the phrase: Be careful.

This is part of a sentence study series, where we look at a short, common phrase, and discuss

its pronunciation.  First let's look at it up close and in slow motion.

Let's look at the stress. da-DA-da, be careful. This is a three-syllable phrase with stress

on the middle syllable. Click here to see the video I made on three-syllable phrases,

or see the link in the description.

We start with the B consonant, so the lips are together, and we're voicing it, bb, bb.

Then they part and we have the EE vowel. The jaw doesn't really need to drop for that,

and the corners of the lips might pull a little wide, be. The tongue tip is here, touching the

back of the bottom front teeth. Next we have the K consonant sound. To transition into

that, simply lift the back of the tongue to the soft palate, Be c-. Care-. The EH as in

BED vowel followed by the schwa/R sound here. The jaw will drop a good bit for this vowel, especially

when it's in a stressed syllable. Ca-, ca-. The tongue tip is forward, touching the back

of the bottom front teeth, but then it starts to pull back for the schwa/R. So for the R, the

tongue has pulled back so it's fatter, and the tip isn't touching anything. The tongue

will touch the roof of the mouth, or maybe the teeth, about here. Care-. This is our

stressed syllable, so it will be longer, and have that up/down shape of the voice. Care-ful.

Now we have the F so the bottom lip will come up and make contact with the top front teeth.

The tongue will come back down again for that sound. So it pulls back and moves forward again, it's

a quick motion to make the R. Caref-. Now we have the schwa/Dark L sound. You can really

get by with just making the Dark sound, that's what most Americans do. So, let your lip relax

down from the F. Keep your tongue tip where it is, and pull the back part of the tongue

back, uhl, to make that dark sound, -ful, -ful. You don't need to bring the tongue tip

up, just leave it down. Careful, careful. Be careful! da-DA-da, be careful.

Let's watch one more time in slow motion.

This video is part of a series. Click here to see other videos just like it. 

If you have a phrase you'd like to suggest for this series, please put it in the comments.

That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.