Contractions in English - How to Sound More Natural and effortless

110,902 views ・ 2020-02-05

Accent's Way English with Hadar


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hey, it's Hadar.
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Welcome to my channel.
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And today we're going to talk about contractions.
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'We're' gonna to talk about contractions.
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Contractions are often used in the language, especially spoken language.
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So it is very likely for you to hear people saying something like, "We're super
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thrilled about that", rather than "We are super thrilled about that".
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Or "Dan's not serious", instead of "Dan is not serious".
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Or "they aren't satisfied, instead of "they are not satisfied".
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Both options are great, okay?
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I want you to remember that, if you tend to say "they are not tired" instead of
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"they aren't tired", that's okay.
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You're clear, you're communicating, more power to you.
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But what I'm sharing here today with you is a way to reduce those words.
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Because these parts are a little less important in English.
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I mean, you don't really have to fully pronounce those words because they only
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get you to what you really want to say, which is the verb and the noun and the
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actual message.
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And parts that are less important in English are totally reduced.
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"What do you want?"
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"What do you": 'whaddya', 'whaddya', 'whaddya', 'whaddya want'?
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So, contractions are a form of reductions where we reduce a word, and then we also
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connect it to another word.
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It is very prevalent in spoken English, but you can also see it in writing.
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You see the apostrophe that connects two words together: "I'll do it", and you
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don't say "I will do it".
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Now.
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What's the most challenging part about contractions?
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Well, there are a few.
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One, is that we learn English through reading and writing, and we are usually
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used to seeing words written out separately.
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Right?
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"I am happy".
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So, we're used to seeing these three words separately.
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And all of a sudden, to switch that into two words, that's confusing.
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Right?
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It kinda like messes up our brain, "Wait, there are two words there.
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How is it possible that it has become one?"
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So that's one of the reasons.
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Another reason is that non-native speakers tend to separate it because they think
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they sound clearer - or more clear cause that's more clear - when speaking, when
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they separated into two.
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Cause something like "I'll", "we'll", "she'd" sounds to them unclear, like
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they're mumbling.
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Because such things don't happen in their native tongue.
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So this is something that they avoid because they feel, "Oh, it's just wrong",
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or "It's a slang, it's street language", and then they avoid it.
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Instead of understanding that that's how people actually communicate.
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And you become more clear when you reduce the less important parts.
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It's not like that you start mumbling.
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It's just that it helps you focus on what really matters.
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"She's really happy".
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"She's really happy".
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"happy", that's a stressed word.
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"She is really happy" doesn't have the same impact as "she's really happy".
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"We're grateful for that" instead of "we are grateful for that".
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Right?
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Where are you kind of emphasize every single word and break it down.
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So, people think that they become unclear, but in fact it helps you sound more clear.
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Now, there is one thing that I want you to take into consideration here.
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If, because of the patterns of your native tongue, when you reduce, you swallow
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words, and then you swallow consonants.
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So for example, instead of saying, "I'll" you say "I", because you're not used to
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putting two continents together, then you first need to focus on pronouncing those
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constantly clusters - in words and phrases and then in contractions.
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But avoid using contractions if it causes you to reduce words.
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First, make sure that you don't reduce continents because that would definitely
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make you sound unclear and it's not worth it.
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Right?
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It's not worth investing time into learning those contractions if it doesn't
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serve you well.
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So, a way to do that is just to record yourself and to see if you actually
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pronounce all of those consonants, or you drop some of the consonants.
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Because when it comes to contractions, we usually reduce the vowels and keep the
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consonants.
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Not always, but for the most part, we'll look into all of the examples really,
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really soon.
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Sometimes non-native speakers tend to avoid contractions because they want to
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buy time before having to say the important words in the phrase or in the
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sentence.
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"I will...
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what's the verb, what's the verb ...think about it".
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But here's the thing.
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Whether you say "I will", taking your time here, or "I'll [pause] think about it", it
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doesn't really matter.
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It's better if you get used to using those contractions cause that sounds natural,
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and that helps you put the focus on what really matters.
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It really isn't about sounding all American because you don't have to sound
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American.
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You can sound like yourself.
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But by reducing parts that are a little less important, you really help yourself
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sound more clear.
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And that's what matters, right?
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So remember that taking a pause after a contraction, after you reduce two words
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together, is okay.
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Don't worry about buying time or like, stretching out the sentence or pausing
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between each word, so you'll be able to come up with the right word without
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getting stuck.
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Getting stuck is no big deal.
