Are you gonna get GONNA right?!?

0:00 How many times can I use gonna in a short conversation?

0:03 Ha, [snorts] I challenged myself to write this conversation

0:07 to show you how we use gonna in conversational English.

0:11 My colleague Tom and I recorded this conversation.

0:14 I'm gonna tell John we were here.

0:16 You're not gonna tell John we were here.

0:18 And then I thought this would be more interesting

0:21 if I created AI characters to use our voices.

0:25 I made this AI copy for myself and I used this fake guy for Tom.

0:31 What do you think?

0:31 Did we nail it?

0:33 First, here's the conversation.

0:36 Then we'll do a full pronunciation analysis.

0:39 At the end of this conversation,

0:41 you'll have a better understanding of the rhythm of spoken American English.

0:46 Here's the conversation.

0:48 I'm gonna [snorts] tell John we were here.

0:50 You're not gonna tell John we were here.

0:52 I'm gonna tell John we were here cuz he's gonna know anyway.

0:56 John's not gonna know we were here.

0:58 He's gonna know we were here cuz he's gonna see that money's gone.

1:02 He's not gonna see that.

1:04 And if he does, he's just gonna think he lost it.

1:06 He's not gonna think we were here.

1:08 I still think I'm gonna tell him.

1:10 Now let's look at the analysis.

1:13 I'm gonna tell John we were here.

1:15 So it starts pretty high.

1:17 I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna tell I'm gonna tell

1:22 I'm gonna tell I'm gonna tell I'm gonna tell John.

1:26 So tell is our main verb here.

1:29 Gonna our helping verb.

1:31 I'm gonna I'm gonna gonna gonna gonna gonna gonna not stressed.

1:35 I'm gonna tell I'm gonna tell I'm gonna tell

1:39 tell We have a little bit of a scoop up.

1:43 I'm gonna tell John we were here.

1:48 And then everything comes down after that.

1:50 Tell John we were here.

1:55 Little bit of stress on the word here.

1:57 I'm gonna tell John we were here.

2:00 I'm gonna tell John we were here.

2:02 I'm gonna tell John we were here.

2:04 But gonna said very quickly, gonna gonna.

2:08 Linked with I'm.

2:09 I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna

2:15 I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna See if you can do it that quickly.

2:19 I'm gonna I'm gonna tell I'm gonna tell I'm

2:25 gonna tell I'm gonna tell John we were here.

2:28 And all of the energy volume comes down

2:33 from that peak of stress when we scoop up for tell.

2:38 I'm gonna tell John we were here.

2:40 I'm gonna tell John we were here.

2:42 I'm gonna tell John we were here.

2:44 You're not gonna tell John we were here.

2:47 You're not gonna You're not gonna Not gets quite a bit of stress.

2:53 Not.

2:53 And that is a stop T.

2:55 We don't release t with that sound.

2:59 We just have n not abrupt stop and then the G sound.

3:03 You're not gonna You're not gonna You're not

3:06 gonna Just like I'm was said very quickly here.

3:10 I'm I'm I'm I'm You are your is also said very quickly.

3:16 It actually reduces your becomes your your your with the schwa R sound.

3:25 So just think of it as a Y sound and an R sound.

3:29 Your your your your You're You're You're not gonna tell You're not gonna tell.

3:35 You're not gonna Then our unstressed word gonna just falling down in pitch.

3:44 You're not gonna gonna gonna gonna gonna gonna

3:48 gonna gonna gonna tell John we were here.

3:52 Tell John we were here.

3:54 So we have up down shape of stress on John.

3:57 John we were here.

4:02 I'm Rachel.

4:03 I have a background in opera singing and I've been

4:05 teaching the American accent to non-native speakers for over 20 years.

4:10 Scan this QR code or go to rachelsenglish.com/free to get my free course,

4:16 the top three ways to master the American accent.

4:19 It will blow your mind.

4:21 It will give you totally new ideas on how to get the sound you've always wanted.

