Which linking sound is inserted between two rounded vowels, as in 'you are' or 'you eat'?

• A. Intrusive /w/
• B. Intrusive /j/
• C. Glottal stop
• D. Epenthetic vowel

Answer: (A)

When two vowels meet across a word boundary, English often uses a glide to connect them smoothly. In this case, the bridging glide is an intrusive /w/. The /w/ acts as a tiny, voiced semivowel that links the rounded vowel at the end of you (the /uː/ sound) to the next vowel, as in are or eat, so the sequence sounds like you-ware or you-weat rather than a harsh break. This keeps the pronunciation fluid without adding a full extra syllable.

This isn’t about inserting a new vowel sound (that would be an epenthetic vowel), nor about a glottal stop, which is a different kind of break, and it’s not about adding a /j/ glide in these cases. The characteristic move here is the intrusive /w/ linking between two vowels.