NotMeantToBe
Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2010
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Chinese
- Home Country
- China
- Current Location
- China
It's been a head scratcher to me for some time and I'd like to hear what native speakers would say about that.
In American English, "can't" and "can" are almost pronounced the same except for "'t". But "'t" is so subtle that I don't think that people could make it out easily. Most of the time we can infer from the conversational context whether it's "can't" or "can", but the context is not always reliable because sometimes we speak sarcastically (for example, "of course you can't" means actually "of course you can"). And there are situations where you simply don't have a context.
Also, sometimes "'t" is "oppressed" by the words following it, for example
1) You can't stop it.
2) You can stop it.
With a "s" following "'t", it seems to me that "'t" becomes inaudible.
I'd like to know if native speakers can always easily distinguish "can't" from "can".
Thank you.
In American English, "can't" and "can" are almost pronounced the same except for "'t". But "'t" is so subtle that I don't think that people could make it out easily. Most of the time we can infer from the conversational context whether it's "can't" or "can", but the context is not always reliable because sometimes we speak sarcastically (for example, "of course you can't" means actually "of course you can"). And there are situations where you simply don't have a context.
Also, sometimes "'t" is "oppressed" by the words following it, for example
1) You can't stop it.
2) You can stop it.
With a "s" following "'t", it seems to me that "'t" becomes inaudible.
I'd like to know if native speakers can always easily distinguish "can't" from "can".
Thank you.