Tim's back in his pronunciation workshop. 👄 This time he's finding out why English speakers sometimes don't pronounce the /d/ at the end of words like 'boiled' and 'steamed'. Find out more - and learn how Londoners prefer their potatoes! 🤩 To get some more practice, visit our website 👉http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/towards-advanced/unit-9/session-5 More in this series: ✔️ The words 'was' and 'were' 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psI7E_J1zPo ✔️ Elision of /t/ 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1l4HRaCMdw ✔️ How fluent speakers pronounce 'can' 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbu6X_TYqMQ ✔️ How to pronounce words ending in 'nd' 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzze3JfGDoA Transcript: Tim Hi. I'm Tim and this is my pronunciation workshop. Here I'm going to show you how English is really spoken. It'll help you to become a better listener and a more fluent speaker. Are you ready? Come on, follow me. Today, we’re going to talk about one of the most important questions in contemporary Britain. The answer will also help you improve your pronunciation. So, what is this question? Well, it involves one of these, and one of these. Quite simply: do you prefer your potatoes steamed - or boiled? What’s your preference? Well this is what the people of London think. Voxpops I prefer steamed potatoes. I prefer boiled potatoes. I prefer steamed potatoes to boiled potatoes. I prefer boiled potatoes. Tim So there we have it: the nation has spoken. Our completely scientific survey proves that the country is divided fifty-fifty. But what about pronunciation? Well, one of the things that happens when we speak English fluently is that we don’t always pronounce all the sounds in every word. The words steamed and boiled both end in the sound /d/, don’t they? Or do they? Watch and listen again - can you hear the sound /d/? Voxpops I prefer steamed potatoes. I prefer boiled potatoes. I prefer steamed potatoes to boiled potatoes. I prefer boiled potatoes. Tim It’s very difficult to say /d/ when it comes in between two other consonants. Your mouth has to do a lot of work. So in many cases the /d/ is not pronounced. 'Boiled potatoes' becomes 'boilpotatoes'. And 'steamed potatoes' becomes 'steampotatoes'. This is called elision. Here are some more examples. Examples My best friend let me borrow his car. Don’t hold back - say what you mean. His bike rolled down the hill without him. Tim Right, so you’ve heard the examples, and now it’s your turn. You know the drill: listen and repeat. Examples My best friend let me borrow his car. Don’t hold back - say what you mean. His bike rolled down the hill without him. 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 now. I'll see you soon. Bye bye. Right – now I'd better prepare my own potatoes. Ahhh!! I just peeled my finger! Ewwwsh – doesn't look good… 🤩🤩🤩 SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for more English videos and podcast English to help you improve your English 👉 null Visit our website 👉 https://www.bbclearningenglish.com/ Follow us on Instagram 👉 https://www.instagram.com/bbclearningenglish Find us on Facebook 👉 https://www.facebook.com/bbclearningenglish.multimedia Join us on TikTok 👉 https://www.tiktok.com/@bbclearningenglish We like receiving and reading your comments - please use English when you comment 😊 #learnenglish #pronunciation #speakenglish