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Pronunciation of can’t | ||
Tags: Pronunciation | English | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| chenshujian Diglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5454 days ago 122 posts - 139 votes  Speaks: Mandarin*, English Studies: French | Message 1 of 68 07 February 2012 at 3:14am | IP Logged |
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when i am watching English films, i can not tell the difference between "can" and "can't"? They sound the same to me.
It bothers me a lot! Who can help me with the confusion? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ellsworth Senior Member United States Joined 4961 days ago 345 posts - 528 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Irish | Message 2 of 68 07 February 2012 at 3:34am | IP Logged |
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Well you hardly ever are going to see "can" in a statement, and you are hardly ever going
to see "can't" in a question so you tell that way. I think because of that most people don't take the time to emphasize the "t." I would hear "I cando that" as a negative statement most of the time. Also, I think just continue trying. There is few easy ways to learn listening comprehension outside of repeated exposure. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5419 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 3 of 68 07 February 2012 at 5:28am | IP Logged |
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It's definitely a matter of emphasis and syntactical context.
In statements like these: "I can't go." "I can go." "Can't" will be emphasized in the first sentence, but "can" will just be glided over in the second sentence, unless specifically to to counter a previous belief that you couldn't go. "Can" and "can't" will be used in questions in different ways. Although, theoretically, the two sentences should be asking the same thing: "Can you go?" "Can't you go?" In actual usage, the first sentence is a neutral question, whereas the second sentence would usually be following a prior statement implying that the person couldn't go. If you happen to be familiar with music terminology, "can't" would typically be uttered as if it were a staccato note, whereas "can" would be glided over more as if it were a slur. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Cabaire Senior Member Germany Joined 5603 days ago 725 posts - 1352 votes | Message 4 of 68 07 February 2012 at 10:23am | IP Logged |
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I am confused about the problem. I always thought that both forms have completely different vowels. "can" as in "trap", but "can't" as in "father". Do some people (americans) drop the "t" and shorten the vowel in "can't"?
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5419 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 5 of 68 07 February 2012 at 10:43am | IP Logged |
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^ I have never heard of the two words having different vowel sounds. From all my time living in the US (i.e., from birth 'till now), I have always heard and used "can" and "can't" such that both rhyme with "trap". Certainly in other dialects of English the "a" may be pronounced differently, but I'd imagine it's still consistent between the two words.
As for "dropping the 't'", I'd say it's more like a glottal stop. If I say, "I can't go", and I pause at the "t", I invariably find myself not breathing. That's really the only way to voice the "t" without explicitly aspirating it, which sounds somewhat eccentric. Edited by nway on 07 February 2012 at 10:47am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5569 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 6 of 68 07 February 2012 at 11:30am | IP Logged |
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I think you are both right!
Cabaire is describing the sound of the two words in British English, where there is a different vowel quality in the two words - can as in trap, pan, and can't as in father, lather - i.e. a slight 'r' sound after the a. The 't' is, at least the way I say it, never dropped. American English is, I think, different, in particular Texan friends say the two words with the same pronunciation and with a light touch of the 't' or a glottal stop. The moral of the story - all films should be made in Britain as it makes the English easier to understand :) 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6601 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 7 of 68 07 February 2012 at 12:32pm | IP Logged |
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Yeah, we were taught to pronounce it as in father, despite the risk of turning it into a swear word if the vowel is too short.
It was just mentioned that it's different in American English. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| OneEye Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 6854 days ago 518 posts - 784 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, Taiwanese, German, French | Message 8 of 68 07 February 2012 at 5:19pm | IP Logged |
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Here's another instance where saying "pronounce it like this other word" doesn't work. Father and lather have different vowels in American English. We pronounce the 'a' in 'can' and 'can't' like the 'a' in 'lather'. :)
3 persons have voted this message useful |
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