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I mean, the more you speak, the better it is.
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The more fluent you are, the less you get stuck.
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You need to address it differently rather than, you know, elongating words that need
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to be contracted and reduced.
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I hope that makes sense.
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Anyway, let's dive deep into understanding how to use contractions.
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What we're going to do is we're going to look at the verbs, like all the 'am',
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'is', 'are', 'will',
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'would', et cetera, et cetera.
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And then we'll see how we reduce them, and how we connect them to different pronouns
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or nouns.
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And how it sounds when it's contracted.
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So I'm going to try and give you a system to practice and to follow.
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Once you understand how to reduce the second word, it doesn't matter what the
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first word is, you'll be able to apply it onto pretty much everything.
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And that's what we're going to see together.
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By the way, I've prepared for you a practice sheet with all of the
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contractions I've discussed in this video, along with an audio file where you can
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practice it with me.
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So if you want to take it even further into practice even more, make sure you
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download the practice sheet on how to pronounce all of those contractions.
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So what are we waiting for?
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Let's get started.
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First, we're going to talk about the only form that has 'am', and that's 'I am'.
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And
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the 'am' reduces to 'm'.
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Basically, you reduce the vowel before.
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"I'm", "I'm", "I'm really happy about it".
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"I'm".
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So, what I'm doing here is I'm pronouncing it as 'aym'.
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'aym really happy about it'.
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I think that that's the stressed form, "aym happy about it", if you speak a
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little slower.
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But a lot of times I hear people, and I pronounced that myself as 'am'.
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'am', 'am happy about it'.
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If it's really reduced, then I want to stress the word "happy", am, am, am, am.
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That's how it's reduced.
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"I'm happy about it".
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I think it's even easier to think about it without that long diphthong in it.
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It's not 'aym', it's much easier to just treat it as 'am'.
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And even though you may think that there is an 'ai' there, if you just pronounce it
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as 'am', am', then you'll still be super clear.
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It's easy to pronounce and you'll deliver your message perfectly.
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"I'm happy about it".
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I'm honest.
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I am!
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Now, 'is' reduces to 'zzz'.
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Notice it's a Z sound, it's not an S.
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Except for one exception, but the word "is" ends with a Z sound, even though it's
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spelled with an S.
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So is comes after "he", "she", and "it".
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After "he": "he’s"
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- 'heez', "he's great", "he's working so hard".
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"She is"
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- "she's" - 'sheez'.
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"She's crazy about it".
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"She's", "she's".
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"It is" - "it's".
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What happened here?
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The Z sound became an S because the T is voiceless, so it affected the Z sound of
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the "is".
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So the Z became an S.
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"It's", "it's", "it's", "it's awful".
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"It's horrible news.
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It's wonderful news".
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Why be negative?
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"It's wonderful news!"
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So, pay attention.
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Don't go like this.
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Even though I say that "it is" is always, "it's", you'll hear a lot of times people
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saying "it-is", "it is one of the best restaurants in town".
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"It is one of the best restaurants in town", especially if you emphasize something.
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So, "he's", "she's", "it's".
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That's the reductions with "is".
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Now, let's move on to "are'.
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"are" reduces to 'ir', 'ir'.
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"you are"- 'you're', 'you're', 'y'r'.
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So, "you" reduces this to 'ya', "are" reduces to 'ur', together - 'y'r', 'y'r'.
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"They are" - 'they're', 'they're', 'their'.
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And yes, it sounds like "their" as in "their company" or "over there".
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All three words are pronounced the same.
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"They are" - 'they're', 'they're'.
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"They're over there".
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"They're".
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"We are" - 'we're', 'we're', 'weer/w'r'.
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So, basically it's a high E of the "we", and then you reduce it to an R: "we're",
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"we're".
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"We're going to go there next year".
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"We're going to go there next year".
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However, when people speak fast and if you want to reduce it even more - "w'r going
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to go there".
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'w'r', 'w'r', 'w'r',
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And then it sounds just like the word "were", as in "we were".
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So "we are", and the word "were" may sound the same.
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No wonder English is confusing, and it's hard to understand.
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This lesson is really good for comprehension as well.
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Listening comprehension.
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Again, "we are" - 'w'r', 'w'r', or 'we're',
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depends on the emphasis in the sentence.
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By the way, up until now, we only talked about pronouns, but the same reductions
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happen when we talk about nouns.
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For example, I can say "he's a really good student", "he's a really good student".
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Or "Dan's a really good student".
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Instead of "he", I put "Dan" and then I still added the Z.