4:27 John we were here.

4:29 John we were here.

4:30 John we were here.

4:31 The word tell it's a verb,

4:33 but it doesn't really get the stress the way John does in this sentence here.

4:38 You're not gonna tell John.

4:40 So not and John get the most stress here.

4:44 You're not gonna tell John we were here.

4:46 You're not gonna tell John we were here.

4:49 You're not gonna tell John we were here.

4:51 Whereas in my sentence, I stressed the action, what I was gonna do.

4:55 I stressed tell the most.

4:58 Tom wants to make sure I don't tell John.

5:00 So he's stressing the negative and the object, John.

5:06 He doesn't want John to know.

5:08 You're not gonna tell John we were here.

5:10 You're not gonna tell John we were here.

5:13 You're not gonna tell John we were here.

5:15 I'm gonna tell John we were here cuz he's gonna know anyway.

5:18 I'm gonna tell John.

5:20 So again, gonna helping verb not stressed, but tell and John both stressed.

5:28 So I am going to pronounced I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna

5:36 I'm gonna I'm gonna gonna It's almost like there's not even really a vowel here.

5:43 Usually in IPA, I would write this gonna with the uh as in butter vowel,

5:49 but I do think sometimes it's said so quickly that it's more like a schwa.

5:54 Gnna gnna gnna gnna gnna gnna gnna gnna gnna gnna

5:58 with kind of a feel that there isn't even a vowel there.

6:01 Gnna gnna gnna gnna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm

6:04 gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna tell John.

6:10 I'm gonna tell John I'm gonna tell John I'm gonna tell John we were here.

6:15 We were here.

6:17 And here stress goes up.

6:19 Here because I'm about to explain why.

6:25 We were here.

6:26 We were here.

6:27 We were here.

6:28 We were both unstressed, said very quickly.

6:32 We were we were we were we were here.

6:35 We were here.

6:36 We were here.

6:37 We were here cuz he's gonna know anyway.

6:39 Cuz he's gonna know anyway.

6:41 All of that stress is our one word know.

6:46 Cuz he's gonna know anyway.

6:49 Everything else just sort of leading up to that peak

6:51 of stress or falling away from that peak of stress.

6:55 Because he is going to becomes Cuz he's gonna Cuz he's gonna

7:04 Cuz he's gonna Cuz he's gonna Cuz he's gonna So because gets reduced,

7:10 it's just k schwa z.

7:14 Cuz cuz The H gets dropped in he's.

7:20 So now that's just the E vowel.

7:22 Cuz he's and the apostrophe S makes a Z sound.

7:30 Cuz he's gonna Cuz he's gonna Cuz he's gonna Cuz he's

7:36 gonna Cuz he's gonna Cuz he's gonna Cuz he's gonna know anyway.

7:41 Links together very smoothly and not very clear.

7:46 Know is our most clear stressed word, our main verb there.

7:52 Cuz he's gonna know anyway.

7:53 Cuz he's gonna know anyway.

7:55 Cuz he's gonna know anyway.

7:57 John's not gonna know we were here.

7:59 John's not gonna know we were here.

8:03 Three stressed words there.

8:04 None of them are gonna.

8:06 John's not gonna know we were here.

8:14 Everything else flatter in pitch, linking things together, less clear.

8:20 Again, we have a stop T.

8:22 Not gonna not gonna You're never gonna hear not

8:26 gonna not gonna You'll never hear that true T release.

8:30 It's always gonna be a stop T in this case when it's followed by gonna.

8:35 John's not gonna gonna gonna gonna John's not gonna

8:40 John's not gonna John's not gonna know we were here.

8:43 And again, we were said very quickly, a little bit unclearly.

8:48 We were we were we were we were We were We were We

8:52 were And then more stress and up down shape of stress on here.

8:57 We were here.

8:58 We were here.

8:59 We were here.

9:00 We were here.

9:01 He's gonna know we were here.

