How to pronounce "part of it" in English — Connected Speech Guide (IPA /ˈpɑrɾəvɪt/)

How native English speakers pronounce "part of it" (IPA /ˈpɑrɾəvɪt/) — connected speech rule, example sentences, and audio for GA and RP. Free. two links: part-of-it; GA flap

part of it pronunciation (IPA /ˈpɑrɾəvɪt/) — Linking

What happens in this phrase

two links: part-of-it; GA flap

Example sentences

That's part of it.
I missed part of it.
This is part of it.
He explained part of it.

Common mistakes by native language

Japanese speakers

Mistake: Saying "part" with a fully released final [t] and then treating "of it" as two separate, clearly enunciated words: "pa-to — ov — it" with audible gaps at each boundary.

Why: Japanese consonant-final syllables are rare, so learners instinctively add a vowel-like release after stops, and they have no built-in habit of chaining a flapped consonant across two word boundaries in a row.

Fix: Treat the whole phrase as one flowing unit with two links: the [t] of "part" flaps forward into "of", and the [v] of "of" (reduced to a bare schwa plus [v]) carries straight into "it": [ˈpɑrɾəvɪt]. Practice it as a single rhythmic word.

Korean speakers

Mistake: Dropping or substituting the [v] sound in "of" (often replaced with [b] or omitted entirely), so "of it" collapses into something like "uh-it" with no bridging consonant.

Why: Korean has no /v/ phoneme, so learners transfer the closest available sound or delete it altogether, which breaks the second link in this double-linking chain.

Fix: Practice the labiodental [v] in isolation first (upper teeth lightly touching the lower lip), then insert it as the bridge between "of" and "it": [əvɪt]. Combine with the flapped [t] from "part" for the full chain [ˈpɑrɾəvɪt].

Chinese speakers

Mistake: Pronouncing "of" with its full, unreduced vowel [ɒv] and inserting a short pause before "it", so the phrase sounds like three separate beats: "part — of — it".

Why: Mandarin does not reduce function words to schwa in connected speech, and it lacks the habit of flapping stops between vowels across word boundaries, so both links in this phrase require deliberate new training.

Fix: Shrink "of" down to a weak schwa plus [v] — [əv] — and keep the whole phrase moving without a stop: [ˈpɑrɾəvɪt]. Recording yourself saying "part of it" ten times fast helps lock in the reduced rhythm.

Similar phrase patterns

think about it — chained double-linking with GA flap: Just like "part of it", this phrase links two consonants in a row across word boundaries, with the medial [t] realized as a flap in General American: [ˈθɪŋkəˈbaʊɾɪt]. Mastering one chain makes the other far easier.
at all — single flapped-t link into a vowel: A simpler, single-link version of the same idea: the final [t] of "at" flaps directly into the vowel of "all" instead of stopping. Once this basic link feels automatic, chaining two of them together (as in "part of it") becomes manageable.
a glass of water — "of" reduces to schwa before a vowel-initial word: The word "of" behaves the same way here as in "part of it": it loses its full vowel and shrinks to a bare [ə(v)] that leans forward onto the next word, a pattern that recurs across dozens of English phrases with "of".

Practice sentences

That's only part of it. (downplaying how much has been covered)
I only understood part of it. (admitting partial comprehension)
This is part of it, not all of it. (clarifying scope)
He explained part of it to me. (describing incomplete information)
We only saw part of it before leaving. (recounting a partial experience)

Notes

"Part of it" is a compact everyday phrase built from two separate linking events stacked back to back, which makes it a useful stepping stone toward longer chains of connected speech. First, the final [t] of "part" links forward — in General American it becomes a quick flap [ɾ] that bridges directly into the vowel of "of". Second, "of" itself collapses from its full form [ʌv] down to a weak schwa-plus-[v] that then connects into "it". The result, [ˈpɑrɾəvɪt], sounds nothing like the three separately pronounced words a learner might expect from the spelling. Because "part of it" is A2-level and appears constantly in casual explanations and clarifications ("that's only part of it"), practicing this exact chain gives learners a reusable template for the many other English phrases that stack two links in a row rather than just one.