# pronunciación - e (met)



## acirea222

Muy buenos días,

Quiero enviar lo siguiente a un profesor que dice que la letra "e" en español suena como la "e" en la palabra "met" de inglés.

Primero que nada, espero que estén de acuerdo con lo que estoy escribiendo.  Si no, quiero escuchar en como me equivoco.  Además siento que me falta una preposición (donde puse ):

Buenos días Señor ........,

Tengo un comentario sobre un error que siento  es bastante grave. 
Se lo encuentra aquí Http://..........................

Ud. explica que la letra "e" se pronuncia como la "e" en "met".  Pero, no es cierto.  La mayoría de las veces se pronuncia como la letra "e"  en "hey".  O sea, tiene el mismo sonido del vocal "a" en la palabra "hate".

Ejemplo:
Ella tiene seis ratones como mascotas.

AY-yah  tee-EH-nay SAYees rah-TOH-nays KOH-moh mas-KOH-tahs

Es verdad, que la "e" en "tiene" suena poquito más como la "e" en "met" como ud. dice.
Pero, de ninguna manera, explicaría yo que la "e" en español tiene ese sonido en general.


Gracias de antemano.


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## malumesa

Hola Acirea
Sin ánimo de empezar una discusión, creo que tu profesor sí tiene razón. 
La vocal "e" en español se pronuncia como tu profesor/a afirma (por lo menos en el español "tico" (el de Costa Rica).

Para darte una idea, sería el mismo sonido de las vocales "ai" en la palabra "said", o el de la "e" en "bet", o en la primera "e" de la palabra "b*e*tter" 

En el IPA, estaría identificada por el símbolo ɛ

Espero que esto te ayude.
Saludos


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## acirea222

malumesa said:


> Hola Acirea
> Sin ánimo de empezar una discusión, creo que tu profesor sí tiene razón.
> La vocal "e" en español se pronuncia como tu profesor/a afirma (por lo menos en el español "tico" (el de Costa Rica).
> 
> Para darte una idea, sería el mismo sonido de las vocales "ai" en la palabra "said", o el de la "e" en "bet", o en la primera "e" de la palabra "b*e*tter"
> 
> En el IPA, estaría identificada por el símbolo ɛ
> 
> Espero que esto te ayude.
> Saludos



No estoy de acuerdo.

Por ejemplo:

Es:        "AYS"      not   "ehs"
Escuela   :"ays-KWAY-lah"     not   "ehs-KWAY-lah"
Pretérito:   "pray-TAY-ree-toh"   not  "preh-TEH-ree-toh"
Imperfecto:   "eem-pair-FAYK-toh"   not  "eem-pehr-FEK-toh"


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## malumesa

Hola de nuevo
Para ponértelo sencillo
Las vocales en español son solo cinco, sin contar diptongos: A - E - I - O - U
Para su pronunciación en inglés, solo se tiene que agregar una "H" al final: Ah-Eh-IH-OH-UH.
Así de sencillo.

Saludos


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## acirea222

malumesa said:


> Hola de nuevo
> Para ponértelo sencillo
> Las vocales en español son solo cinco, sin contar diptongos: A - E - I - O - U
> Para su pronunciación en inglés, solo se tiene que agregar una "H" al final: Ah-Eh-IH-OH-UH.
> Así de sencillo.
> 
> Saludos



Respeto que no querías una discusión.  Pero sí todavía estás aquí, siento que es importante discutir.  

"Met" en inglés, o la pronuciación de "said" es muy suave y ligera.  

Por ejemplo:  Si tu quieres pronunciar "mejorar" correctamente, hay que abrir la boca con una sonrisa amplia y dices "may-hor-RARH". Pero, si pronuncias la "e" como "said", la boca está más cerrada y suena como "meh-hor-RARH".  

Inténtalo.  Si ves que tu boca forma una sonrisa, tengo razón.


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## Randolph Carter

No te fatigues, malumesa. Si un angloparlante se empeña en dar lecciones de pronunciación española a un hispanohablante, déjalo.