9:03 He's gonna know we were here.

9:05 So in this first part of the sentence, two stressed words.

9:10 He's gonna know our main verb.

9:14 Gonna know we were here.

9:18 He's gonna know we were here.

9:20 He's gonna know we were here.

9:22 He's gonna know we were here.

9:24 He's going to becomes He's gonna He's gonna He's gonna

9:31 He's gonna He's gonna He's gonna He's gonna He's gonna Again,

9:35 don't think of putting a clear uh vowel in here.

9:40 It's really more of a schwa because it's so fast, because it's said so quickly.

9:46 gonna gonna gonna gonna gonna gonna He's gonna

9:53 He's gonna He's gonna He's gonna He's going

9:57 to know we were here with that nice longer

10:00 up-down shape of stress on our two stressed syllables.

10:05 Know we were here.

10:07 And again, we were much faster, lower in pitch.

10:12 He's going to know we were here.

10:14 He's going to know we were here.

10:16 He's going to know we were here cuz he's going to see that his money's gone.

10:19 Cuz he's going to see that his money's gone.

10:22 So, we have our primary verb, our main verb stressed.

10:27 And a noun, his money, our object.

10:30 Going to, our helping verb again, unstressed.

10:33 So, because he is going to is pronounced cuz he's going to cuz he's going

10:41 to cuz he's going to cuz he's going

10:43 to cuz he's going to Again, because is reduced.

10:49 It becomes cuz.

10:51 K consonant schwa Z sound, cuz.

11:00 [snorts] And that Z links into the E vowel cuz we've dropped the H.

11:03 Cuz he's cuz he's cuz he's cuz he's That's also a Z.

11:08 Then going to going to.

11:11 I'm going to write that with two schwas.

11:14 Going to going to cuz he's going to cuz he's going to cuz he's going to cuz

11:23 he's going to cuz he's going to cuz he's going to see that his money's gone.

11:27 Cuz he's going to see then see a little bit longer,

11:30 a little bit of an up-down shape of stress.

11:34 This is usually the way our main verbs are.

11:38 They are usually stressed.

11:40 Let's look at the words that and his.

11:44 that is that is that is that is that is also unstressed and reduced.

11:54 This is the symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for the TH.

11:59 The A vowel changes to the schwa,

12:02 th This T actually becomes a flap T linking together two vowels,

12:09 the schwa and the I vowel because the H is dropped here.

12:14 that is that is that is that his Here in conversation,

12:20 that is that is that is that is The tongue is just a flap here.

12:25 Just a quick bounce up and down against the roof of the mouth.

12:29 That is that is that is that is that is

12:32 that is that is that is that is that his money's gone.

12:37 Money's gone.

12:39 So, stress on the first syllable that has the as in butter vowel and then

12:45 the second two syllables just come in as the voice falls off in pitch.

12:50 Money's gone.

12:53 Money's gone.

12:54 Money's gone.

12:56 Money's gone.

12:57 He's not going to see that.

12:58 He's not going to see that.

13:00 Okay, again, the negative word not, he's not, stop T.

13:06 Going [snorts] to see that.

13:09 And our main verb stressed.

13:12 Up-down shape of stress, a little bit longer.

13:15 Always a stop T followed by going to.

13:18 Not going to, not going to.

13:20 He's not going to see that.

13:21 He's not going to see that.

13:23 He's not going to see that.

13:24 Going to said so quickly.

13:26 Going to going to going to [clears throat]

13:27 going to going to going to He's not going to He's not going He's not going

13:33 to He's not going to see He's not going to see He's not going to see that.

13:39 See that.

13:40 Now, the vowel here doesn't get reduced.

13:44 We don't reduce it when it's at the end of a thought group.

13:47 See that.

13:48 That would be a little bit weird, so we keep the A vowel.

13:51 See that that that that Stop T.

13:54 It's still unstressed.

13:56 It's quieter, lower in pitch.

13:58 It's not that with an up-down shape of stress.

