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.

tell them → tell 'em | Elision

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

"tell them" becomes "tell 'em" — a elision pattern. The 'th' sound in 'them' is often dropped, making it sound like 'em', especially after a consonant like 'l'. This happens to make speech flow more smoothly.

tell them → tell 'em /tɛl əm/ Elision

To communicate information or instructions to a group of people.

The 'th' sound in 'them' is often dropped, making it sound like 'em', especially after a consonant like 'l'. This happens to make speech flow more smoothly.

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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.

The 'th' sound in 'them' is often dropped, making it sound like 'em', especially after a consonant like 'l'. This happens to make speech flow more smoothly.

Step 3 · Context

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Example 1

Could you tell 'em the news?

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Example 2

I need to tell 'em about the meeting.

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Example 3

Don't forget to tell 'em I said hi.

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Example 4

Just tell 'em we'll be a little late.

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Example 5

You can tell 'em I don't care.

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Step 6 · Result

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tell them → tell 'em