Native Speech

There are a lot of conversations about speaking in my classes. Students say that native speakers are hard to understand and that speaking English like a native is very difficult. If you have these problems, read this post to learn about one thing that will help you understand natives and begin to speak like native speakers.

Deleted H Sound

In another post, I wrote about using connected speech in English. One reason why we use connected speech in English is to make less work for the tongue and the mouth. One reason that connected speech is less work is because in connected speech, we delete, (take out), some sounds. In this post, I will talk about how English speakers sometimes take out the H sound when they speak.

The Why

Why do native speakers take out the H sound? It is because when a content word, a word, a more important word, is connected to a function word, a less important word, it is often easier to change from the sound at the end of the content word to the vowel in the function word. For example, there is a short I sound in the word “him,” and a V sound at the end of the word “gave.” The word “gave” is a content word and “him” is a function word. In English sentences, these two words are usually connected. It is easier for the tongue to move from the V sound to the short I sound when there is no H sound. So the phrase will look like this:

gave-im.

It is important for you to know that the vowel will also change in connected speech, but we will focus on the deleted H in this post.

The When

When do we take out, or delete the H sound? We do this when a function word, a pronoun or helping verb, is connected to a content word. Example words are: “her,” “him,” “his,” and “had.” The word “had” only loses the H sound sometimes. The H is also deleted when two function words are connected. Keep reading for some practice.

Content Words with Function Words

Now, we will look at two examples to understand the idea that the H is deleted when a content word and a function word are connected.

She gave him a book.

This sentence has the phrase “gave him” in it. Remember that the phrase will become “gave-im.” This means that the words in the sentence will be connected like this:

She-gave-im-a book.

You will see that other things are happening, but the deleted H is the important thing now. Here is another example sentence with a different word.

Where’s his dad?

Remember that the H is deleted. So here is the connected speech:

Where’s-is dad?

Can you pronounce these examples?

What’s-her name?

What’s-er name?

Where’s he going?

Where’s-e going?

Function Words with Function Words

We also delete the H sound when there are two function words connected. Here are two examples explained.

She told them her name.

The H in “her” is deleted. So the phrase is “them-er.”

She told-them-er name.

And one more example:

He told her his name.

Two H sounds will be deleted here.

He told-er-is name.

This example shows a content word connected to a function word, and that function word is connected to another function word. Here are two more examples to practice.

He gave them his number.

He gave-them-is number.

They told him his idea was great.

They told-im-is-idea was-great.

Review

To review a little, connected speech helps speakers to do less work with their tongues and mouths. In connected speech, some sounds, like the H sound, are deleted. The H can be deleted when a content, (important), word is connected to a function, (less important), word, or when two function words are connected. Try to pronounce all of the examples in this post and practice sounding like a native speaker.

Your Turn

Also think about other examples of deleting the H sound. Can you remember hearing native speakers do this? Give examples in the comments section. Also, here is the video of a class that I have taught on this subject. Watch if you want to hear many new examples and to hear how sentences sound with a deleted H.