How to say words like CERTAIN and MOUNTAIN | Glottal Stop, Glottal T

Yet another funny thing Americans do with the T sound! In this American Accent lesson you’ll learn all about the Glottal Stop, or the Glottal T, which you hear when native speakers pronounce words like certain, mountain and button.

Key Takeaways:

1. The Glottal Stop/Glottal T is pronounced in the throat, by bringing the vocal cords together to stop the air flow.
2. The Glottal Stop occurs in words where a syllable ends in /t/ and the next syllable is a syllabic N.
3. Using a True T instead of a Glottal Stop/T does not impact your clarity. Practicing the Glottal Stop can be helpful if your goal is to sound more native.

20 Common Words Native Speakers Pronounce with a Glottal Stop:

1. Certain: Are you certain about that?
2. Mountain: I have a mountain of laundry to fold.
3. Fountain: Let’s meet at the fountain at noon.
4. Curtain: Can you close the curtain?
5. Threaten: Don’t threaten me!
6. Written: When was this written?
7. Tighten: We need to tighten our security.
8. Eaten: I haven’t eaten all day.
9. Gotten: I haven’t gotten it yet.
10. Forgotten: It’s already forgotten.
11. Brighten: I hope this brightens your day! (Makes your day better)
12. Kitten: What a precious kitten!
13. Frighten: I didn’t mean to frighten you.
14. Rotten: That’s a rotten deal. (A bad deal, not fair)
15. Mittens: I’ve lost my mittens!
16. Bitten: I was bitten by the neighbor’s ferret.
17. Button: Don’t press that button!
18. Cotton: I think this is made of cotton.
19. Manhattan: Have you ever been to Manhattan?
20. Important: It’s not important.