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"Dan's a really good student".
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"Martha's an awesome teacher".
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"Martha's an awesome teacher", instead of "Martha is an awesome teacher".
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"Martha's", "Martha's".
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And yes, it does sound something like that belongs to Martha.
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#englishisconfusing.
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"Martha's an awesome teacher" - "Martha's students are really happy".
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"Dan's the student" - "Dan's students are happy".
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I hope that makes sense.
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Let's look at the verb "will".
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Will becomes /'ll/.
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So, it's a schwa and a dark L.
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Make sure you kinda like create some tension here in the back: /'ll/.
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"I will" - "I'll", "I'll" - 'ayl'.
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But same with "I'm", a lot of times you'll hear people just saying 'al', 'al', 'al
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call you later'.
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'al'.
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Back open 'ah' sound for the "father", create some tension for the L: 'al', 'al',
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'al think about it'.
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'al call you later'.
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'al do it'.
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'al'.
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"She will" - "she'll", "she'll", 'sheel'.
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High E and then just the dark L - "she'll", "she'll".
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"She'll pay you back", "she'll pay you back".
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But even here, you may hear people reducing it to 'sh'l', 'sh'l'.
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'sh'l pay you back'.
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It really depends on how fast people speak or where they put the emphasis on.
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'she'll' - 'sh'l'.
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But you're less likely to hear "she will" - "she will pay you back", unless I'm
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really like saying that explicitly: "she will pay you back, stop bugging her!
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She will!"
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By the way, when these words, "will", "have", "is", are used as the actual verb,
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not as an auxiliary verb - auxiliary verb is when we use these words in addition to
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another verb: "I will go", so "go" is the verb and "will" is the auxiliary verb.
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But when they function as a verb - "I will", "Will you be there?"
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"I will" - then we can't use contractions here.
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"Will you be there?"
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"I'll" - not possible, okay?
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So you can only use contractions with auxiliary verbs.
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You can't use them, especially when you respond to something with those contractions.
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Make sure that that's when they're separated.
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Okay.
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High five.
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Let's move on.
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So we had "will", "I'll", "she'll", "we'll".
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"They'll" - 'thell', 'thell', I can also reduce it to 'thell'.
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Or "they'll", put the full diphthong in, choose whatever works for you.
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"We'll" - 'W'l', also, reduced.
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But the most important thing here is that you need to remember that the "will"
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becomes /'ll/, and then we add it to the pronoun, and then the pronoun can also
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reduce a bit.
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Okay.
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If it's a full noun, "Amy will" - "Amy'll do it for you", "Amy'll do it for you".
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Then we can't reduce the noun itself, only the auxiliary verb.
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Okay.
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Only the second word that is reduced.
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"Would".
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Just turn it into a 'd', baby.
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'd'.
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"I would" - "I'd", "I'd".
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"She would" - "she'd", "he would"- "he'd", "we would" - "we'd".
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"We’d do it, for sure".
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"We'd", "We'd".
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Or 'w'd', 'w'd', sometimes.
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"W'd go there every single week".
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Totally reduced it.
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"They would" - "they'd", "they'd", or 'thied', 'thied', 'thied'
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- ''thied be there', 'thied be there'.
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Instead of, "they would be there".
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Now, the secret to practicing it is to understand it, first of all.
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To understand the resistance and the rejection, why you wouldn't want to use it.
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"Wait, I feel like I'm unclear, but Hadar says you're clear, so maybe I should do it, still".
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Just make sure that you record yourself, and that you don't drop any consonants.
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So you've recognized the resistance, and you kind of like resolve it.
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And then you need to practice it.
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The way to practice it is through repetition.
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So take one of those contractions and then say it over and over and over and over
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again separately.
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Then within context, so start inventing a bunch of sentences.
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These are usually simple sentences, so this shouldn't be too challenging for you.
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And then just use it in context over and over again.
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Then you can be innovative and creative and look it up "YouGlish", or just google
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phrases with "she'd", right?
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And then you have thousands and thousands of examples.
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Or you can download the practice sheet that I've prepared for you with examples.
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But you need more than that, and these are great ways and methods to do that on your own
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because you can do so much on your own.
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Okay, so we talked about what, what about "have", "have".
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"I have" - "I've", so "have" turns into 'v' - "I've", "I've" [ayv/av].
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"We have" - "we've", or 'w'v' - 'w'v been thinking about it for years'.
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'w'v', 'w'v' - 'we've', 'we've'.
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"They have"- "they've", "they've".
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"They've visited New York".
