When we have an 'ee' sound on the end of a word in English, and then an a/e/i/o/u sound at the beginning of the next word, it makes it awkward to say the two words together. For example, if you try to say the words "we organise" together, you'll find you naturally want to pause between them.

To avoid stopping, and to keep speech flowing, we add a linking sound between a word ending in a vowel sound and the next word beginning with a vowel sound. When a word ends with an 'ee' sound, we use a 'y' sound to link it to the next word.

Word ending in an 'ee' sound (there are many spellings for this sound)
…y…
Word beginning with an /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ or /u/ sound

As shown above — if a word ends in an 'ee' sound, it doesn't matter which vowel sound the next word begins with, we always use a 'y' sound to link them. E.g. "see [..y..] it" / "see [..y..] us." There are many words in English ending with an 'ee' sound, spelled in different ways, as shown below.

Pattern 1 — words:

I / he / she / we / be
Links to words beginning with: a (am, are, always) / e (enjoy, explained) / i (is, introduced) / o (organise, open) / u (understand)

Examples:

"I [..y..] always run a stand-up meeting every Monday morning"

"He [..y..] is the head of the HR department"

"She [..y..] organises company events"

"We [..y..] are going to launch the product at the beginning of the year"

"We need to be [..y..] open to new innovative ideas"

Pattern 2 — the word "the" (always pronounced "thee" before a vowel sound)

Links to words beginning with: a (apple, advantage) / e (event, employee) / i (international) / o (organiser, open) / u (understanding)

Examples:

"The organisers have done a great job" = "Thee [..y..] organisers have done a great job"

"We hope that the event will be a success" = "We hope that thee [..y..] event will be [..y..] a success"

"We discussed the advantages of the project" = "We discussed thee [..y..] advantages of the project"

"The international trade fair takes place every year" = "Thee [..y..] international trade fair takes place every year"

Pattern 3 — words ending in 'ee' spelling:

see/oversee, free, agree, coffee, employee/trainee

Links to words beginning with: a (and, all, access) / e (each, every) / i (international, into) / o (on, obtains) / u (under, understand)

Examples:

"I oversee [..y..] international projects"

"We [..y..] are offering 1-week's free [..y..] access to our member's section of the site"

"We disagree [..y..] on many topics"

"I went for coffee [..y..] at the new cafe near the office"

"The new employee [..y..] is very talented"

Pattern 4 — words ending in '-ly':

actually, really, early, only, recently, hardly ever, surely, quickly, easily, costly, simply, slightly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, firstly, thoroughly, generally, directly, especially, originally

Links to words beginning with: a (at, and, accepts) / e (enforces) / i (is, in, introduced) / o (on, opened) / u (undertaken, under)

Examples:

"I hardly [..y..] ever have meetings on a Friday"

"I [..y..] actually [..y..] expected that it would be very difficult"

"I have already [..y..] explained it once"

"I think this has the potential to become a monthly [..y..] event"

Pattern 5 — words ending in '-cy', '-dy', '-ty', '-gy':

already, somebody, nobody, anybody, policy, agency, currency, quality, society, loyalty, security, university, city, majority, minority, community, economy, strategy, methodology

 
Links to words beginning with: a (advised, analysed) / e (expected, event) / i (implemented, implied) / o (opened, organised) / u (understood)

Examples:
"The security [..y..] of the system is a big problem in our company at the moment"
"I have already [..y..] achieved a lot in my career"
"This new strategy [..y..] opens up opportunities for ourselves and our partners"
"The policy [..y..] implemented by the government has not been popular with the general public"

The other main sound added between words for fluent pronunciation is a /w/ sound. Check out how to use it right here!

Check out some exercises here.

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