#47: American English pronunciation of could, should, and would
#47: American English pronunciation of could , should , and would
There is no l sound in these words, and be sure to use the u as in put sound for the vowel sound.
Transcript
Hi everyone, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English Pronunciation Podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 47th episode.
Today I'm going to talk about three words I frequently hear mispronounced: could , should , and woul d. It is really the -oul- spelling that causes these problems. These are the only three words that we say very frequently that have the -oul- spelling, so it is good to give extra attention to those words. First, there is no l sound in any of those words. The Online Etymology Dictionary, which I will link to with these transcripts, says that the l was added to the spelling of these words in the 16th century, though it does not say why it was added. All that is truly important for you to know is that you shouldn't say the l in those words, ever, no matter what. Besides the trouble that the l causes, the vowel sound in these words can be tricky, too. That vowel sound is the sound of the u in the word put , which is also the same sound of the o-o in the word look . This vowel sound, the ( u as in put ) sound, is not pronounced correctly by many of my students at Seattle Learning Academy. Podcast episode 10 was all about the u as in put sound, and the sound that many non-native speakers accidentally replace it with, the oo sound , as in the word soon . Listen to the difference between the u as in put sound and the oo sound . I'm going to compare it with two words that are both spelled oo, l-o-o-k and s-o-o-n, look, soon . Those are different vowel sounds. Look, soon .
Listen to the vowel sound in look and could, look, could. Look, could . Can you hear that those words both have the same vowel sound? It is also the same sound in the word put . Look, could, put . They are all the same, look, could, put .
Now, can you tell that the vowel sound is different than the vowel sound in the word soon ? Look, could, put, soon . The first three words all have the same vowel sound, and the vowel in the fourth is different. Listen again. Look, could, put, soon . Be careful that you don't confuse the u as in put and the oo sound of the word soon . If you want to review it more fully, go back and listen to episode 10 again.
Let's get back to the three specific words we are studying today. Listen to the words could, should, and would , as I say them slowly.
Could (slow) Should (slow) Would (slow)
Hear the initial consonant sound, the ( u as in put ) sound, and the final d sound . Remember, there is absolutely no l sound in any of these words.
I'll say them at a regular speed, and leave time for you to repeat after me. Could Should Would
One more time.
Could Should Would
If you have a pronuncian subscription, there are two different listening exercises for the u as in put sound, since it causes so much trouble. I'll link to the lesson, which is available to everybody, from the transcript for this page. If you have a subscription, be sure to be logged in when you go to the lesson so the additional exercises show up at the bottom of the page.
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You can find the transcripts for this episode, where I'll also include links to the sound practice, u as in put sound lessons, and the Online Etymology Dictionary. That's all for today everybody. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. SLA is where the world comes to learn.
Thanks for listening.
Bye-bye.