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"You've been so kind to me".
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"You've", "you've", or 'y'v', 'y'v'.
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'y'v' been so kind to me', right?
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Notice how I emphasize the "so kind", and then the "you have" became nothing
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- 'y'v', 'y'v'. 'y'v been so kind to me'.
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Thank you for being here watching my videos.
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I'm grateful - 'am'.
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By the way, when we discussed the word "have", "have" could also reduce to just a schwa.
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So actually, without the V, just a schwa.
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'I'v been there', 'I've been there so many times'.
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'I'v been there'.
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'I'v', 'uh', 'uh' - that was the word "have".
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I just swallowed it completely.
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No wonder English is confusing.
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Hashtag.
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I mean, it's a word that you don't even hear.
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It's just an 'uh' sound, and you are supposed to assume that it's the word
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"have"?
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Well, yes.
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Okay.
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I hope this helps.
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"Has" becomes 'zzz', and yes, it does sound like "is".
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"She has" - "she's", "he has" - "he's".
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"is" and "has", when it's contracted, sound the same.
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Okay.
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So this is why you have to see it in context, always.
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I know it's frustrating.
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"It is", "it's".
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Let's talk about "was" and "were".
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When it comes to "was" the W needs to stay, thank God.
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So, all I do is reduce the vowel in the middle to a schwa" w'z, 'w'z. 'she w'z', 'he w'z', 'it w'z'.
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When it comes to "were", the W stays - 'w'r', 'w'r', 'w'r'.
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Yes, it does sound like "we are", we discussed it.
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Very good, you remember it.
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So, here 'were' remains 'were'.
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By the way, to pronounce it, start with the W, make sure that there is no vowel
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in-between, and you pull the tongue in for the R. 'w'r', 'w'r'. Not 'wear'.
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Very important to remember cause "wear" is "to wear clothes", or "where are you",
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but here we are talking about 'w'r'. 'w'r', okay.
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"We were", "we were", you just need to say it really fast.
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I mean, I don't know how a person can reduce it even more. "they were", "they were", "they were",
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just swallow it and say it really queitly.
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"You were", " you were there?". 'You were, were, were'. "You were there?".
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So, there is nothing really interesting about this. Except for the fact that you need to say it fast and softly.
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Let's talk about the really interesting part.
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What happens when we add to those auxiliary verbs the word "not".
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For example, let's take the sentence "she is not ready".
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I could say "she's not ready" or "she isn't ready".
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Both are okay, but when I choose the first option, "she's not ready", then it feels
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like I'm emphasizing the word "not" a bit more.
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When I say "she isn't ready", I think the emphasis is more on the "ready".
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"Isn't".
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So let's talk about "isn't".
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"Not" basically becomes /'n/.
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It's an N sound, and then you stop it abruptly.
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I want to say with a T, but it's not really a T.
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You just stop it abruptly and that suggests that there is a T there.
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It's totally fine if you pop your T here - /'nt/.
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if it's easier for you, just do it.
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It doesn't really matter, you don't have to hold the T here.
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And there are a lot of native speakers who actually pronounce it like that, "isn't".
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Totally fine.
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But if you want to challenge yourself, try using a held T after an N, which is
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basically 'nnn'.
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You're releasing air through the nose, the tip of the tongue is touching the upper
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palate: 'nnn'.
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And then you're blocking it abruptly, you're no longer releasing air.
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And that is the T.
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I know.
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'nnn' - 'isn',
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or 'isn't'.
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"are not" - 'aren', I held it here, or 'aren't'.
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Both are fine.
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Don't psych yourself out trying to pronounce that nasal T.
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Do not, please, do not.
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I'm going to show both examples for those that that's easy for them.
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But truly, choose one that works for you, and that's more than enough, if you are
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changing from "are not" to "aren't", with a pop T, okay.
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"Isn'", "aren'",
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"weren'" - "were not", "weren'",
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"wasn'".
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"weren't" or "wasn't" - with a release T, that's okay too.
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"Have not" - "haven't", "has not" - "hasn't".
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Right.
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So, it's the same pattern.
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Once you recognize how to pronounce the "not" - /n'/ or /n't/, then it doesn't
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matter what comes first.
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Okay. As long as you reduce it.
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But the secret is to practice it repetitively, over and over again cause
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practice makes better.
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Okay.
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Then we have "will not".
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That's a different story.
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Because we don't say 'willn't'.
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I know you know that.
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We say "won't", "won't".
