pronouncing nd

Hi, I’m Tim and this is my pronunciation workshop. Here, I’m gonna show you how English is really spoken. It’ll help you become a better listener and a more fluent speaker. Come on, let’s go inside. Now, when we speak English fluently, the sounds in words can join together, change or even disappear entirely. Sometimes more than one of these can happen. Take this for example. Now, I’m sure you know what it is, but let’s ask the people of London:

An egg sandwich It’s a sandwich It’s a sandwich It’s an egg sandwich

Now, the word ‘sandwich’ has an /n/ followed by a /d/, doesn’t it? Or does it? Listen again, what sound can you hear?

An egg sandwich It’s a sandwich It’s a sandwich It’s an egg sandwich

Instead of ‘sandwich’, we hear ‘samwich’. That’s pretty crazy, right! So, what is going on? Well, first the /d/ disappears in between two consonants. You might remember this from our video on elision. So ‘sandwich’ becomes ‘sa n wich’. Now, we have an /n/ followed by a /w/ and /n/ changes to /m/ before /w/. You might remember this from our video on assimilation. So sandwich becomes sa m wich. Have another look - this time in slow motion. Watch the shape of the mouth. Can you see /nd/, or /m/?

Sandwich Sandwich Sandwich Sandwich

Pretty cool, huh? Here are some more examples:

Examples My grandparents have been married for 50 years. I got a standby ticket. The band played until midnight. I left my handbag on the train.

Ok, so you’ve heard the examples, and now it’s your turn. Are you ready? Listen and repeat.

Examples My grandparents have been married for 50 years. I got a standby ticket. The band played until midnight. I left my handbag on the train.

Well done. Remember if you want to see more on pronunciation please visit our website: bbclearningenglish.com. That’s about it from the pronunciation workshop for now. I’ll see you soon. Bye. Now, where did I put that sandwich? It was handmade, just for me. Argh!