T and D between two consonants.

When the T and D sounds come between two other consonant sounds, many Americans will drop

them. You can do it too. It might make words easier to pronounce and link, and smooth out

your speech. Let's look at several examples. First, exactly. I get requests for this word

quite a bit. When we have the word 'exact', we will make a True T because it's part of

an ending consonant cluster. Exact, tt, tt. But when we add the -ly ending, it now comes

between two consonants. You'll hear a lot of native speakers say 'exactly', with no

T sound. Exactly, exactly. Almost no one will say 'exactly', with a True T. Exactly.

This happens a lot when we link words. Take, for example, the phrase 'grand piano'. The

word 'grand', on its own or at the end of a sentence, grand, will usually have a light

D release. Grand, dd, dd. But when it's not the last word and the next word begins with

a consonant, most people will drop that D. So, "grand piano" becomes "gran' piano". Grand

piano, no D. Grand piano. Grand theft auto.

Just one more. Probably not 'just one more'. Now, the word 'one' begins with a vowel letter,

but the first sound is the W consonant. Just one more. Just once. Just for you. Must be

funny. Must be. Probably not 'must be'. Must be funny. Must be nice. Stand for. What does

it stand for? Stand for. Probably not 'stand for'. Stand for.

I often get questions relating to these situations. Dropping the T and D in these cases can help

smooth out your speech, so try it out. If you can think of other examples, put them

in the comments below and use other people's examples to practice.

That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.