A very kind greeting and great question from Taiwan!
“Happy new year, Jennifer!!! Wish u good health as well as wealth!!!
I’ve watched how to say ‘Pattern’ correctly and know I should pronounce in ‘D’ sound , but I feel confused because all the dictionary told me I should say ‘T’ sound like /patərn/ , and this is what I learned from school.
If the ‘D’ sound is correct like you said, how could I know that I need to change it into ‘D’ when it shows ‘T’ in dictionary?
And I found when you said ‘important’, hmm….. WHERE IS ‘T’, is that the same way to change into ‘D’ sound???
One more question please, that is, I can tell ‘can’ from ‘can’t ‘ in English accent, it’s crystal clear, but I can’t do that when I heard it from an American, I could only know the differences from their facial expression.
I know this may be a stupid question for the native speaker, please help me!!! Thanks!!!”
Thank you for your kind wishes. Happy New Year to you and your family too!
Yes, technically, this is a “T”, but it is a different kind of “T” called a “FLAP ‘T'”. The “FLAP ‘T'” sounds like a quick “D” sound, so that is how I teach it. We use it in America after stressed syllables in “butter” (budder); after an “R” in “dirty” (dirdy); after an “N” in “incidental” (incidendal); and after an “L” in “turtle” (turdle).
British English does not use the “FLAP ‘T'”. If your dictionary is British English, then the “T” is a “T”. Yes, this is confusing, I know, so to make it as simple as possible, I tell clients to focus on saying a “D” sound.
To answer your second question, the English or Bristish “T” is a “T”. They pronounce the “T” with an explosion of air so it will be very clear. The American version is pronounced very quickly with no air explosion. The “T” is there, just softer.
Thanks for watching and for the great questions!