Day 15 - Disappearing Syllables - Understanding Fast Speech in English

43,112 views ・ 2016-01-25

English with Jennifer


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

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Hi. It's Day 15.
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Today we need to talk about several words that lose a syllable
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in fast speech.
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I just used one. Do you know what it was?
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English with Jennifer
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"Several" is a word that could be said with three syllables:
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sev er al
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But usually we say it with just two syllables,
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especially in fast, relaxed speech:
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There are other words that follow a similar pattern.
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They can be said two different ways.
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The shorter variation is, of course, more common in fast, relaxed speech.
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Let me show you a few different groups of words
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that can lose a syllable, especially in fast speech.
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I'll read each word twice.
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First, slowly. And then with fast speech, where I drop a syllable.
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Let's look at more words with a vowel + R.
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You'll see a similar pattern.
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02:01
Here's another group.
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OUR when it's unstressed is said with one syllable: "ar."
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And our last word.
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This word leads us into the next group,
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where we drop a sound before L.
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...could be heard as "prob'ly."
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...is usually said as "choc'late."
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And we have two examples of very relaxed speech.
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BECAUSE can sound like "coz."
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Remember that's a spoken form, not a written form.
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EXCUSE ME can sound like "Scuse me."
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Or with a hint of that X...
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Listen closely.
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I'll say a sentence.
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You try to understand.
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That's all for now.
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Thanks for watching and happy studies.
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