The Flap Sound the tip of the tongue hits the top of the mouth very fast its

ts a fast D

We do not find the flap sound in all positions in a word in American English. We only find it between
vowels. Specifically, we only find the flap sound between vowels when the following vowel is not
stressed.

Also, a flap can be found at the ends of words when the following word begins with an unstressed
vowel. For example, in the sentence "I will read a book," the D at the end of read will sound like a flap.

A learner of English who wants to keep T and D distinct in all situations will be understood. However, if
you want to sound like a native speaker of American English, it is useful to learn when to pronounce T or
D as a flap.

Examplesofflapping
betting/bedding
boating/boding
coating/coding
grater/grader
hearty/hardy
kitty/kiddie
liter/leader
latter/ladder
matter/madder
metal/medal
Patty/Paddy
rater/raider
writer/rider
shutter/shudder
waiter/wader

(Stressed vowels are marked with the acute accent ().

before unstressed vowel before syllabic /l/

after stressed vowel wter, debting, ldder, ltter ftal

rlative, metablic, ply it agin,

after unstressed vowel hspital
hppy togther

after /r/ drty, artifcial, cmforting, hrdy, herty trtle

after /n/ incidntal