/t/ Consonant

The consonant [t] is a common sound and, for many learners, it does nor cause much difficulty. When you are pronouncing [t], your tongue tip should touch the upper gum ridge, NOT the back of your upper front teeth. [t] must be said with strong aspiration and a puff of air or it might sound like [d]. Some speakers tend to say [ts] instead of [t] before [u] or [tʃ] in place of [t] before [i] and [ɪ].

The letter t is usually pronounced [t]. The letters ed in past tense verbs are pronounced [t] when they follow a voiceless consonant. When [t] is between two vowels and follows a stressed syllable9 as in water, butter and city), it is NOT aspirated. When [t] follows s (as in stop, stay, stick), it is NOT aspirated with a puff of air.

Some speakers of various Asian languages tend to add the sound [o] to words ending in [t] in English (the word cat becomes cato, the word sit becomes sito). Be sure you avoid this extra vowel when practicing words with final [t].

Video tutorial: https://youtu.be/hGZ9GwrNWmU

Word	Transcription
To	/tu/
Ten	/ten/
Try	/traɪ/
Until	/əntɪl/
After	/æftɚ/
Empty	/empti/
Wanted	/wɑntɪd/
Attend	/ətend/
Return	/rɪtɝn/
Winter	/wɪntɚ/
Between	/bɪtwin/
Contain	/kənteɪn/
Printing	/prɪntɪŋ/
It	/ɪt/
But	/bʌt/
Ate	/eɪt/
Boat	/boʊt/
Tree	/tri/
Late	/leɪt/
Fruit	/frut/