Shadowing Practice: The 4 Ways Americans Pronounce "AT" - Learn English Speaking with Video
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182 sentences
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Hello!
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Welcome to English for Everyone.
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Today we're talking about the word at.
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Did you know the word at is never pronounced at?
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We pronounce it four different ways depending where it is in the sentence.
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We're going to talk about that today.
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The first pronunciation of at is eh, eh.
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The a sound is more closed and lazy.
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The T is not but a stop T where you put your tongue up and you stop.
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You stop the air.
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You don't release T.
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Look at that.
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Look at that.
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We pronounce the word at when it is before a consonant.
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M is a consonant, so we pronounce it at me.
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Look at me.
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Look at me.
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It.
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Look at me.
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Example.
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At the store is not pronounced.
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At is pronounced at the store.
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At the store.
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Because at is not stressed.
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And because it's before a consonant.
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Where is she?
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She's at the store.
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She's at the store.
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Let's practice.
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Where is Sophia?
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She's at the store.
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Where is Sophia?
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Very good.
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Example. At work.
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Pronunciation. At work.
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W is a consonant. At work.
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Where is Dennis?
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He's at work.
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He's at work.
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Where's Dennis?
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He's at work.
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Where's Dennis?
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Very good.
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Example, at school.
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Pronunciation, at school.
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Where are the kids?
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They're at school.
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Link the words.
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They're at school.
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Where are the kids?
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They're at school.
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Where are the kids?
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They're at school.
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Where are the kids?
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Very good.
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The second important pronunciation is here.
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We see the word at before a vowel.
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Before a vowel, the T changes to a flap D sound.
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The a is not open, it's closed at about seven.
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I wake up at about seven o'clock.
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What time do you wake up?
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Very good.
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What time do you wake up?
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I wake up at about seven.
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What time do you wake up.
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Very good.
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Example.
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At a restaurant.
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Pronounced at a restaurant.
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At a restaurant.
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She works at a restaurant.
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Where does she work?
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She works at a restaurant.
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Where does she work?
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Very good.
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Here we have two possible pronunciations.
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His.
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Sometimes we stress the word his if it's important information.
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Because we have the consonant sound, we pronounce at, at, with a stop t, at, at his house.
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Where is she?
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She's at his house.
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Where's the party?
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It's at his house.
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Another pronunciation, sometimes his is not stressed because it's not important information.
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For example, what are they doing?
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They're doing homework at his house.
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At his house.
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Here the T changes to a D because the H is silent because it's not stressed.
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It's not important information.
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Pronunciation, at his, at his.
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What are they doing?
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They're doing homework at his house. At his.
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They're doing homework at his house.
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Where's Sophia?
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She's at his house.
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And what are they doing?
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They're doing homework at his house.
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Where's Sophia?
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And what are they doing?
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Very good.
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Again, we have the same situation. For him and her.
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If it's important information, we say at her.
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Pronounce the her because it's stressed.
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At her house.
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We're having a party at her house.
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But if it's not important information, you will hear at her, at her, at her.
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They're watching a movie at her house.
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They're watching a movie at her house.
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At her, at her house.
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This pronunciation is used at her house when this is the important information, where is he?
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He's at her house.
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But if the important information is what they're doing, they're watching a movie, they're watching TV, at her house is not the important information.
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So they're watching TV at her house.
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Where are the boys?
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They're at her house.
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What are they doing?
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They're watching TV at her house. Where are the boys?
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And what are they doing?
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Very good.
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We have two pronunciations.
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Here, we stress the person, him.
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We pronounce the H.
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So the T is a stop T.
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At, at, at, at.
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Look at him.
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Look at him.
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Look at him.
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Another pronunciation.
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If you don't stress him, the H is silent.
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So the T changes to a D because you have two vowels.
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A fast D.
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Look at him.
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Look at him go.
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We have the same pronunciation for her.
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If you stress her, you have a stop T at her.
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Look at her.
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If we don't stress her, then the T changes to a D.
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edder edder the H is silent edder edder edder look at
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her look at her look at her go look at her
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go we have another pronunciation of at here we have at at the end of a question
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if you have at at the end of a question
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or sentence then you pronounce it at it's more open ah you have a stop T, at.
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We don't say at, stop T, at.
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So, what store is she at? At.
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What store is she at?
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Make a question with at.
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What store is she at?
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She's at Old Navy.
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Make a question with at.
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She's at Old Navy.
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He's looking at something in the tree.
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Make a question with at.
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What is he looking at?
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He's looking at the birds.
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Make a question with at.
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He's looking at the birds.
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Another pronunciation of at.
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If you have at before the letter y,
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the pronunciation at yi at yi changes with the ch sound like chicken at ch, at ch, at ch.
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Look at your room.
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Look at your room.
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It's such a mess.
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So we have two pronunciations.
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When you have the letter Y, because Y is a consonant, you can do a stop T.
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Look at, look at, look at your room.
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Look at your room.
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Or sometimes with the Y, it changes to ch.
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look at ch look at your room look at your room
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so remember the pronunciation of at is never at the most common two are at at before consonant at at at
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look at the picture at look at the picture and the other common one is at with a vowel.
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I work at a school.
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I work at a school.
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But also remember before a Y sometimes you hear a ch sound.
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Look at your room.
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It's such a mess.
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And we have at.
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It's more open.
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But you have to stop T. At.
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What are you looking at?
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At the end pronounce at.
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What are you looking at?
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Thank you for watching.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 182 sentences and 1076 words to shadow. The speech runs for 8:46. The speaker talks at a steady 123 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
12 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pronunciation noun | /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ | The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken. |
| pronounce verb | /pɹəˈnaʊns/ | To declare formally, officially or ceremoniously. |
| distress noun | /dɪˈstɹɛs/ | Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature. |
| homework noun | /ˈhoʊmˌwɝk/ | Exercises assigned by a teacher to a student which review concepts studied in class. |
| silent adjective | /ˈsaɪ̯lənt/ | Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet. |
| litter noun | /ˈlɪt.ɚ/ | Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals. |
| lazy adjective | /ˈleɪ̯zi(ː)/ | Unwilling to do work or make an effort; disinclined to exertion. |
| depend verb | /dɪˈpɛnd/ | To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition |
| consonant noun | /ˈkɑn.sə.nənt/ | A sound that results from the passage of air through restrictions of the oral cavity; any sound that is not the dominant sound of a syllable, the dominant… |
| edder noun | /ˈɛdɚ/ | A long flexible stick, rod or other piece of wood worked into the top of hedge stakes, to bind them together. |
| vowel noun | /ˈvaʊ.əl/ | A sound produced by the vocal cords with relatively little restriction of the oral cavity, forming the prominent sound of a syllable. |
| flap noun | /flæp/ | Anything broad and flexible that hangs loose, or that is attached by one side or end and is easily moved. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| wake up verb | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ | To stop sleeping; to awake. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is never pronounced · is not pronounced · is pronounced |
| Present continuous am/is/are + -ing — something happening right now or around now | we're talking · are they doing · They're doing |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 23 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, don't, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like pronunciation, pronounce, distress.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.