How to Pronounce Can vs. Can't -- American English Accent

ESL: How to tell the difference between CAN and CAN'T in American English.

Buy a download of this video to watch offline and ad-free!

Improve your American Accent / spoken English at Rachel's English with video-based lessons and exercises.

Cải thiện nói tiếng Anh Mỹ / 음성 미국 영어를 향상 / 話されているアメリカ英語を向上させる / Улучшение говорил американский вариант английского языка / Meningkatkan berbicara bahasa Inggris Amerika / Melhorar a fala Inglês Americano / Mejorar el habla Inglés Americano / 提高口语的美式英语 / बात अमेरिकी अंग्रेजी में सुधार / تحسين يتحدث اللغة الإنجليزية الأميركية

...with Rachel's English!

subscribe:

[rachelsenglish]

Want to train with me LIVE? → bit.ly/re_a
You’ll LOVE my book: bit.ly/re_bk
Start my FREE 10-day mini course: bit.ly/re_n

[mr.nobody]

Now I understand why they use "affirmative" and "negative" in military operation. It's death and life difference sometimes.

[beefbeefbeef]

THANKS! Recently some one told me "you cant park there", i parked there and got a ticket...

[andrewruizdavila]

sometimes I prefer to say "cannot" because I'm afraid of saying "can't" wrong 😅😅😅

[DzmitryLazerka]

"You can come" vs "You can't come" are easily differentiated by what word you put the stress on: "come" or "can't", not by pronunciation of "can" vs "can't".

[popcorn]

That is CRAZY. lol My American friends told me that they sometimes get confused while hearing can and can't, and I was like "Isn't your native language?" lol

[alexandria.f]

Sometimes even as a native speaker, my friends sometimes ask each other “can or can’t??” So don’t give up !

[cesarolavo]

I think it may be easier to figure out the difference by paying attention to the *whole* sentence and listening where the sentence's stress lies. In the negative sentence, the stress is in 'can't': "I *can't* come"; in the afirmative sentence, the stress is in the predicate (in this case, in 'come'): I can *come*.

[gjrl]

it sounds the same to me :( is difficult to me 😔

[Philrc]

This is the advantage of British English because we pronounce 'can' as /kæn/ and 'can't' as /kɑ:nt/ . . The difference in the vowel sound makes it clear which one is being used even if you cant hear the 't'.

[ulisesgonzalezhorta]

I'm still unable to hear the difference, I understood all that you said, but still is the same for me. I'm gonna cry

[ricardobotti]

You can also group the "can" and the verb that follows. For affirmatives, the stress goes to the verb ( I can PLAY) and the can is softer. On the negative the stress is on the CAN'T and the verb is softer.

[mateuspatzlaffbittencourt]

2:18 It's so funny because it sounds the same to me.

[rachelsenglish]

Yes, sometimes we have to ask for clarification!

[MassimoDiLello]

How can you rely on two similar sounds for two opposite meanings?

[jingtian]

I am often confused by can and can't when people speak them. Thanks so much, Rachel! It is so useful and now I just need more time to listen and practice to totally distinguish them.

[trecime]

I am a non-native speaker, but speak quite fluently... This one is the most frustrating thing. So, I ask back when it is not clear, "Is it can or cannot?" Not fun.

[MrDigoBarbosa]

It's so hard... Oh my gosh... Hehe. Thanks Reachel for dedicate your time for teach us!! God bless you.... Kisses from Brazil!

[rachelsenglish]

Right, CAN is often a helping verb, which means it is unstressed (often reducing to [kən], as explained in the video. It does not reduce when it is the main verb in the sentence.
Best,
Rachel

[rachelsenglish]

Yes, CAN is very often unstressed (when it is not the main verb). I have a video on how to pronounce CAN in these unstressed situations.