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## Uargh

No tienes razón, la tiene tu profesor, que por algo se tendrá su título de enseñante y tú serás su alumna.


Escuela :"ays-KWAY-lah" not "ehs-KWAY-lah"
Pretérito: "pray-TAY-ree-toh" not "preh-TEH-ree-toh"
Imperfecto: "eem-pair-FAYK-toh" not "eem-pehr-FEK-toh" 

Lo has dicho completamente al revés.


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## acirea222

Randolph Carter said:


> No te fatigues, malumesa. Si un angloparlante se empeña en dar lecciones de pronunciación española a un hispanohablante, déjalo.




WOW!  No estaba tratando de inciar una pelea.  Simplemente estaba tratando de explicarles que "met" en inglés tiene un sonido muy ligero y se pronuncia con la boca más cerrada.  Al contrario, la "e" en español se dice con la boca más abierta.  Siento que el problema es con "met", no con su propia pronuciación de su idioma nativo. 

Mil disculpas por haberles ofendido.  No era mi intención.  Ojalá que estuviérmos hablando en persona para mostrarles como suena "met" en inglés.


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## acirea222

Uargh said:


> No tienes razón, la tiene tu profesor, que por algo se tendrá su título de enseñante y tú serás su alumna.
> 
> 
> Escuela :"ays-KWAY-lah" not "ehs-KWAY-lah"
> Pretérito: "pray-TAY-ree-toh" not "preh-TEH-ree-toh"
> Imperfecto: "eem-pair-FAYK-toh" not "eem-pehr-FEK-toh"
> 
> Lo has dicho completamente al revés.



Lo que he escrito funciona fantástico para los "anglohablantes".  
Entiendo que no puede funcionar para uds.   Pero, tengo 10 años visitando la familia de mi esposo en México, 10 años de casado con un Méxicano que nunca me habla en inglés y un título de español de la universidad.  Obviamente no me convierte en una nativa, PERO, si trato de pronunciar la letra "e" en español tal como suena en inglés (con la palabra met), sonaría mal e incorrecto.


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## acirea222

Más ejemplos de lo que estoy tratando de explicar:

"To Hate" en inglés significa  "odiar"  
Para escribirlo en español y sacar el mismo sonido, escribiría  "jet".

Otro,  
"ate" en inglés es el verbo pasado de comer
Para escribirlo en español y tener el mismo sonido, escribiría "et"

Otro, 
"hey" en inglés significa "oye" en español
Para copiar el mismo sonido para uno que no habla inglés, escribiría "je"

Obviamente, hay que perfecionar el sonido con más práctica.


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## sacnils

Hola
Sin querer ofenderte pero antes de que envies este email y quedes en ridículo ante tu profesor, te tengo que señalar que siendo inglesa, yo estoy de acuerdo con Uargh... que me parece que lo cierto es ehs-kway-lah, etc. Sin embargo, hay veces cuando la "e" puede quedar como "ay" a causa de las letras que la siguen, por ejemplo en "ella", "buey" y "rey". Yo tengo un amigo americano que habla español según tu modelo: "ays-kway-lah", así que creo que tu pronunciación tendrá algo que ver con el acento americano.

Saludos


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## gotitadeleche

I have to agree with the Spanish speakers. E in Spanish is pronounced more like pet than hate. If you pronounce e with an ay sound, how do you distinguish between the sounds of pene o sorry for using this example but it is the best that comes to mind at the moment) and peine?

e = the sound in pet
ei = the sound in hay


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## acirea222

gotitadeleche said:


> I have to agree with the Spanish speakers. E in Spanish is pronounced more like pet than hate. If you pronounce e with an ay sound, how do you distinguish between the sounds of pene o sorry for using this example but it is the best that comes to mind at the moment) and peine?
> 
> e = the sound in pet
> ei = the sound in hay



I'm not offended by anyone as I think this forum is suppose to be a springboard of information, albeit informal.  

Your example is a great one though.  If I pronounce "pene" with the soft "e" sound in met, it wouldn't sound right.

