Pronunciation: 'Have to'

Hi. I'm Tim and this is my Pronunciation workshop. Here I'm going to show you how English is

really spoken. It'll help you to become a better listener and a more fluent speaker.

Are you ready? Come on, follow me.

Now, are you an early bird? Do you catch the worm? Do you even have the faintest idea what

I'm talking about? Well, in English, an early bird is someone who gets up early in

the morning. Now I hate waking up early, but because of my job sometimes I have to

get up before 11 o'clock in the morning. I know - that's terrible, but I do it, just

for you. Let's find out about some other Londoners.

The word 'have' ends in the sound /v/,

doesn't it - or does it? Listen again: what sound can you actually hear? Also, pay

attention to the pronunciation of the word 'to'.

Tim When we use the verb 'have' in its modal

form: 'have to' meaning an obligation, the /v/ at the end of the word changes to

an /f/. Also the vowel sound in the word 'to' changes to a schwa - /?/. 'Have

to' becomes /haeft?/. Here are some more examples.

Right, so you've heard the examples, and

now it's your turn. Are you ready to start? Listen and repeat.

Well done. Now remember, if you want to learn

more about pronunciation, then please visit our website, bbclearningenglish dot com. And

that is about it from the workshop for this week: I'll see you soon. Bye bye. Right, now

as I got up at the crack of 11.00 in the morning, I'm exhausted - I have to grab 40 winks

before the next shoot. Night night. Ah, that's good...