914 - Sunday Speak - Ya Didja Whaddaya - Connected Speech In American English

Hey there! It’s Michael here — and welcome back to another Happy English Sunday Speak. I’m here every Sunday with a quick one-point tip to help you speak English more naturally. 

Now, In spoken American English, we often connect words together, and when we do, the sounds change. That’s called connected speech. You’ll hear it all the time in words and phrases like ya, didja, and whaddaya.

• So instead of saying “Do you”, Americans usually say “d’ya” or just “ya.”
  •  “Do you like sushi?” → “D’ya like sushi?” or “Ya like sushi?”
• Instead of “Did you”, we say “didja.”
  •  “Did you see that movie?” → “Didja see that movie?”
• And instead of “What do you,” we say “whaddaya.”
  •  “What do you think?” → “Whaddaya think?”
  •  “What do you mean?” → “Whaddaya mean?”

This kind of connected speech makes English sound smoother and faster — the way people really talk. So next time you listen to native speakers, try to catch those little sound changes. Ya hear ’em? That’s connected speech!

Thanks for listening. And remember to like, follow, and subscribe so you won’t miss the next Happy English Podcast and next week’s Sunday Speak. Until next time, keep learning and keep it cool.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, it's Michael here and welcome back to another
Happy English Sunday Speak. I'm here every Sunday with a
quick one point tip to help you speak English more naturally. Now,
in spoken American English, we often connect words together, and

(00:24):
when we do, the sounds change. That's called connected speech.
You hear it all the time in words and phrases
like ya, didya? And what do you? So? Instead of
saying do you, Americans usually say doa or just ya?

(00:47):
Like do you like sushi? Becomes do you like sushi?
Or you like sushi? Instead of did you? We say didja?
Did you see that movie? Did you like it? And
instead of what do you? We say what do you?

(01:13):
What do you think? Becomes what do you think? What
do you mean? Becomes what do you mean? This kind
of connected speech makes English sound smoother and faster the
way people really talk. So the next time you listen
to native speakers, try to catch those little sounds. Did

(01:36):
you hear them? That's connected speech. Thanks for listening, and
remember to like, follow and subscribe so you won't miss
the next Happy English podcast and next week's Sunday Speak.
Until next time, keep learning and keep it cool