4 Ways to Pronounce "T"

Remember, the rhythm of English, and the placement of letters in different words requires almost all of the letters in the alphabet to be pronounced in several ways, and the letter "t" is no exception. Here are four ways to pronounce that letter.

Clear “t” = the air comes up into the mouth, the tongue stops the air from leaving the mouth by touching the ridge behind the teeth, then the air is released “in an air puff” to make the “t” sound. A clear “t” is used:

at the beginning of words: to, take, tell

at the beginning of stressed syllables: until, hotel, return

within consonant clusters: stop, street, tree, fact, lift, melt, best, kept

Flap “t” = “d” sound is used:

in the middle of words, between two vowels: water, city, later, better

in between a word ending in “t” and a word starting with a vowel: what is, but I

Held “t” = the air comes up into the mouth, the tongue stops the air from leaving the mouth by touching the ridge behind the teeth, but it is not released. Held “t” is used:

at the end of words: about that, it was

at the end of a syllable, when the next syllable starts with a consonant sound: outside, apartment

when a word ends in the “nt” cluster: student, president

Vanishing “t”: the “t” is not pronounced:

usually when it is in words ending with: -sten, -ften, -stle,

after the “n” sound in an unstressed syllable: Internet, printer