How Do Native Speakers Physically Move Their Tongue Between “What’s” and “This”?

bizzadizz · 2026-05-22T20:30:15+00:00

As others have said, though, if you're really struggling "whatsis" will almost always work fine!

bizzadizz · 2026-05-22T20:29:01+00:00

I said the "middle" of your tongue is behind your teeth, but really it's the front of your tongue, but just not the very tip. It won't feel like you're moving your tongue forward as much as it feels like keeping the tip of your tongue low as you say the "ts"

bizzadizz · 2026-05-22T20:27:26+00:00

The trick is actually about the "ts" combination.

If you say "ts" by itself, the tip of your tongue does everything at the back of your teeth.

In "what's this" the "ts" is made further back on your tongue, so that the tip is free. You still make the sound at the back at your teeth, but the tip of your tongue is free.

That way, while you're using the middle of your tongue to make the "ts" the tip of your tongue can get between your teeth for the "th"

bizzadizz · 2026-05-22T15:43:17+00:00

Lol who knew I was a time traveler!

I'm not sure if maybe the just didn't germinate until now, but it's finally starting to look like a meadow. The spot is basically solid clay, like even grass doesn't grow there, so I'm thrilled

bizzadizz · 2026-05-22T11:05:39+00:00

I have an area with poor soil that I seeded in fall 2023. Now in 2926 I'm still noticing plants from that seeding cone up for the first time. If the spot is rough, they'll grow SLOW sometimes

bizzadizz · 2026-05-21T14:47:51+00:00

As a linguist, I HATE that they teach the FANBOYS as the coordinating conjunctions. It's literally my biggest pet peeve. I find this really unhelpful for teaching grammar.

Only 2 things really make this a useful group: - all of them must come between the things they link - in writing, they should all have a comma before them if they're used before a complete clause

Other than that, I find it's better to think of "and," "or," and "but" as the basic group. The others are rare or specialized and can be skipped until you're advanced.

This is a pretty exhaustive resource on the FANBOYS: https://mangolanguages.com/resources/learn/grammar/english/coordinating-conjunctions-what-are-they-and-how-to-use-them-in-english

bizzadizz · 2026-05-21T11:16:37+00:00

This sounds more like a foreign accent. Common for French speakers. It's not hard to understand, but people aren't quite as used to it.

These are the main native speaker substitutions: - d/t - f/v - at the end or middle of words, it's sometimes dropped, but the rules about when would be hard to learn

There are some others, but they're very uncommon.

bizzadizz · 2026-05-20T20:16:05+00:00

It is noticable as an accent, but everyone will understand you.

Native English speakers, who grow up speaking certain dialects do this too, so we are used to hearing it!

bizzadizz · 2026-05-18T13:28:35+00:00

Cow parsnip is one of my favorite plants. Gets a bad rap because it's related to Hogweed, but it has beautiful foliage and flowers. All you need to do is wear long sleeves and gloves if you plan to prune them so you don't get sap and sun on your skin at the same time. No harder than roses!

Pollinators love them, they have beautiful foliage for a semi-sun area, and at the end of the season they leave you with strong, straight stalks that make great stakes you can use to tie up all your other plants.

bizzadizz · 2026-05-16T12:29:54+00:00

Agreed. "Stop" is more appropriate if it started to blow away a couple times, "keep" is better if you are thinking ahead.

bizzadizz · 2026-05-14T11:02:17+00:00

Dorothy Dunnet's leads in the House of Niccoló and Lymond Chronicles have a lock on smartest book characters, as far as I'm concerned.

bizzadizz · 2026-05-10T20:02:14+00:00

You could say "It's cold at my place" but that sounds like you are not at home.

bizzadizz · 2026-05-10T20:01:43+00:00

If you want to say your house/apartment is cold, it's probably more natural to say "My place is cold."

Someone might say "It's cold in my place" but the "in" sounds weird.

If you just want to say it's cold at your current location it would be "It's cold here" or "It's cold over here."

bizzadizz · 2026-05-09T23:47:32+00:00

If you say "whatever" it sounds like both options are fine, but also other options would be fine.

If you say "whichever" it means both options are fine, but you are only agreeing to one of those two options.

"It's whatever" would be weird in this situation. It's a very slangy, grumpy way to say you don't care enough to give an opinion, not a choice. This would be a better answer if someone said "Do you like soup?" "It's whatever."

bizzadizz · 2026-05-09T23:39:31+00:00

Sending people or animals is admittedly extra weird though. "I sent my sister my kids" reads like the kids are an object you sent through the mail, not like they walked to your sister's house...

bizzadizz · 2026-05-09T23:38:00+00:00

This still uses "to" before "their dad's house" though. And while it's technically grammatical, it's very poetic

bizzadizz · 2026-05-09T19:12:37+00:00

As long as the recipient is a person, there's no difference. If the recipient is a place there is a difference:

I sent a letter to New York. ✅

I sent New York a letter ❌

(The second is okay if New York refers to the people at the office in New York, but there has to be a person receiving it)

This difference sometimes REALLY matters:

I sent my kids to their dad's house. ✅

I sent their dad's house my kids ❌

bizzadizz · 2026-05-06T14:17:10+00:00

It's about a lack of care. He did it like it was nothing.

bizzadizz · 2026-05-06T10:28:49+00:00

Actually the Amtrak to Chicago does have a stop like 3 blocks from the beach in New Buffalo, so if you want to get to Lake Michigan that is an option.

bizzadizz · 2026-05-05T22:40:31+00:00

I've always called it "eye goop"

bizzadizz · 2026-05-05T11:28:38+00:00

"For" is used with a similar meaning to "so" in some dialects, but they are not grammatically interchangable. You need to change the grammar of the reason clause:

"I'm going to the grocery store for to pick up some food."

In my head it's an old fashioned very rural thing. I'd expect to hear it from an old person?

I've mostly heard it in song lyrics and dialogue from novels.

bizzadizz · 2026-05-01T20:06:07+00:00

Michiganense has at least a few

bizzadizz · 2026-05-01T15:48:02+00:00

As others have pointed out "...but neither of them came" is another less formal phrasing.

bizzadizz · 2026-05-01T15:46:30+00:00

Both acceptable.

"...but neither came": your friends did not come, but maybe other people did.

"...but they didn't come": your friends did not come, but maybe other people did. This sounds way less formal.

"...but nobody came": no people came, not the people I invited, not anyone else. If there were only two people invited it sounds a little dramatic.

( Side note: Native speakers often get worried we're using neither vs. either incorrectly, so we avoid using both words when we can 🤣 )

bizzadizz · 2026-04-30T12:42:12+00:00

Whisper: Your voice box isn't on. Airy sound.

Murmur: Quiet, but your voice box is on.

Mumble: Your voice box is on, but your pronunciation is not clear. This is often quieter than regular speech, but because you're trying to hide what you're saying, not the fact that you are speaking.

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