Pronunciation of the true T and the flap

The true T (as in talk, to, terrible, talk, true, stop, return) occurs at the beginning
of words either alone or with other consonants (e.g., st, str) or in the middle of
words at the beginning of a stressed syllable.
When pronouncing the true T, you need to stop the airflow then release the air in
a burst. The /t/ is an unvoiced consonant meaning that there is no vibration in your
vocal cords. On the other hand, vibration occurs in the /d/ sound.
Beginning /t/ words
two
temperature
today
teapot
take

ST words
storm
stew
steam
steel
steep

STR words
straw
stream
strain
strong
strum

Middle /t/ words

winter
return
guitar
potato
eighteen

Notice that the true T makes a puff of air in words that begin with t. However,
with the ST or STR, the true T loses that strong puff of air.
Lets Practice
table
tap
teach
time
toy
turn
touch

stamp
stem
stick
stop
stage
stairs
star

straight
stranded
straps
strawberry
strength
stretch
strike

attack
between
eternal
Italian
mistake
particular
retire

Say the following words aloud: water, little, better

The /t/ sound in the words above do not contain the true T but rather the flap //.
Do not confuse the IPA for the flap T (//) with the r sound.
Notice the difference between the true T and the flap T when saying the following
girls names.
Matilda
Natalie
Unlike the true T, the flap T is voiced and there is no puff of air. The location of
word stress and vowel length can be helpful clues in identifying the difference
between the two T sounds.
For example:

liter
writer

leader
rider

Pronunciation of the true T and the flap

In most cases, youll have enough context to help you tell the difference between
similar sounds.
For example:

I won a medal.
Metal chairs are uncomfortable.
Scary movies make me shudder.
The window has a broken shutter.

Whats the difference?

The true T is always stressed. However, when the syllable begins with an
unstressed T, it will be pronounced as a flap. A flap T is unstressed.
When to use the flap
There are several different situations in which the T is flapped.

1. // is between 2 vowels
Examples:

biting
waiting

heated
invited

2. // is either before, after, or before & after /3:/

Examples:

artist
hearty
forty

daughter
waiter
water

quarter

3. // is spelled with a double T (tt)

Examples:

bitter
batter
butter

lettuce
litter
kitty

motto
ditto
latter

4. // is before an unstressed /l/ sound

Examples:

battle
bottle

hospital
mortal

5. // is between 2 sounds/words
Examples:

I bought a CD of lessons.
Itll be useful.
Oh no! Where did I put it?

Pronunciation of the true T and the flap

Lets Practice!
Say these words aloud & identify the flap T.
1. tattoo

photo

2. Peter

petite

3. fatter

faster

Identify all the flaps.

automatic
mentality
potato
starting
total
totally
Tongue twister time!
Mr. Tongue Twister tried to train his tongue to twist and turn, and twit and twat to
learn the letter T.