gemination of /t/

Tim 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. This week, I’m going to need some help from my favourite twin. Please welcome back Tom, who’s going to help me present. Hi Tom!

Tom: Hi Tim! Now, are you a lover?

Tim : Or a fighter? Do you prefer to dance?

Tom : Or would you rather have an argument?

Tim : There’s an expression we have in English that contains the name of a dance …

Tom : and means when two people get involved in a fight or argument, then in most cases both have to take some of the responsibility. Do you know the expression?

Tim : Well, let’s ask the people of London.

Voxpops: It takes two to tango. It takes two to tango. It takes two to tango. It takes two to tango.

Tim and Tom : It takes two to tango.

Tom : Lot of ‘t’s in that, Tim.

Tim : Lot of ‘t’s indeed, Tom. Five in fact. It takes two to Tango. But are all of these usually pronounced? Can you hear all of them? Listen again.

Voxpops : I t t akes two to tango. I t t akes two to tango. I t t akes two to tango. I t t akes two to tango.

Tim : You might remember from a previous video that when the sound /t/ comes in between two consonants, we don ‘t usually pronounce it.

Tom : But what happens if there is a vowel sound before the /t/? and the next word also begins with /t/?

Tim : Well, in this case the two /t/ sounds join together to create one slightly stronger /t/. So ‘it takes two’ becomes ‘i t t akes two’. This is an example of twinning or gemination. Here are some more examples.

Examples : I t t ook him twenty years to ge t t o the top. You don’t have to chea t t o pass the test. You were righ t t o be upset. We took the overnigh t t rain to Venice.

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

Examples : I t t ook him twenty years to ge t t o the top. You don’t have to chea t t o pass the test. You were righ t t o be upset. We took the overnigh t t rain to Venice.

Tim : 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 pronunciation workshop for this week. We’ll see you soon. Bye bye! Ah, thank you for all your hard work, Tom.

Tom: Ah. No problem, you’re the best Tim.

Tim: Hey, thanks, you’re great too. Ah! That was weird! What was that all about?

Tom: Hey, you started it.

Tim: No I didn’t.

Tom: Yes you did.

Tim: Well, maybe a little bit. I guess that just goes to prove it takes two to tango.