How to pronounce "tell him" in English — Connected Speech Guide (IPA /ˈtɛlɪm/)

How native English speakers pronounce "tell him" (IPA /ˈtɛlɪm/) — connected speech rule, example sentences, and audio for GA and RP. Free. him→/ɪm/, h dropped after consonant

tell him pronunciation (IPA /ˈtɛlɪm/) — Elision

What happens in this phrase

him→/ɪm/, h dropped after consonant

Example sentences

Please tell him the news.
I'll tell him tomorrow.
Don't tell him yet.
Can you tell him?

Common mistakes by native language

Japanese speakers

Mistake: Pronouncing every letter as "TERU HIMU" with a full h and a katakana i vowel, or as "TERU IMU" dropping the h but with clear syllable breaks.

Why: Katakana English inserts vowels between consonants and treats each word as separated.

Fix: The h of "him" is elided in fast speech, and the l of "tell" links directly to the i of "him": [ˈtɛlɪm]. Say "tellim" as one word.

Korean speakers

Mistake: Preserving a clear [h] onset for "him", producing "TEL HIM" with a visible break between the words.

Why: Korean does not commonly elide word-initial [h], and orthography-based learning reinforces its presence.

Fix: In casual English, the [h] of unstressed pronouns ("him", "her", "his", "he") is very often dropped. "Tell him" becomes [ˈtɛlɪm]. This is standard, not casual — even news anchors do it.

Spanish speakers

Mistake: Producing a strong dark l or a Spanish-style light l in "tell", then keeping the h of "him" audible.

Why: Spanish l is light and doesn't have the darker "velarized" quality English uses at word-final position; and Spanish speakers typically pronounce written h... except they know Spanish h is silent, which can create over-correction on English h.

Fix: English "tell" uses a dark l [ɫ] at the end. Then drop the h of "him" entirely: [ˈtɛɫɪm]. Even easier since Spanish already treats h as silent.

Similar phrase patterns

give her — h-elision + linking: Same h-drop pattern: [ˈɡɪvər]. Any unstressed "her/him/his/he" tends to lose its [h] in fluent speech.
ask her — h-elision after word-final consonant: The k of "ask" links directly to the vowel of "her" (h elided): [ˈæskər]. Systematic pattern.
let him — flap-t + h-elision: Two reductions stacked: the t flaps AND the h drops, giving [ˈlɛɾɪm]. Same shape as "tell him" phonetically.

Practice sentences

Tell him I said hello. (friendly message)
Please tell him to call me back. (message request)
Don't tell him yet — it's a surprise. (secret keeping)
Tell him the meeting has been moved to Friday. (workplace update)
Someone needs to tell him the truth. (serious situation)

Notes

"Tell him" illustrates one of the most reliable rules of English connected speech: **h-elision on unstressed function words**. The pronouns "him", "her", "his", "he" — and the auxiliary "have" and "had" — regularly lose their [h] when they are unstressed and follow another word. Native speakers do this without thinking. Learners who preserve every [h] sound noticeably careful and non-native, and often struggle to understand fast speech because they are listening for consonants that were never spoken. "Tell him" becomes [ˈtɛlɪm], "give her" becomes [ˈɡɪvər], "I saw him" becomes [aɪ ˈsɔːɪm]. The [h] comes back only when the pronoun is stressed for contrast ("tell HIM, not her").