Yes, my example continues to confuse native Spanish speakers, but the BEST way to get the correct sound out of an English speaker is by writing the words "PAY-neigh"   

Pay:  pagar
Neigh:  sonido de un caballo

For "peine" :  Payee + Neigh 

I think the confusion might be the dipthong that appears to exist in the word "pay".  I am aware it has the tendency to sound more like "payee", and not as crisp and short as the "e" in Spanish.  BUT---- if I encourage English speakers to use the sound of "met", it is way too soft and the mouth is too closed,


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## acirea222

sacnils said:


> Hola
> Sin querer ofenderte pero antes de que envies este email y quedes en ridículo ante tu profesor, te tengo que señalar que siendo inglesa, yo estoy de acuerdo con Uargh... que me parece que lo cierto es ehs-kway-lah, etc. Sin embargo, hay veces cuando la "e" puede quedar como "ay" a causa de las letras que la siguen, por ejemplo en "ella", "buey" y "rey". Yo tengo un amigo americano que habla español según tu modelo: "ays-kway-lah", así que creo que tu pronunciación tendrá algo que ver con el acento americano.
> 
> Saludos




I haven't sent the email yet.  And for all Spanish speakers out there, thank you for taking the time to discuss this.  I have no intention of telling YOU how to speak your own language.  However, "met" in English produces the wrong sound in my students.  It's too light and airy.


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## gotitadeleche

Perhaps it has to do with your accent being from Michigan. I am from Texas and my company works with a company from Wisconsin. When they first started calling here I heard them pronounce the name of their company as Race. It was later that I realized the company name was Rice. And one day when talking to an engineer from there, he had me really confused when he kept referring to ingles. Finally I had to ask him, "What are ingles?" He sounded shocked that I didn´t know and he answered, "Ingles, you know, ingles." It took me awhile, but I finally realized he meant angles. 

So perhaps your pronounciation (and that of the people who live around you) of met and hate are different than I would pronounce them. But your pronounciation suggestions would not work around here. A Texan saying *ays-KWAY-lah* sounds really bad. In fact, that is how some who have a strong Texas accent do pronounce it, and it sounds really hicky.


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## acirea222

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/met   Aquí la palabra "met" suena tal como lo digo yo.   Ligero y con boca más cerrado.

Pero, la "e"  en  "escuela" suena más fuerte, más corto/staccato http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/escuela


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## acirea222

gotitadeleche said:


> Perhaps it has to do with your accent being from Michigan. I am from Texas and my company works with a company from Wisconsin. When they first started calling here I heard them pronounce the name of their company as Race. It was later that I realized the company name was Rice. And one day when talking to an engineer from there, he had me really confused when he kept referring to ingles. Finally I had to ask him, "What are ingles?" He sounded shocked that I didn´t know and he answered, "Ingles, you know, ingles." It took me awhile, but I finally realized he meant angles.
> 
> So perhaps your pronounciation (and that of the people who live around you) of met and hate are different than I would pronounce them. But your pronounciation suggestions would not work around here. A Texan saying *ays-KWAY-lah* sounds really bad. In fact, that is how some who have a strong Texas accent do pronounce it, and it sounds really hicky.



No, "ays" works well here in Michigan precisely BECAUSE we don't have that TWANGY southern drawl.  **chuckle**


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## acirea222

In Michigan our accent is very similar to most of the people you hear in Movies.  Unless of course it's a movie that specifically needs a person from the South.  Dipthongs are really accentuated and held out for southerners.  In contrast, in Michigan, we don't hold dipthongs out hardly at all.  So "way"--- "camino":   is short and crisp, not sounding at all like "waayee".


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## acirea222

¡Lo *Más* gracioso de esto es que estaba buscando correciones de grámatica en mi correo!*

*I guess I opened a can of worms.  *
*


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## gotitadeleche

I used to pronounce tiene somewhat more like *tee-EH-nay *and got corrected for it by Spanish speakers. (I don´t have a strong Texan accent because I grew up living all over the South, from Arizona to Alabama, and East Coast, from Maine to Maryland). Occasionally I still pronounce sé like *say*, and I get corrected by the Spanish speakers (for some reason I don´t pronounce se as *say*).


