The Surprising Native Pronunciation of CAN (1 Minute Video)

Did you know that native speakers often pronounce the modal verb “can” much differently than you probably learned in school? In fact, we often shorten it so the “a” in can is pronounced as a short i /?/ sound (like “kitchen”).

Watch this 1 minute episode of RealLife TV to learn how we do it.

 Transcript

Hey guys, I’m Justin, welcome to another one minute lesson from RealLife TV.

Today I’m going to teach you about how to pronounce “can” in all the different ways.

So, the modal verb can is only pronounced as can, with an “a” sound, when you’re asking questions. Can you, can I, can he, can they, can we?

When you make an affirmative sentence, you say “I kin,” “he kin,” “we kin,” “they kin.”

So, this is how native speakers speak in connected speech and we shorten our words, we shrink them, and we speak with a little bit more rhythm.

So, thank you for watching RealLife TV today, and until next time. Take care!