Trouble with sound of "d" and "t"

Question

Hi teachers,1.  Would you tell me if Harry the bunny pronouns "d" or "t" when he says "Oh, I'm tired"?   I think I heard "t" sound.  I understand "d" with vibration in the throat, but "t" is not.2.  Same thing happens when I hear "ride", I thought I heard "rite" instead.  3.  When "-ed" in a sentence, I cannot detect if it's pronounced or being skipped.  Like "I'm thrilled", "The ladybug crawled on to my arm", "You asked me a question"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q8f6L0UOYsThanksTinanam

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

1. You're right; it's not a very distinct "d". It kind of morphs into "t". In "-ed" words this can happen. It tends to happen in my speech too.

2/3. Where in this video do these occur?

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Mr. Wordy,

Thanks for helping me. Would you say if you have to pronounce only "tired", you'd be more consciously pronounce it with "d" sound?

For 2 and 3 it's my questions and they are not in the video. I'm sorry I had put the link in the wrong place. Would you still help me?

2. Same thing happens when I hear "ride", I thought I heard "rite" instead. I heard someone say "Do you need a "rite"?" But I understand it meant "ride" because the car was there.

3. When "-ed" in a sentence, I cannot detect if it's pronounced or being skipped. Like "I'm thrilled", "The ladybug crawled on to my arm", "You asked me a question". Do you skip "ed" in your speech too?

Thank you very much

Tinanam

Mr Wordy · Answer

AnonymousThanks for helping me. Would you say if you have to pronounce only "tired", you'd be more consciously pronounce it with "d" sound?

By "only" tired, do you mean the word "tired" in isolation? If I say the word "tired" by itself then I tend to pronounce a fairly distinct "d".

Anonymous2. Same thing happens when I hear "ride", I thought I heard "rite" instead. I heard someone say "Do you need a "rite"?" But I understand it meant "ride" because the car was there.

I guess it's a general fact that "t" and "d" can sound similar. With some speakers this is more pronounced than others. From memory, I think American English speakers, and children and younger speakers in Britain too, have more of a tendency to pronounce "d" as "t". (I'm a BrE speaker.) Funnily enough, I think the difference between "rite" and "ride" is at least as much to do with vowel length as consonant value.

Anonymous3. When "-ed" in a sentence, I cannot detect if it's pronounced or being skipped. Like "I'm thrilled", "The ladybug crawled on to my arm", "You asked me a question". Do you skip "ed" in your speech too?

I find this easier to visualise in the case of "asked" than the other words you mention. This is because the consonant cluster "-sked" is a bit awkward (even for native speakers), so in fast or lazy speech it tends to get degraded.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Mr. Wordy,

I am sorry about "rite" and "ride". My listening was wrong.

If you read "The ladybug crawled on to my arm", do you sometimes read it "The ladybug crawl don to my arm"? I think I heard a co-worker sing something like that when I told her about this song.

I apologize in advance because I find it very hard to articulate my words.

Thank you.

Tinanam

Mr Wordy · Answer

AnonymousIf you read "The ladybug crawled on to my arm", do you sometimes read it "The ladybug crawl don to my arm"? I think I heard a co-worker sing something like that when I told her about this song.

If "The ladybug crawl don to my arm" made any sense then it would, in most people's ordinary speech, be pretty much indistinguishable from "The ladybug crawled on to my arm".

Kooyeen · Answer

In some clusters, the /t/ can be dropped completely, so -ed is not pronounced: "talk to me" and "talked to me" are pronounced the same because the cluster /ktt/ would be impossible to pronounce completely.
If you have trouble hearing the difference between /t/ and /d/ at the end of a word then... it's perfectly normal, because often the /t/ or /d/ sound can't be heard at all. Native speakers usually don't "release" those consonants at the end (that is, they don't make a puff of air), and therefore there can't be any real t's or d's.

By the way, next time (once you have seen this notice) I'll move this thread to the speech-and-pronunciation section, so that's where you should look if you can't find it.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Kooyeen, Hi Wordy,

Thank you for your help. I'm now closer to what I'm learning now.

Hi Kooyeen,

I've always bookmarked my posts. But thanks for being thoughtful.

Tinanam

Trouble with sound of "d" and "t"

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