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I was recently enjoying a latte in a little NYC coffee shop, and it reminded me of two iconic NYC coffee shops:  

The Seinfeld coffee shop and the Friends coffee shop. So many pivotal scenes in both shows happened in these coffee shops. So today, we’ll take a scene from Friends and we’ll do a full analysis to help us understand the American accent better in order to improve listening comprehension.  

By the way, I said “So many pivotal scenes in both shows happened in those coffee shops” – do you know what pivotal means? The definition is: Being of vital or central importance; crucial. In other words, really important to the story line, the development of the characters, and so on. Pivotal scenes. First, this is the scene we’ll study today.  

If I were omnipotent for a day, I would want, um, world peace, no more hunger, good things for the rainforest.  

And bigger boobs. 

Well, so you took mine. 

Chandler what about you?  

Uh, if I were omnipotent for a day I’d make myself omnipotent forever.  

See, there’s always one guy. If I had a wish, I’d wish for three more wishes. 

Now let’s do that full, in-depth analysis.  

If I were omnipotent for a day, I would want, um, 

When you’re omnipotent it means you’re all powerful, we use this word with God for example. God is omnipotent so now they’re discussing what if I was.  

If I were omnipotent for a day— 

This is the subjunctive mood that is not reality and that’s why we’re conjugating to be with were. I were. If I were I would do this. Not reality but if Phoebe happens to be so lucky as to be omnipotent for a day this is what she would do. If I were. If it’s something that happened in the past we would use was. For example, I was there. But if we were going to talk about something that didn’t happen then we would say, “If I were there, I would have said something.” So that’s the difference between was and were. Were is subjunctive so they’re all using the subjunctive mood here.  

If I were omnipotent for a day, 

I didn’t introduce myself. How rude! I’m Rachel, and I’ve been teaching English and the American Accent here on Youtube for over 15 years. Check out RachelsEnglish.com/free to get my free course, The Top 3 Ways to Master the American accent. You’ll start hearing the difference immediately with this method. Back to the Analysis.   

If were omnipotent for a day,  

If I were omnipotent for a day. So we have three stress words there. We have if I, I were omnipotent, nip, and in these cases all of our stress syllables are going down then up. This is to show that this is the first half of the phrase and she’s going to add more to it. If I were omnipotent for a day.  

If I were omnipotent for a day, 

She’s saying om, om, like with the a as in Father vowel. Omnipotent.  

If I were omnipotent– 

Omni. Our stressed syllable has the I as in sit vowel then forget the O, forget the E, they’re both schwa. Po-tent, potent, potent, potent, potent, we want those to be said quickly the way that you can help yourself pronounce a long multi-syllable word more easily is to really focus on stress. So break it up like this. Um, that’s unstressed. Low and pitch, fast, Om-ni, this one is stressed. In this case, ni, it has a change in pitch, down and then up, longer, louder. Om-ni, and then two unstress syllables. Potent, potent, and when you’re practicing unstressed syllables see how much you can simplify your mouth movement. 

Omnipotent. If I were omnipotent for a day, omnipotent, tent, tent. And she’s doing a stop T here, not releasing the T the T at the end. Omnipotent, nt, nt, nt.  

If I were omnipotent– 

You know what, it almost sounds like omnipotent, omnipotent, doesn’t it? She’s making this more of a flap t, omnipotent [flap] the tongue bouncing against the roof of the mouth.  

If I were omnipotent– 

If I were omnipotent for a day,  

For a day, for a day. So we have two unstressed words in a row and for is really reduced that’s going to sound like fr, fr, really just f r but in phonetics, in the International Phonetic Alphabet we would write it schwa r, fr, fr, fr, but there’s pretty much no vowel. The r takes over the schwa fr, fr, fr, for a, for a. And the letter A, the article here is also just a schwa. So it links together really smoothly, for a, for a, for a day, for day, for a day. No breaks between our words here.  

