Akihiro's Journey: Disappearing 'H'

2025-06-10 00:00:00 / episode: 441

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Welcome back to English Listening World! I'm Les Perras, and this is the tenth episode in our series "Akihiro's Listening Journey."

In our previous episodes, Akihiro has discovered nine powerful techniques for improving English listening comprehension. Today, he'll tackle another subtle but common challenge: the disappearing 'h' sound in casual English speech.

For many English learners, this phenomenon can be particularly confusing. Words like "him," "her," and "his" often lose their initial 'h' sound in everyday conversation. Today, Akihiro will discover how recognizing this pattern can further improve his understanding of natural English. Let's join Akihiro as he makes this important discovery!

Chapter Ten: Disappearing 'H' Sound

Eleven weeks into his English listening journey, Akihiro had made remarkable progress with his toolkit of techniques. His colleagues had noticed his increased confidence in meetings and discussions.

During the Monday morning client update meeting, Mr. Wilson addressed the team about the Thomson project.

"Great work on the security modules, everyone. The client was impressed with our progress report. Mike, I met him yesterday at the conference, and he seemed very pleased."

Akihiro's brow furrowed slightly. He had clearly heard "I met_im yesterday," which sounded like "medim yesterday." Was this an industry term he hadn't encountered before?

The meeting continued until Sarah, the project manager, turned to Akihiro.

"Akihiro, could you prepare a technical overview for the client? Tell her we'll finish the security audit by Friday."

"Tell_er," Akihiro heard. Who was "er"? Not wanting to interrupt, he nodded confidently.

"Yes, I'll prepare it and send it to... the client."

"Great, Ms. Johnson will need it for her board presentation."

After the meeting, Akihiro sent the technical overview to Mr. Wilson, copying the entire client team to ensure Ms. Johnson received it. Twenty minutes later, Sarah appeared at his desk.

"Akihiro, did you send out the technical overview already?"

"Yes, I sent it to Mr. Wilson and copied the client team."

"But I asked you to send it only to Ms. Johnson. She needed to review it before sharing with her team."

Heat rose to Akihiro's face as he realized his mistake. Sarah hadn't said "Tell_er" as a vague direction—she had said "Tell her," referring specifically to Ms. Johnson.

During lunch, Akihiro discussed his confusion with Tanaka-san.

"This morning, when Mr. Wilson said 'I met him yesterday,' I heard something like 'I met_im.' And when Sarah said 'Tell her,' I heard 'Tell_er.' I missed the 'h' sound completely."

"Ah, the disappearing 'h'! That was one of the trickiest aspects of English for me too."

"Disappearing 'h'?"

"Yes. In casual speech, the 'h' sound at the beginning of function words often drops out entirely. 'Him' becomes 'im,' 'her' becomes 'er,' 'his' becomes 'is.'"

"But why would a consonant just disappear? In Japanese, we pronounce each sound clearly."

"That's exactly the issue. Japanese maintains consistent pronunciation regardless of speech speed. But English prioritizes rhythm and stress patterns, often at the expense of certain consonants—especially the 'h' sound in unstressed words."

Tanaka-san wrote examples on a napkin:

"Tell him about it" → "Tell_im about it" "Give her the report" → "Give_er the report" "I have been there" → "I_ave been there" or "I've been there"

"Native speakers aren't even aware they're doing it. It's completely natural in conversational English."

Back at his desk, Akihiro researched the phenomenon, discovering it was called "h-dropping" or "h-elision." He created a list of common phrases where the 'h' typically disappeared.

That afternoon, he attended a team meeting and focused on instances of the disappearing 'h.' Once he was listening for it, he heard it everywhere:

"David sent _is report this morning." "I think _e'll be late." "Tell _im we need it by Thursday."

With each instance, Akihiro mentally reinserted the 'h' and understood perfectly.

Later that week, Akihiro joined colleagues for drinks after work. David was telling a story about a difficult client:

"So I told_im we couldn't meet_is deadline, and_e got really upset. I tried to calm_im down, but_e wasn't_aving any of it."

A few weeks ago, this rapid speech with multiple dropped 'h' sounds would have been incomprehensible to Akihiro. But now, he followed every word, mentally reinserting the 'h' sounds where needed.

When sharing his own story, Akihiro naturally said, "I told_er we needed more time."

"Your English is getting really natural, Akihiro. You're even dropping your h's like a native speaker."

The following Monday, Akihiro helped Yamada-san, a new colleague from Tokyo who was struggling with the same issue.

"When you hear 'give_im,' think 'give him.' When you hear 'tell_er,' think 'tell her.'"

"I can hear it now! 'Call_im tomorrow' is actually 'Call him tomorrow.' This makes so much sense!"

That evening, Akihiro updated his notebook:

"Technique #10: Listen for the Disappearing 'H' Sound

In casual speech, the 'h' at the beginning of function words often disappears - Common with pronouns: him → _im, her → _er, his → _is, he → _e - Also happens with auxiliary 'have': have → _ave (or 've) - When you hear a word that sounds like 'im,' 'er,' 'is,' mentally reinsert the 'h' - More common in fast, casual speech; less common in formal presentations"

The next day, Mr. Wilson approached Akihiro's desk.

"Great work handling that security issue yesterday, Akihiro. I've noticed how much your communication has improved. I'd like to discuss your role during our review next week. I think you're ready for more client-facing responsibilities."

Akihiro felt a surge of pride. The journey wasn't over, but he could now navigate his professional world with growing confidence. What had once been a wall of incomprehensible sound was gradually transforming into meaningful communication, one technique at a time.

And that's how Akihiro discovered his tenth listening technique: recognizing the disappearing 'h' sound!

To practice this technique yourself, try these simple steps:

Listen specifically for pronouns like "him," "her," "his," and "he" in casual speech 2. Notice when the initial 'h' sound disappears in unstressed words 3. Train yourself to mentally reinsert the 'h' when you hear words like "im," "er," or "is" 4. Remember this is more common in casual, rapid speech than in formal presentations 5. Also watch for this pattern in forms of "have" and "has" in contractions 6. Combine with previous techniques for comprehensive understanding

This technique is particularly helpful for speakers of languages like Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Italian, which maintain more consistent pronunciation of consonants regardless of speech speed.

Join us next time when Akihiro discovers how recognizing another common sound change—the transformation of 't' into a 'd' sound—can further improve his English listening comprehension!

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