I can walk home

[GoodTaste]

How to pronounce "can" in "I can walk home"? I set Siri of my iPhone in British English and talk to Siri:

(1) When reading the sentence "I can walk home", I pronounced "can" as /kən/ and Siri shows on screen with "I can walk home".

(2) When I pronounced "can" as /kæn/, Siri shows "I can't walk home".

(3) When I pronounced "can't" as either /kɑːnt/ or /kænt/, it correctly shows "I can't walk home".

The main question is (2): Is it Siri's mistake or is it in fact that native English speakers used to pronounce "can't" simply as /kæn/?

 

[Tarheel]

How should I pronounce "can" in "I can walk home"? I set Siri of my iPhone in British English and talk to Siri:

(1) When reading the sentence "I can walk home", I pronounced "can" as /kən/ and Siri shows on screen with "I can walk home".

(2) When I pronounced "can" as /kæn/, Siri shows "I can't walk home".

(3) When I pronounced "can't" as either /kɑːnt/ or /kænt/, it correctly shows "I can't walk home".

The main question is (2): Is it Siri's mistake or is it in fact that native English speakers used to pronounce "can't" simply as /kæn/?

The way I pronounce can it rhymes with man and ran. (If we were connected on Messenger I could demonstrate that for you with a voice message.)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Siri is wrong. You can pronounce can either way, depending on how much you want to emphasize it.

Can't can only be pronounced one way, which is probably why Siri is translating wrong.

(Cross-post.)

 

[GoesStation]

To the despair of learners everywhere, can and can't are often pronounced very similarly. Native speakers rarely have trouble distinguishing them, though. The trick is that the final /t/ in can't can be reduced to a glottal stop. You're probably doing the same thing inadvertently when you (try to) say /kæn/, leaving Siri to guess that you mean "can't".

I'm going to try to write a few words in IPA. I'll do my best, but there's a good chance I won't get them quite right. Sorry!

Americans generally pronounce can with a schwa except when we're emphasizing it or contradicting a negative assertion. You may hear a little argument between a child and her mother that sounds like this:

(CHILD) I [kæʔ]! ("I can't!")
(MOTHER) Yes, you [kæn]! You [kən] do it. ("Yes, you can! You can do it.") Just try!​

Try to keep your breath flowing when you say can walk. Does Siri understand you now?

 

[GoesStation]

For many Americans, the vowel in can't is the same as that in man, ran, and stressed can.

I'd say "nearly all Americans". Only a small part of the population of New England use different vowels there, as far as I know.

 

[GoesStation]

This video will help you learn how to say "can't":

[Enjoy the video, but don't emulate either the elocution teacher or her hopeless student.]

 

[jutfrank]

Can't can only be pronounced one way, which is probably why Siri is translating wrong.

No. The issue is identified in post #5.

In their strong forms, Americans speakers confusingly pronounce can and can't in very similar ways. Most British speakers pronounce them very differently.

 

[SoothingDave]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3khH9ih2XJg

Listen to Bob Seger. In the second verse (around 2:00), it's practically impossible to distinguish when he sings "most times you can't hear 'em talk. Other times you can."