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## acirea222

gotitadeleche said:


> I used to pronounce tiene somewhat more like *tee-EH-nay *and got corrected for it by Spanish speakers. (I don´t have a strong Texan accent because I grew up living all over the South, from Arizona to Alabama, and East Coast, from Maine to Maryland). Occasionally I still pronounce sé like *say*, and I get corrected by the Spanish speakers (for some reason I don´t pronounce se as *say*).




You would only get corrected saying "sé"  like "say" if you're not saying it short and crisp.  But, if you pronounce "Yo sé" with the soft and light "e" in "met", you'd always be saying it wrong.

My example of "neigh" works well.  If one changes the "n" to an "s", you have a MUCH closer sound to the Spanish "e", than with the "e" in "met".  One just must be careful to keep it short and strong sounding.  
But it sounds like you already know that.


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## jmx

To sum it up: if you pronounce the Spanish word 'reno' (reindeer) like "RAY-no", a Spanish speaker will hear 'reino' (kingdom). So a Spanish 'e' may be different from the one in "met", but it's even more different from the one in "say."

EDIT: I'm thinking of standard English accents like "General American" or "Received Pronunciation," I don't know about Michigan accent.


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## acirea222

jmartins said:


> To sum it up: if you pronounce the Spanish word 'reno' (reindeer) like "RAY-no", a Spanish speaker will hear 'reino' (kingdom). So a Spanish 'e' may be different from the one in "met", but it's even more different from the one in "say."
> 
> EDIT: I'm thinking of standard English accents like "General American" or "Received Pronunciation," I don't know about Michigan accent.



But in English, the dipthong/sound in "say" is VERY short, practically non-existant (except for southern states).  

So, it would not sound like "reino"  at all.  

"Say" in English sounds like "se" in Spanish.

The reason "say" and "ray" are more adequate examples is because it's so simple to remind the ENGLISH speaker to make "say" short and choppy rather than
correct the soft and light sound in "met".


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## VictorBsAs

acirea222 said:


> "Say" in English sounds like "se" in Spanish.


 mmmmmmm, I don't think so.


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## acirea222

VictorBsAs said:


> mmmmmmm, I don't think so.




Repeat the word "met".  me...me.....me... "met"

Now, if you say "Me gusta", it's NOT the same soft (short e sound) in "met".  

It is more like the month of "May" without the dipthong.  As I keep repeating, it's EASIER to chop the dipthong and make the month of "May"  (mayo) sound like the "me" in "me gusta"  RATHER then use the "e" sound in the word "met".

Es más como el mes de "May" sin el diptongo.  Repito, es más fácil cortar el diptongo y hacer que el mes de "May" (mayo) suene como la palabra "me" en "me gusta".


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## VictorBsAs

I agrre that the sound of May is similar to the Spanish 'ley'


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## acirea222

If a native Spanish speaker emphasizes  "I want to say that I am happy" this way:

"Iee, want to sayee that Iee am happy"  with diptongos *that* emphasized, it would be wrong and clearly detectable.


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## acirea222

VictorBsAs said:


> I agrre that the sound of May is similar to the Spanish 'ley'




FINALLY!  I'm making some progress here.  

All I'm pointing out, is that the diptongo that exists in say, ray, pay, hey, gay, day is not THAT emphasized in English.  And even LESS so in the northern and Western States throughout the USA.  

So.... it is much easier to chop the word and get a beautiful sounding Spanish word:

Me gusta    written   "May  GOO-stah"


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## Spug

Hola,



jmartins said:


> ...if you pronounce the Spanish word 'reno' (reindeer) like "RAY-no", a Spanish speaker will hear 'reino' (kingdom). So a Spanish 'e' may be different from the one in "met", but it's even more different from the one in "say."



jmartins, I agree with you. There is a diphthong sound in the English words _say_ and _ray_. There is no diphthong sound in the sound of the Spanish vowel _e_.

To complicate matters further, in my opinion there really is no discrete vowel sound in English that is exactly like the Spanish vowel _e_. I think the best we can do is use examples from English that approximate the sound of the Spanish _e_. Beyond that, it is up to students to listen to native speakers and learn to imitate their correct pronunciation.