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A lot of times people avoid saying "won't", raise your hand if that's you,
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because it sounds to them like "want" - WANT.
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"Want", "I want something".
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"I won't do it".
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The secret is to put the W in.
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In the word "won't" we have the long O is in "go".
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24:01
In the O as in "go" there is a W at the end - 'ow', right.
399
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If you don't add in that W: 'wown't',
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24:11
with or without the T, it's going to sound like "want".
401
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24:15
And "want" already sounds like, you know, I desire, I want that.
402
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24:19
"Won't".
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So that's the exception.
404
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Practice it separately, and this one is important.
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24:24
So I do encourage you to practice it.
406
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And I have a video about "want versus won't" that you can check out.
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I'm going to put it in the show notes.
408
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24:32
Then we have "did not" - "didn't", "didn't".
409
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24:36
"didn't" - we have 'di' and then 'dn't', it's a D and then you release the air
410
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24:44
through the nose.
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That's technically the N.
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24:47
And then you stop it abruptly - that's the T at the end.
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24:50
'didn'.
414
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24:52
But it's totally fine to say, "didn't" or even "didn't".
415
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25:00
You'll be clear.
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Okay.
417
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So, totally cool.
418
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Here are a few more.
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"Must not" - "musn't", I dropped the T of the "must" - "musn't".
420
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25:11
And "can not" - "can't", or "cannot".
421
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25:17
So "cannot" is easy.
422
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25:18
People usually don't struggle with this one.
423
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25:21
People do struggle with "can't" because the T is barely noticeable.
424
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25:27
And then it sounds like you're saying "can".
425
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25:30
So if you are confronted with such situation, just say, "cannot".
426
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25:35
Okay.
427
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25:36
"I cannot take this in longer".
428
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25:38
But, if you want to practice it, I have a video about it, remember that "can't"
429
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25:44
always has the full vowel - the 'a' as in cat.
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25:46
"can".
431
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25:48
Even though the T is barely noticeable.
432
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25:50
Because the word "can", the positive form, is usually reduced to 'c'n'.
433
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25:54
'I c'n do it', 'c'n'.
434
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25:56
And "can't" is never reduced.
435
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25:59
So you can either say "cannot" or pop the T - "can't", if you feel that you are
436
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26:05
unclear when you're saying "can't".
437
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26:07
But trust the fact that if you pronounce the 'a' sound fully, you'll be understood.
438
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26:12
And if not, you'll just say it again.
439
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26:16
Okay, that's it.
440
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26:17
I think I went through many contractions for you to practice, so that's enough for today.
441
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26:22
Remember, first repetition makes all the difference.
442
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26:25
So repeat the contractions and then use it in context cause you got to use it
443
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26:29
yourself in context.
444
1589720
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26:30
Don't just repeat other people's sentences.
445
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26:33
That's the first thing.
446
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26:34
Second thing, identify your priorities.
447
1594690
3340
26:38
If this is a big struggle, think if it's really important for you right now to
448
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26:42
focus on it, even though I would love for you to watch my video over and over and
449
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26:46
over again.
450
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26:47
If you have more important things to deal with in terms of pronunciation, like your
451
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26:52
R is completely unclear.
452
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26:53
Or you're still reducing consonants when you're
453
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26:56
speaking whenever there is a consonant cluster, that's more important.
454
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27:00
You've got to put your focus there.
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27:02
This is like, these are luxury problems, not using contractions.
456
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27:07
But if that's the case for you, use whatever I taught you here to improve your
457
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27:12
listening skills, your listening comprehension.
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27:15
Because when you understand those contractions, it's so much easier to
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27:20
understand phrases and sentences, and how people speak.
460
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27:25
Because it can get confusing.
461
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27:28
English is confusing.
462
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27:29
But English is also awesome, and we love English.
463
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27:34
This is why we're here.
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27:35
And the fact that something is challenging is only a better reason for us to actually
465
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27:41
go through it and master it.
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27:45
Am I right or ...what?
467
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27:48
Okay.
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27:48
Let me know in the comments below, which one of all of the contractions that I've
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27:52
discussed is the most challenging one for you.
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27:55
And if you have any other questions for me, please, please, please let me know in
471
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28:00
the comments below.
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28:00
Okay, that's it.
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28:01
Thank you so much for watching.
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28:02
Please share this video with your friends if you liked it.
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28:05
And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you'll get notified
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28:09
whenever I share a new video with you.
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28:13
Have a beautiful week, have a beautiful day, and I'll - contraction - see you in
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28:20
the next video.
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Bye.
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About this website

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