’s a really good cook. Last night we had guests for dinner. Can you print out the hard copy? I’d love to walk down the red carpet one day.

Right, so you’ve heard some examples, now it’s your turn. You know the drill: Listen and repeat.

He’s a really good cook. Last night we had guests for dinner. Can you print out the hard copy? I’d love to walk down the red carpet one day.

Well done. Now remember, if you want to learn more about pronunciation, then please visit our website, bbclearningenglish.com. And that is about it from the workshop for now. I’ll see you soon. Bye! Now, you know what, I’m not really that keen on dogs, I’m more of a cat person. Oh no, no, no that was just a joke - good girl, good girl, aaah! Oh, very funny. You’re actually quite cute. Who’s a good girl? Who’s a good girl? Argh! Bad girl!