Finally, and I think this matters too... I have heard many regional varieties of Spanish over the years, and the pronunciation of the vowel _e _varies among regions. For example, I recall hearing a very closed vowel sound in Venezuela (Caracas, to be exact), and a much more open vowel sound from my Puerto Rican ex-wife and my many Puerto Rican friends and in-laws. Very similar to the difference between the open and closed _e_ sounds in Portuguese. Which is correct? To me, both. They are simply regional variations.

Saludos a todos...


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## VictorBsAs

Sorry, but I don't think it would be a good strategy to use a dipthong to resemble a single vowel. It is common to hear in English speaking foreingners to create dipthnongs that in Spanish do not exist.


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## acirea222

VictorBsAs said:


> Sorry, but I don't think it would be a good strategy to use a dipthong to resemble a single vowel. It is common to hear in English speaking foreingners to create dipthnongs that in Spanish do not exist.



okay, that's why I gave the example:  "neigh" and "hate"

"said" and "met" are just way too soft.  

If I say "Iglesia" with the "met" sound it would be so wrong.


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## Spug

acirea222 said:


> "said" and "met" are just way too soft.
> 
> If I say "Iglesia" with the "met" sound it would be so wrong.



It depends on the region.

Are you familiar with Puerto Rican Spanish? El sonido de la vocal _e_ en el español puertorriqueño es muy, muy parecido al sonido de la _e_ en la palabra inglesa _met_. Entonces, el sonido vocálico de _met _es casi igual que el sonido de la vocal _e_ en la palabra _iglesia _in Puerto Rico.

Es más... tengo colegas de México, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Cuba, España... cada uno de ellos pronuncia la vocal _e_ un poquito diferente, por las variaciones regionales. ¿Algunos la pronuncian "wrong"? No, no lo creo. En absoluto.

Repito... hay variaciones regionales. Obviamente, tú conoces la pronunciación mejicana. Pero ésa no es la única variación de la vocal. Parece que quieres imponer una regla muy rígida en una situación en que no se puede (o no se debería).

Saludos...


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## acirea222

1)  I met a friend who said let's go swiming.         All short e sounds as in "met".  

Ahora,

2)  ¿Viste la iglesia que está en la calle San Francisco?

Si trato de pronunciar la letra "e" en la frase #2 tal como se pronuncia en #1, me suena super gracioso.


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## Juan Nadie

acirea222 said:


> Buenos días Señor ........,
> 
> Tengo un comentario sobre un error que siento (que) // (creo (que))//es bastante grave.
> Se lo encuentra aquí Http://.......................... (se or lo, no both)
> 
> Ud. explica que la letra "e" se pronuncia como la "e" en "met".  Pero, no es cierto.  La mayoría de las veces se pronuncia como la letra "e"  en "hey".  O sea, tiene el mismo sonido del vocal "a" en la palabra "hate".
> 
> Ejemplo:
> Ella tiene seis ratones como mascotas.
> 
> AY-yah  tee-EH-nay SAYees rah-TOH-nays KOH-moh mas-KOH-tahs
> 
> Es verdad, que la "e" en "tiene" suena poquito más como la "e" en "met" como ud. dice.
> Pero, de ninguna manera, explicaría yo que la "e" en español tiene ese sonido en general.
> 
> 
> Gracias de antemano.


You don't really need a (que) there, but if you want to put something, you can use the _que_ without changing the meaning.
And once that is done....


