1030 - Have to → Hafta Speak Naturally in a Minute | Happy English

Hey there! It’s Michael here - and welcome back to Speak Naturally in a Minute from Happy English. I’m here every week with a quick one-point lesson to help you improve your pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation.

Today, let’s talk about a very common reduction in American English:  “have to.” In everyday conversational English, have to usually becomes hafta. That’s because the V sound in HAVE is pronounced like a weak F sound. And TO is pronounced like TUH. So have to become hafta

Here are some examples:

• I have to go now sounds like I hafta go now.
• We have to work hard sounds like We hafta work hard
• You have to try this sounds like You hafta try this.

Let's practice. Repeat after me: I hafta go. We hafta work hard. You hafta try this.

Hafta. Nice and smooth. Hafta. This is very common in American English, and using it will make your English  sound more natural and more fluent.

Hey, thanks for listening! And remember to follow and subscribe so you won’t miss the next Happy English Podcast and next week’s Speak Naturally in a Minute.  Until next time, keep learning and keep it cool.


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