For a day,  

I would want— 

I would want. So two more stressed words here and again, they have the down up shape, I would want and just like the NT ending here she’s not releasing the t, tt but it’s want, want, want, nt, nt, nt with this sort of abrupt stop at the end that’s the stop T.  

I would want– 

I would want. The word would very fast. I would, would want. When we compare it to the length of I and want, I would want. I would write that phonetically w schwa d, there’s no l sound in this word and it’s fast it’s would, would, would, would, would would. And it’s not very loud. I would want, would, would.  

I would want— 

Um, world peace, no more hunger, good things for the rainforest.  

She’s listing things so her stress is going up. Our stress goes up for everything in a list until the last item, rainforest then we’ll see here if our intonation goes down. World peace and it’s this change in pitch along with the length that shows us that this is a stressed syllable, it’s more clear. Now I know world is one of the hardest words to pronounce. Let’s look at the pronunciation W and then forget the vowel. It’s the r vowel consonant combination. ER, it’s just one sound. Wer. Think of this word: were, were. It’s the same kind of sounds you want down here and the beginning of the word. Were, were, were, were, were, were. Now, the tricky part also, it’s not just the r but it’s that dark L, world. This dark sound is made with the back of the tongue, uhl, so you don’t actually lift your tongue tip. World. Your tongue presses down and back in the back but the tip touches behind the bottom front teeth. World. so I’m moving the tongue tip down it was up for the R, I’m moving it down, world, then I’m bringing it down and pressing the back of the tongue down and back. Now, it might be confusing to think about that you might just want to focus on the sound and on imitating it. World. Try that. World. World peace, and then a little light D on the end, not release, linking right into the p sound. World, that’s the D. World Peace.  

World peace,  

Peace, peace. Listen to just that word in slow motion, you can really hear the shape of stress and how the pitch is going up at the end.  

Peace,  

No more hunger,  

No more hunger. Hunger, again she’s making a list it’s not the last thing in the list so it goes hunger, it goes down up, no more hunger, no and more these are less stressed they’re kind of flatter, no more hung, no more hung, no more hunger.  

No more hunger,  

Now the N here is actually part of the NG sound, hung, so it’s it’s not pronounced like an N, it’s pronounced ng, with the back of the tongue and then we do get a hard G. Hunger, ger, ger, ger, that g releases into the schwa r ending, hunger. I just might as well write out the whole IPA for this. it’s the uh vowel, very neutral, very relaxed in American English, Hu, hunger. Hunger.  

Hunger, 

Good things for the rainforest, 

Good things. So she’s going up here. Good. This is the u vowel like in push, it’s not ooh like in shu, but uh, uh, push. Sugar. Good things for the rainforest. And then yes it’s her last item in the list, she’s put a period and it does go down, rainforest. 

Rainforest.  

Rainforest. So we’ve got good things for the, things for the pronounced more quickly those are not stressed and we do have that reduction where for becomes fr, fr, fr, for the, for the, for the. Not very clear, not very loud, pretty flat and pitch, for the, for the, for the, for the rainforest.  

For the rainforest.  

and bigger boobs. 

So three things for the world, one thing for herself that she throws in at the end.  

And bigger boobs.  

And this is also a statement. And big, we have stressed on our adjective, and bigger boobs, and stress on our noun. The word and, the D is dropped and the, and, and, and, is just connecting up into that stress syllable. And big, bigger boobs.  

Here double O is the u vowel like in shu, here it’s the u vowel like in push. so double O can have a couple different pronunciations. The u vowel and the uh vowel, we see both of those examples here.  

And bigger boobs.  

Boob here she’s using the slang verb, the chest of a female but it also means a stupid person a fool a dunce, or a mistake that someone has made. So let’s use it in a sentence.  

What do you think of Professor Smith?  

I think he’s a total boob and his classes are boring.  

And bigger boobs.  

Well,  

Well, well. Well is one of these filler words that isn’t very clearly pronounced sometimes. Here I’m really just hearing L I’m not hearing the W at all. Well, well.  

Well,  

See you took mine.  