I think I understand what you want to show, but the point is that Spanish speakers are too used to hear English speakers pronouncing too many vowels when/where they should not, so my first reaction was to tell the same that the others.
If your point is to remark the length, softness... whatever of the sound of the vowel, it will be less polemic to chose a one-vowel-sound word like: fit, sit..... and no like: may, white... where you found more than one vowel at the same time. Or at least that is what I hear. (I have chosen the _i_ sound, because I would have problems with the _e_)


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## acirea222

Juan Nadie said:


> You don't really need a (que) there, but if you want to put something, you can use the _que_ without changing the meaning.
> And once that is done....
> 
> 
> I think I understand what you want to show, but the point is that Spanish speakers are too used to hear English speakers pronouncing too many vowels when/where they should not, so my first reaction was to tell the same that the others.
> If your point is to remark the length, softness... whatever of the sound of the vowel, it will be less polemic to chose a one-vowel-sound word like: fit, sit..... and no like: may, white... where you found more than one vowel at the same time. Or at least that is what I hear. (I have chosen the _i_ sound, because I would have problems with the _e_)



That's why I gave the example of "hate".  Although the silent "e" forces the "a" to make the long sound, it is the CLOSEST sound to the letter "e" in Spanish.

Y gracias por su respuesta sobre la grámatica.


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## Spug

acirea222 said:


> Si trato de pronunciar la letra "e" en la frase #2 tal como se pronuncia en #1, me suena super gracioso.



Porque estás acosumbada a oir una variación regional: la mejicana.

" I met a friend who said  let's go swiming.         All short e sounds  as in "met"."

Exacto... eso era precisamente mi punto.

Pero lo que pasa es que estás hablando de una sola variación del sonido... de la vocal _e_. Hay más de una... y por eso tu razonamiento no sirve para todos los hispanohablantes a través de todos los paises hispanohablantes.


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## acirea222

Spug said:


> Porque estás acosumbada a oir una variación regional: la mejicana.
> 
> " I met a friend who said  let's go swiming.         All short e sounds  as in "met"."
> 
> Exacto... eso era precisamente mi punto.
> 
> Pero lo que pasa es que estás hablando de una sola variación del sonido... de la vocal _e_. Hay más de una... y por eso tu razonamiento no sirve para todos los hispanohablantes a través de todos los paises hispanohablantes.




Aquí grabé mi voz con la pronunciación de "met"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4AU7YJCpH0


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## malumesa

acirea222 said:


> ¡Lo *Más* gracioso de esto es que estaba buscando correciones de grámatica en mi correo!*
> 
> *I guess I opened a can of worms.  *
> *



Hi Acirea
The way I see it, your opening of a can of worms was enlightening.
Whomever wanted, shared his or her opinion, and we all learned.
This is what this forum is all about.


Saludos


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## inib

OK, here's another "guiri" repeating what the majority have said before! 
In my opinion, the Spanish "e" is if not identical in every accent, so very much closer to the "e" in "met" that the difference is negligible for ordinary conversation.
Precisely our habit of pronouncing TIENE tee-en-ay (according to English "phonetics") or ti-en-ei (according to Spanish) is what gives us that awful Anglo accent, just like pronouncing MUCHO moo-chow or ARTE ah-tay. Ugh!!
Now for an over-simplification, but it works reasonably well. Stick to pronouncing A as in cat, E as in met, I somewhere between fit and feet, O as in pot and U somewhere between foot and food, and if there's a dipthong you just pronounce one after the other.


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## acirea222

malumesa said:


> Hi Acirea
> The way I see it, your opening of a can of worms was enlightening.
> Whomever wanted, shared his or her opinion, and we all learned.
> This is what this forum is all about.
> 
> 
> Saludos



De acuerdo


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## acirea222

inib said:


> OK, here's another "guiri" repeating what the majority have said before!
> In my opinion, the Spanish "e" is if not identical in every accent, so very much closer to the "e" in "met" that the difference is negligible for ordinary conversation.
> Precisely our habit of pronouncing TIENE tee-en-ay (according to English "phonetics") or ti-en-ei (according to Spanish) is what gives us that awful Anglo accent, just like pronouncing MUCHO moo-chow or ARTE ah-tay. Ugh!!
> Now for an over-simplification, but it works reasonably well. Stick to pronouncing A as in cat, E as in met, I somewhere between fit and feet, O as in pot and U somewhere between foot and food, and if there's a dipthong you just pronounce one after the other.





Very interesting.  I would disagree with you ONLY if you were from the U.S.  However, I see your native language is British English.  So, I would have to meet you in person and hear how you speak. 

Gracias a todos por esta larga discusión.


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