Weak forms
- "to" was said in full. In the middle of a sentence it is a quick [tə].
How to practise
- Small words — a, the, to, of, for, and, can, from, them — are said very lightly when they are not stressed, with a short "uh".
- "a cup of tea" sounds like [ə ˈkʌp əv ˈtiː]: only "cup" and "tea" are strong.
- The same goes for unstressed syllables: "about" is [əˈbaʊt].