See you took mine. So we have two stressed words in that phrase. See and you are just going up towards our first stress syllable. See, you took mine. The word u is not fully pronounced. It’s reduced, I would write that with the Y consonant and the schwa vowel. A lot of our words in English, a lot of our common words like you, like for, the vowel gets replaced with the schwa. See you, see you, see you. See you took mine.  

See, you took mine. 

Took mine. These both have more length and an up down shape of stress, a pitch change. See you, see you, see you. That is fast. Now, we have another double O here, took. Which pronunciation is that? Took. It’s the uh vowel that we had in good. That’s the same vowel we have in push and sugar. Took, took mine.  

Took mine.  

Chandler what about you?  

Chandler, Chandler. Questioning intonation, first syllable stress, Chandler.   

Chandler, 

What about you?  

What about you? What about you? So we have one stress word then after Chandler and it’s you. What and about said very quickly, let’s listen to just those two words.  

What about— 

What about you?  

So they’re flat and they’re fast and they’re quieter compared to you, which has more volume and that up down shape of stress. What about— 

What about you?  

Question words like what, when, where, how, why, usually in questions like this one, they’re not stressed but in a statement like “I don’t care what you said.” There it’s a statement I’m not asking a question. In a statement then those question words are usually stressed but here in question usually unstressed said very quickly.  

What about you?  

What about, what about, what about. So, we’re linking here with a flap t. What about, what about [flap]. What about, what about, what about, what about. And he also does a stop T at the end, it’s not what about with a true T but the sound just abruptly stops. What about, what about, what about, that’s our stop T. So, see if you can say those words as quickly as I am, right now you’re going to have to simplify your mouth movements. Try it out. What about, what about, what about.  

What about– 

It’s not very clear, is it? The contrast of these less clear words with the more clear words like you is an important part of American English.  

What about— 

What about you?  

Uh, if I were omnipotent for a day, I’d,  

Uh, if I were omnipotent for a day. So he’s thinking here with the thinking vowel that’s the uh vowel like in butter very relaxed. If I were omnipotent for a day. So again we have I were, subjunctive mood not reality.

Uh, if I were omnipotent for a day I’d— 

Omnipotent, omnipotent. I also hear this as a flap to here. Omnipotent, omnipotent, omnipotent. Sort of a tricky word, focus on the stress. Dadadada. It might help you to actually take the sounds out and just do it on nonsense sounds like da or ma. Mamamama, dadadada, dadadada, helps you feel the stress. Omnipotent, omnipotent, omnipotent. And again we have that stop T at the end.  

So four syllables, second syllable stress. Omnipotent. 

Omnipotent— 

for a day I’d— 

For a day, for a day, for, not pronounced for but pronounced fer. A, not pronounced a but pronounced uh. For a, for a, for a. Linked together, very smooth. For a, for a, for a, for a day.   

For a day,  

Very short compared to day which has more length more volume and a change in direction of pitch.  

For day,  

for day, I’d 

Here we have I’d, I’d. So this is a contraction of I would. When we’re talking in the subjunctive mood and we’re using if, then we’re often using would. If this thing that is not true was true then I would do this. But it’s very common to use would in a contraction I’d, I’d, I’d.  

Day, I’d– 

Day, I’d, day, I’d, and it links together from the a diphthong of day right into the I diphthong of I and D, the D isn’t released, it’s just made with the tongue up at the roof of the mouth, tip of the tongue at the roof of the mouth and the vocal cords vibrating I’d, I’d, I’d. 

Day, I’d– 

Make myself omnipotent forever.  

A few more stress words here. Make myself, make. Any pitch change is a stress syllable. Make myself omnipotent forever. And then it’s a statement at the end with the intonation going down.  

Make myself omnipotent forever.  

Make myself, make myself, we don’t really hear K, the k release there. Make myself, make myself, that would be a little over pronounced, make myself, make. So it sounds like there’s no K there but actually the back of my tongue is in position for the K and that cuts off the air every so quickly before I go into the M. Make myself, make myself, and that’s how we hear a K.  

