Elision: It refers to the omission of an

unstressed vowel, consonant, or syllable. This omission is

often indicated in print by an apostrophe. Verb:elide .
For example, in the utteranceHe leaves next week speakers
would generally elide (leave out) the /t/ innext saying
/nekswi:k/. Again here, the reason is an economy of effort,
and in some instances the difficultyof putting certain
consonant sounds together while maintaining a regular
rhythm and speed.

One of the most common elisions in spoken English is /t/

and /d/.
 next please /nekspli:z/
 I don’t know /aɪdəʊnəʊ/
 post the letter /pəʊsðəletə/
 old man /əʊlmæn/
 You and me /ju:nmi:/
 stand there /stænðeə/
Try to say the above word pairs without eliding the /t/ or /d/
respectively. How natural or unnatural do they sound?
Apostrophes that mark missing parts of words are
signalling elision. Examples include
 can’t for cannot
 he’s for he is
Sometimes sounds are totally omitted:
 comfortable /ˈkʌɱfətəbəl/ or /ˈkʌɱftəbəl/?
 fifth /ˈfɪfθ/ or /ˈfɪθ/?
 temperature /ˈtempərətʃə/ or /ˈtempətʃə/ or
even /ˈtemprətʃə/?
 vegetable: /ˈvɛdʒətəbəl/ → /ˈvɛdʒtəbəl/
 laboratory: /læˈbɔrətɔri/ → /ˈlæbrətɔri/ (American
English), /ləˈbɔrətri/ (British English)
Some native speakers would argue that they never elide
their speech and might go on to state that elision is a sign
of, at best, lazy speech, and at worst sloppy and or
degenerate speech. Should you wish to challenge their view,
ask them how they might prefer to pronounce without any
elision?Examples:
1)There are few trees in the wood. /ðərɚfju 'tri:zɪnðə 'wʊd/
2) She'd have told him /ʃi’ə 'toʊldɪm/
3) I don't know what to say /aidoʊn(t) noʊwɑ:ɾ ə seɪ/
=flapped /t/
4) I would like to travel a lot /aɪd 'laiktə 'trɑ:vəlɘlot/
5) I must have asked it before /aɪməstɘv 'æsktɪtbɪfɔ:r/
6) These are mine /ði:z ɚ 'maɪn/
8) what happened? / wɑ:t 'æpən/
9) I gave her the book /aɪ 'ɡeɪvɚðə 'bʊk/