How do native English speakers say "tell them"?

Native speakers reduce "tell them" to "tell'em" (/tɛl.əm/) in natural speech. To communicate information or instructions to a group of people or things.

tell them → tell'em | Elision

Q: What is the connected speech form of "tell them"?

"tell them" becomes "tell'em" — a elision pattern. Elision is when sounds are left out of words when they are spoken quickly in connected speech. Here, the 'th' sound in 'them' is often dropped, changing it to 'em'.

tell them → tell'em /tɛl.əm/ Elision

To communicate information or instructions to a group of people or things.

Elision is when sounds are left out of words when they are spoken quickly in connected speech. Here, the 'th' sound in 'them' is often dropped, changing it to 'em'.

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Step 2 · Reveal

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STANDARD FORM → REDUCED FORM

tell them → tell'em

/tɛl.əm/

To communicate information or instructions to a group of people or things.

Elision is when sounds are left out of words when they are spoken quickly in connected speech. Here, the 'th' sound in 'them' is often dropped, changing it to 'em'.

Step 3 · Context

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Example 1

Could you tell them the meeting is canceled?

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Example 2

I need to tell them about the new plan.

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Example 3

Go tell 'em to hurry up!

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Example 4

Just gotta tell 'em the truth.

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Example 5

I'll tell 'em you called.

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Step 6 · Result

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tell them → tell'em