How to pronounce "get rid of it" in English — Connected Speech Guide (IPA /ˌɡɛˈrɪɾəvɪt/)

How native English speakers pronounce "get rid of it" (IPA /ˌɡɛˈrɪɾəvɪt/) — connected speech rule, example sentences, and audio for GA and RP. Free. rid-of-it link; GA flap

get rid of it pronunciation (IPA /ˌɡɛˈrɪɾəvɪt/) — Elision

What happens in this phrase

rid-of-it link; GA flap

Example sentences

Let's get rid of it.
I'll get rid of it.
Please get rid of it.
We should get rid of it.

Common mistakes by native language

Japanese speakers

Mistake: Pronouncing "get" with a fully released final t, like katakana "GETTO", and treating "rid of it" as three separate careful syllables.

Why: Katakana English inserts a vowel after nearly every English final consonant and doesn't apply the GA flap to t between vowel sounds.

Fix: The t of "get" doesn't release before "rid", and the d of "rid" flaps into "of": [ˌɡɛˈrɪɾəvɪt]. Say it as one flowing chunk — "get-ridda-vit" is a rough phonetic guide.

Korean speakers

Mistake: Pronouncing "of" with its full dictionary vowel [ʌv] and giving it a small beat of its own stress.

Why: Korean has no unstressed preposition category that reduces this dramatically, so learners tend to preserve every word's full form.

Fix: "Of" reduces to a bare [ə] here and links directly onto the flapped "rid": [ˈrɪɾə]. Only "get" and "it" (loosely) carry any real weight; the middle nearly vanishes.

Mandarin/Cantonese speakers

Mistake: Keeping the d of "rid" as a hard, clearly released stop rather than flapping it, producing "rid-duv-it" with a heavy, separated d.

Why: Mandarin doesn't have the American flap [ɾ] as a phoneme, so the closest available sound to learners is a fully articulated d or t.

Fix: Between two vowel-adjacent sounds, the d of "rid" becomes a quick, light tap: [ɾ]. It should sound closer to a fast, soft flick of the tongue than a firm stop.

Similar phrase patterns

get out of — get + [word] + of, same reduction family: Structurally parallel: "get" followed by a short word and a reduced "of" — both compress the middle heavily while keeping "get" and the final content word clear.
speak of the devil — of → /əv/ reduction, idiomatic frame: The same [əv]/[ə] weak form for "of" recurs here, just embedded in a fixed idiom instead of a literal action phrase.
kind of — of → /ə/, extreme casual reduction: Shows the far end of the reduction spectrum for "of" (casual "kinda"), useful context for how far "of" can compress in fast speech.

Practice sentences

Let's get rid of it before the movers arrive. (moving/decluttering context)
I'll get rid of it this weekend, I promise. (making a commitment about clutter)
Please get rid of it — it's taking up too much space. (request, household context)
We should get rid of it if we're not using it anymore. (decision-making about an unused item)
Just get rid of it — you don't need it. (casual advice)

Notes

"Get rid of it" is a common everyday phrase meaning to remove, discard, or eliminate something — an unwanted object, a bad habit, or even an unpleasant feeling can all be the target of "it". It's informal and direct, frequently used in conversations about cleaning, organizing, decision-making, or breaking free of something unwanted ("get rid of a headache", "get rid of a bad habit"). Phonetically, the phrase compresses tightly around the GA flap: the d of "rid" and the following reduced "of" blend so smoothly that the middle of the phrase can sound almost like a single extra syllable attached to "rid". Learners who practice this flap-plus-reduction combination gain a transferable skill, since the same [ɾə] pattern shows up in countless other everyday English phrases involving a word ending in d or t followed by "of" or a similar weak function word.