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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation
How do you pronounce "What" questions
Hi everyone,
Whenever I watch an American tv show and an actor/actress pronounces "What are you doing" or "What are you saying", it sounds like "what do you doing", I know from a grammertical aspect, its absolutely wrong to say "what do you doing", but I don't know why it always sounds like this to me
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Also, I always have troubles pronouncing what-questions, especially when there is an "are" after "what". I know that T is pronounced as a reduced D in some situations, but even this wont make it easier for me, I always have to break it down and stop after each word when asking what question.
Thanks,
Whenever I watch an American tv show and an actor/actress pronounces "What are you doing" or "What are you saying", it sounds like "what do you doing", I know from a grammertical aspect, its absolutely wrong to say "what do you doing", but I don't know why it always sounds like this to me
..Also, I always have troubles pronouncing what-questions, especially when there is an "are" after "what". I know that T is pronounced as a reduced D in some situations, but even this wont make it easier for me, I always have to break it down and stop after each word when asking what question.
Thanks,
Top answer
) In informal spoken American English, the contraction "what're" usually sounds something like "whadda". The T in the word "what" is somewhere in between a T and a D sound, but probably closer to D. And the R in "what're" is often not pronounced at all.
- ) In informal spoken American English, the contraction "what're" usually sounds something like "whadda".
- The T in the word "what" is somewhere in between a T and a D sound, but probably closer to D.
- And the R in "what're" is often not pronounced at all.
- That's why you think you're hearing "what do".
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4 Answers
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Hi Anon
Probably what you're hearing is probably something like this:
"Whadda ya doin'?" (= What're you doing?)
In informal spoken American English, the contraction "what're" usually sounds something like "whadda". The T in the word "what" is somewhere in between a T and a D sound, but probably closer to D. And the R in "what're" is often not pronounced at a
Probably what you're hearing is probably something like this:
"Whadda ya doin'?" (= What're you doing?)
In informal spoken American English, the contraction "what're" usually sounds something like "whadda". The T in the word "what" is somewhere in between a T and a D sound, but probably closer to D. And the R in "what're" is often not pronounced at a
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Hi Amy,
Thank you very much for your helpful answer, it really explained everything, now it makes sense
Thank you very much for your helpful answer, it really explained everything, now it makes sense
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What you hear as an R in "water" (warer) we natives hear as a D, and we would spell the pronunciation as "wader", but I think you've got the general idea correctly. In American English there are many cases where T sounds like D (You would say, "sounds like R".)
CJ
CJ
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Hi,
I get this question a lot from my online students. A related word inside the WH question you have mentioned is 'gonna' instead of going to.
Regards,
Steve Ford
I get this question a lot from my online students. A related word inside the WH question you have mentioned is 'gonna' instead of going to.
Regards,
Steve Ford
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