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¡¡¡¡Welcome to Daily tips on Learning English. Today's tip is on distinguishing ¡°can¡± and ¡°cannot¡± in spoken American English.

¡¡¡¡¡°Cannot¡± is usually contracted to ¡°can't¡±. So many learners of English assume that in order to distinguish between ¡°can¡± and ¡°can't¡±, one must listen for the final ¡°t¡± sound /t/. And when speaking, one must pronounce final ¡®t¡¯ sound /t/ clearly. However, this is not in fact how native speakers distinguish ¡°can¡± and ¡°can't¡±. People do not say ¡®I `can drive a car, but I can¡¯t drive a motorcycle.¡¯ People say ¡®I can `drive a car', but I `can't drive a motorcycle.¡¯ The difference between ¡°can¡± and ¡°can't¡± is in stress. ¡°Can¡± is not stressed, the verb after it is. ¡°Can't¡± is stressed. The verb after it is not.

¡¡¡¡Also since ¡®can¡¯ is not stressed, the vowel is reduced to /a/, so ¡°can¡± is actually pronounced ¡°can¡±. Listen to another example. ¡°I `can't go on Saturday, but I can `go on Sunday.¡± Did you hear the 't' sound? Did you notice the difference words being stressed? Listening again. ¡°I `can't go on Saturday, but I can `go on Sunday.¡± If you want to understand whether someone is saying he can or can't do something, you have to be listening for a stressed ¡°can't¡± or a verb stressed after ¡°can¡±. What does this mean? ¡°I can `speak Japanese, but I `can't speak Taiwanese.¡± That's right, I can speak Japanese, but I cannot speak Taiwanese. When you are speaking it is very important that you follow this rule too. When learners of English say I `can help you, native speakers often unsure what is meant because of improper stress. So remember, you can stress ¡°can't¡±, but you `can't stress ¡°can¡±.

¡¡¡¡This has been today's tip on learning English. Tune in tomorrow for another tip.