Lessons Unit 1, lesson 44
ɾ as in butter
One consonant, on its own page. Hear it, watch where it sits in each word's sheet, then say the words yourself.
What do the marks mean?
Want the full walkthrough? Read the map explains every mark, with practice.
ɾthe fast t in butter
Between vowels, American t becomes one quick tap of the tongue — butter comes out like budder. Soft and fast; a full hard t there sounds over-careful.
Now say it yourself
Read each word from its sheet, out loud, three times. Where there's a play button, listen first and copy what you hear. Slow is fine — speaking clearly matters more than speaking fast. Tap a word's microphone to record yourself and see which sounds landed.
Check your pronunciation, on this device. The first use downloads a small AI listener (about 40 MB, one time, then it's cached). Your voice is analyzed here in your browser — it never leaves your device.
The tap that isn't quite t or d
This is American English's favorite shortcut: when t or d lands between two vowels, it turns into one quick, light tap of the tongue rather than a firm stop. butter comes out closer to budder, and water to wadder.
It's fast and effortless — barely more than a flick of the tongue tip against the ridge, nothing like the crisp release you'd use to start a word like tea or day.
When to use it
Reach for the flap only between vowels within a word or across a word boundary, as in city, better, or little. If you use a full, hard t there instead, it isn't wrong, but it sounds unusually careful or formal to American ears.
Don't overcorrect and flap every t you see — a t at the start of a word, like in time from an earlier lesson, keeps its normal crisp release and puff of air.