It’s the same thing that happens with the stop T. The air stops and that’s why we hear that stop consonant. Make myself, make, make. So it’s not May. It’s not long, there is an abrupt stop. That’s what makes us hear a K. Make myself, make myself. 

Make myself— 

Omnipotent.  

Omnipotent. Omnipotent. Another flap T and stop T at the end. If this is a tricky word for you you’re going to get a workout working with this dialogue because we hear it three times. Omnipotent. Omnipotent.  

Omnipotent— 

Forever.  

Forever. Forever. Two Rs there, make sure you’re not saying for ever, it’s for, err, just the f schwa r. Fr, fr, fr, forever. So a quick er at the end or I should say schwa R, a quick schwa R, let me say that again. So a quick schwa R in our first syllable and in our last syllable. Fer, ver, fer, ver. Forever. Forever.  

Forever.  

Forever. Up down shape of stress. When you focus on that shape, I think it helps make the word easier to pronounce. Forever. Really smoothly connect all of your sounds.  

Forever.  

See? There’s always one guy.  

See? See? Pitch going up, questioning intonation it can also show like exasperation like I can’t believe this. See?  

See?  

There’s always one guy.  

Three of our syllables in this next phrase are stressed. Can you feel what they are when you listen to it on a loop?  

There’s always one guy— 

There’s always. There, I feel that scoop in the voice.  

There’s always— 

So that’s our adverb there’s always one. Longer, and then guy. Also longer this time going down and pitch. There’s always one guy. Notice the z sound for the apostrophe of is is linking in here. Ending consonant links into beginning vowel, that’s one of the ways that we make our speech really smooth in English. There’s always, there’s al, sal, there’s always.  

There’s always one guy.  

The word one here, it looks like it starts with a vowel but it actually starts with a w sound. W, A as in butter n. One, one.  

One— 

one guy. If I had a wish— 

If I had a wish. So she’s using sort of a funny voice here because she’s pretending to quote that one guy. If I had a wish, wish, we really hear that stretching up of the pitch. Wish, if I had a, these four words said very quickly they’re not stressed.  

If I had a– 

If I had a. Almost no vowel here, you could probably just think of the F linking into the I diphthong. If I, if I, if I, if I had a, if I had a, if I had a. The H is dropped. I had, linking right into the a vowel then a flap linking into the schwa again. If I had a, if I had a, if I had a, if I had a, if I had a. 

If I had a— 

What’s up with Americans doing this with English? Well it’s the contrast between stressed and unstressed that actually makes clear English, so in order to have that contrast you have to have some words that are said very quickly. And it ends up being hard to understand on its own. But in a whole sentence that contrast makes the whole sentence very clear. 

If I had a wish— 

I’d wish be three more wishes.  

Again, we have the I’d contraction. That’s short for I would, I’d, I’d, I’d, I’d wish, I’d wish, I’d wish. So it’s fast, it’s not going to be stressed. 

I’d wish— 

So the pitch is all just coming down for our scoop at three. I’d wish for, all going down. Three and then we have a change of direction and as almost always we have this reduction, it’s not four but it’s for, wish for, wish for, wish for, wish for, wish for. 

I’d wish for three more wishes.  

I’d wish for three more wishes.  

She kind of stresses more as well that’s pretty clear. Three more wishes. Three more wi– and then statement intonation at the end going down. Three more wishes.  

Three more wishes.  

All longer than for example, for or one very short word. For. Three more wishes. Three more wi-.  These are all at least twice as long as our tiny little reduction, for.  

Three more wishes.  

Let’s listen to this whole conversation one more time.  

If I were omnipotent for a day, I would want, um, world peace, no more hunger, good things for the rainforest.   

And bigger boobs.  

Well, so you took mine.  

Chandler what about you?   

Uh, if I were omnipotent for a day, I’d make myself omnipotent forever.   

See, there’s always one guy. If I had a wish, I’d wish for three more wishes.  

Thanks so much for studying with me, keep up your learning now with this video and don’t forget to subscribe with notifications on, I love being your English teacher. That’s it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English. 

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