14:02 It is flat, but the vowel doesn't change to the schwa.

14:06 that that that See that.

14:09 See that.

14:10 See that.

14:12 See that.

14:12 And if he does And if he does, and if he Little bit on if,

14:17 and if he And if he And if he And if he does And if he does does [snorts]

14:29 So, we have the word and reduced.

14:32 and and and and and I would just write that schwa and not and but and and if

14:42 links into the word he with the H dropped and it's just the E vowel.

14:48 It's really common to drop the H.

14:49 You've noticed that here in he and in his.

14:52 Not so much at the beginning of a thought group,

14:56 but definitely in the middle of one.

14:58 And if he and if he and if he And if he And if

15:02 he does does This word has the as in butter vowel just like money.

15:08 Does.

15:09 And if he does And if he does And if he does And if he does,

15:14 he's just going to think he lost it.

15:16 He's just going to think he lost it.

15:19 just lost Our two stressed words.

15:26 Everything else flatter, quicker, lower in pitch.

15:31 Going to becomes going to just going to just going to just going

15:36 to just going to just going to just going to said so quickly.

15:40 It's very common in an ending T cluster to drop

15:45 the T if the next word begins with a consonant.

15:50 I'm just going to leave now.

15:51 I'm just going to put this here.

15:54 I'm just going to go see.

15:55 Just going to just going to No T.

15:58 just going to just going to just going to think he lost it.

16:02 Let's look at this word he.

16:04 It's in the middle of the thought group.

16:06 Is the H dropped?

16:08 just going to think he lost it.

16:10 just going to think he lost it.

16:11 just going to think he lost it.

16:13 Yep, thinky.

16:15 K linking right into the E vowel.

16:17 Thinky thinky.

16:19 Think he lost it.

16:21 Ending in a stop T.

16:22 Lost it.

16:24 think he lost it.

16:25 think he lost it.

16:27 think he lost it.

16:27 He's not going to think we were here.

16:29 Again, stress on not, he's not going to think we were here.

16:35 Not, up-down shape of stress, more length, more volume, stop T.

16:40 Not going to.

16:42 Going to, flat in pitch.

16:45 A little unclear.

16:46 Definitely unstressed.

16:48 He's not going to.

16:50 He's not going to He's not going to He's not going to think we were here.

16:54 He's not going to.

16:56 And then a little bit of stress on our main verb think.

16:59 Think.

17:01 He's not going to think we were here.

17:04 Here, little bit of up-down shape of stress,

17:06 and again, we were said flatly, said very quickly.

17:12 We were we were we were we were here.

17:14 We were here.

17:15 We were here.

17:17 We were here.

17:18 I still think I'm going to tell him.

17:19 I still think Stress on my adverb, I still think I'm going to tell him.

17:27 I still think I'm going to tell him.

17:30 And then the verb tell.

17:33 I still think I'm going to think I'm going

17:38 to all flatter unclear going to going to going

17:43 to going to said very quickly I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to tell him.

17:49 And then dropping the H in him, linking the L into the E vowel.

17:55 tell him tell him tell him tell him tell him Now,

18:01 let's take every sentence where we have a going to and let's

18:07 play just the going to three times in a row.

18:09 to I'm going to I'm going to going to going to going to going to going to going

18:22 to going to going to going to going to going

18:31 to going to going to going to going to going

18:41 to going to going to going to going to going to going to going to going to going

18:57 to going to going to going to going to going

19:05 to Let's listen to the whole conversation one more time.

19:10 I'm going to tell John we were here.

19:13 You're not going to tell John we were here.

19:15 I'm going to tell John we were here cuz he's going to know anyway.

19:18 John's not going to know we were here.

19:21 He's going to know we were here cuz he's going to see that his money's gone.

19:25 He's not going to see that.

19:26 And if he does, he's just going to think

19:27 he He's not going to think we were here.

19:30 I still think I'm going to tell him.

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19:50 That's it and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.