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Lesson Transcript

Hi everyone! Welcome to The Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide.
In this lesson, you'll learn about metaplasms.
In Spanish, words are connected together when the final syllable of a word is identical or very similar to the beginning syllable of the following word.
You can kind of think of it as making two or more words into one big word.
This linking of words is what gives Spanish its alluring fluidity.
There are two types of connections you can make in Spanish - between vowels, and between identical consonants.
First, let's deal with connecting words that end and begin with vowel sounds.
quiere (want)
entrar (to enter / to come in)
Ella quiere entrar. (She wants to come in.)
decía (tell/say)
a (to)
ambos (both)
Martín se lo decía~a~ambos empleados. (Martin was saying it to both employees.)
As you can see, identical vowels will connect with each other.
When they connect, they combine to become one syllable and the vowel sound is prolonged accordingly.
Martín se lo decía~a~ambos empleados. (Martin was saying it to both employees.)
How about this one?
va
a
hacer
va a hacer (will do / going to do)
All three words are linked in this phrase, because remember, the H is silent in Spanish.
Let's look at a few other examples showing Unidentical vowels connecting with each other.
me (I)
inclino (bend)
me inclino (I bend down.)
como (to eat)
una (one)
como una (I eat one.)
As you can see, the nature of linking words together between vowels is both rhythmic and fluid.
volvió (to return)
a (to)
Europa (Europe)
Silvana volvió~a~Europa. (Silvana returned to Europe.)
Now that we've looked at connecting words together between vowels, let's take a look at connecting consonants together.
dicen (say)
nada (nothing)
dicen nada (They don't say anything.)
As you can clearly see, consonants can also be combined in Spanish.
How about this one?
Es fácil leer revistas simplonas. (It is easy to read simple magazines.)
Unlike vowels, however, consonants can only link if the sound is completely identical.
That's why the S and F are not connected in this example.
Listen to Alex again.
Es fácil leer revistas simplonas.
That's all for linking words together in Spanish.
In this lesson, you learnt how to speak fluidly by connecting words together in Spanish.
In the next lesson, you'll learn about accent reduction.
Can you think of another metaplasm example? Share it with us in the comments.
See you in the next Ultimate Spanish Pronunciation Guide lesson!

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