Linking Rules Simplified

Words in English rarely stand alone. They connect by a few simple sound rules that, once learned, sharpen both your speaking and listening.

• Consonant to vowel: a word ending in a consonant blends into a next word starting with a vowel. "Turn off" becomes "tur-noff"; "pick it up" becomes "pi-ki-tup."
• Same-sound deletion: when one word ends and the next begins with the same consonant, you say it once. "Hot tea" sounds like "ho-tea."

Knowing these rules makes your own speech smoother and helps you decode fast native speech that once sounded like gibberish.