Fish and chips?
No, it's actually fish and chips.
So what happened to and?
And why does it disappear slightly?
Well, that disappearing and isn't slang or lazy English.
It's actually a perfect example of vowel reduction and the use of weak forms in British English.
In this English pronunciation lesson you'll learn why native speakers almost never say the full and strong pronunciation of, and how it changes in fast speech and becomes weaker.
And then we'll practice it together in real example sentences so you can sound more natural when you speak in English.
I'm Emma, a qualified pronunciation coach with a degree in English language and linguistics, a Cambridge CELTA teaching qualification and a master's in teaching English to speakers of other languages.
I've been teaching since I was 16 years old and I've helped thousands of learners from around the world sound clearer, more confident and more natural in English.
All right, let's dive into today's British English pronunciation lesson.
In clear, careful speech we say and with a very open and clear a vowel and a very clear d at the end.
And however, in fast, natural speech, we almost never pronounce it like that because it's too strong.
Instead, we use what's called a weak form, where the vowel sound becomes softer and weaker so and becomes and more commonly you'll hear this reduced even further to just un, which is what we're going to practice today, because that's much more common.
This is why you hear native English speakers saying things like fish and chips instead of fish and chips.
As a side note in informal writing and is sometimes just written as n in between two apostrophes like rock and roll and fish and chips.
So here are a few short phrases to help you practice the weak form of the word and.
I'll say it slowly with the strong form and then quickly with the weak form, for you to listen and repeat.
Rock and roll.
Rock and roll.
Bread and butter.
Bread and butter, black and white.
Black and white, salt and pepper, salt and pepper, Steve and John, Steve and John.
So do you hear how?
And becomes weak and quiet when you say it quickly.
By weakening the word, it makes it much quicker to say in sentences and therefore your speech sounds much more natural.
So now you know what's happening and how to pronounce the weak form of and as n.
You're probably wondering why do we weaken the word and but not other words in the phrases we practiced?
It's all about English stress patterns.
In English, we don't stress every word equally in a sentence.
Instead, we stress the important words that carry the content and meaning of the sentence, such as nouns, verbs and adjectives.
However, we weaken the little less important grammar words such as and of, to and for which, in rapid speech, are pronounced as an of to and for.
So, and becomes a weak n when said quickly in sentences to help us match the rhythm of the sentence.
If you stress every word in English, the sentence sounds very unnatural.
For example, her dress is black and white.
Her dress is black and white.
I eat bread and butter.
I eat bread and butter.
I love fish and chips.
I love fish and chips.
So you see that the focus, the emphasis stays on the main words, not the little grammatical words in between which, you probably noticed, are all softer and weaker.
Now let's practice these together in some short phrases and sentences.
Say each phrase slowly, first with the full, and then again naturally and quickly, three times with the weak form n Fish and chips.
Fish and chips, fish and chips, fish and chips.
Bread and butter, bread and butter.
Bread and butter.
Bread and butter, black and white, black and white, black and white, black and white, salt and pepper, salt and pepper.
Salt and pepper, salt and pepper, cup and saucer.
Now let's practice these in sentences.
Listen to the slow version with the strong form and then listen carefully again with the natural quick version, with an.
We had fish and chips for dinner.
We had fish and chips for dinner.
She bought bread and butter from the shop.
She bought bread and butter from the shop.
The film was black and white.
The film was black and white.
Can you pass me the salt and pepper?
Can you pass me the salt and pepper?
So that's the end of today's British English pronunciation lesson.
I hope this has helped you understand why and often sounds like in fast, natural English and how you can use this weak form confidently to sound more natural and fluent.
If this video has helped you, give it a like, share it with a friend who's learning English and subscribe for more practical British English pronunciation lessons every week.
I'll see you in the next lesson!
Bye bye!
