12- Consonant - vowel linking

Hi. I'm Tim and this is my Pronunciation Workshop. Here, I'm gonna show you how English is

really spoken. Come on, let's go inside.

Today, I'm going to tell you about perhaps the most

common feature of fluent English pronunciation. And to help me, I'm going to use one of these.

Now, I know you know what it is, but let's ask the people of London to describe it.

He's holding an egg. He's holding an egg.

He's holding an egg. He's holding an egg.

He's holding an egg.

An egg - that's two words, right? But, when we pronounce them, there's no gap in between

them. It almost sounds like one word. Listen again.

He's holding an egg. He's holding an egg.

He's holding an egg. He's holding an egg.

He's holding an egg.

In fluent English, when one word ends in a consonant sound and the next word begins in

a vowel sound, we link the two sounds together without a pause in between them. So, an egg

becomes anegg. This is called catenation. Here are some more examples.

He's in the garden.

I used to believe in Father Christmas, but not any more.

I had to give up jogging. He had it in his office.

Right, so you've heard the examples: you know the drill. Listen and repeat.

He's in the garden.

I used to believe in Father Christmas, but not any more.

I had to give up jogging.

He had it in his office.

Well done! Now remember, if you want to learn more about pronunciation, then please visit

our website, bbclearningenglish dot com. And that is about it from the Pronunciation Workshop

for now. I'll see you soon. Bye! Now I think I'm going to have this egg, for my lunch.

It is a hard-boiled egg, isn't it?

Voice: Oh yes Tim, yes, yes, it's definitely a hard-boiled egg.

Great, sounds good. Oh no no no no no! Ohhh, what a mess! Very funny.