Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda - American English Pronunciation!

Have you ever heard someone say shoulda? “Oh yeah, I shoulda done that!”

你有沒有聽別人講過 shoulda ? 唉！沒錯，我 shoulda（原本應該）那樣做的！

What’s it mean? In this American English pronunciation video, you’re going to learn

此話何意？在本段美語發音影片中 你將會學到：shoulda、woulda、coulda

about shoulda, woulda, coulda.

"Shoulda" 是 "should have" 的省音

‘Shoulda’ is a reduction of ‘should have’. I made a video years ago about dropping

我幾年前製作過一段影片，內容講述：略過 H 音不發，諸如： "have" 之類的字

the H in words like ‘have’ – we do it all the time in spoken American English. But

在口說美語中，我們早就習以為常

至於"Shoulda"，我們還會做更多的省音，而不僅於略過 H 音

in ‘shoulda’, we’re going a lot further than just dropping the H. We’re reducing

我們會把 AA[æ] 母音省音成弱化母音 [ə]，同時也略過 V 音不發

the AA vowel to the schwa, and we’re dropping the V sound. All we’re left with is the

因此 "have" 全部只剩下 [ə] 音，uh [ə]， uh [ə]

schwa, uh, uh. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Note that the L is silent in these words, and they

Shoulda，woulda，coulda 注意此事：此 3字中的 L 皆不發音

且他們均有單字 "BOOK" 中的母音 UH[ʊ] 發此音時，嘴唇要些微張開成喇叭狀

all have the UH vowel, as in ‘book’, where the lips flare a little and there’s some

後段舌頭要稍微用一些力，就在它稍稍抬起時 Uh, should, uh, would, uh, could, uh

tension in the back of the tongue as it lifts a bit. Uh, should, uh, would, uh, could.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Let’s look at some sentences. I shoulda been there.

讓我們檢視一些句子。我原本該到場的

You coulda been hurt! I shoulda seen it coming.

你原本會受傷的。我原本就該料到會有如此的局面

I woulda been there. We coulda tried harder.

我原本想到場的。我們原本可以更盡力的

I woulda thought so.

我原本是這麼想的

有時我會像這樣念這些字：除了 [ə] 外其他都不念，

Sometimes I pronounce these words like this, all the way reduced, and sometimes I make

而有時我又會念出很輕的V音，vv、vv、vv。 我說不出個道理來，為什麼要這樣念還是那樣念

a light V sound, vv, vv, vv. There’s no reason why I do it one way or another, I just

我只知道我在念字時，或許你們 2種方式都會聽到

know that I do, and you’ll probably hear it both ways.

此時，你們不會真的想在書面上書寫這些省音字，但口說呢？可以的，就這樣念

Now, you don’t want to try to write them this way, but speaking? Yes, do it. These

reductions sound like natural American English.

這些省音聽起來就像是道地美語

Shoulda, woulda coulda. Shoulda, woulda, coulda: these three words together is a phrase we

Shoulda, woulda, coulda。Shoulda、woulda、coulda 此 3字合起來就變成一句片語

use sometimes to say ‘oh well’.

我們有時會用來表示 "嗯！算了"

>> Man, I wish I had bought Apple stock ten years ago.

哎呀！我10年前要是有買蘋果公司的股票就好了

>> Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

嗯！算了

Bonus: Let’s learn the negative too:

同場加映，讓我們也學一下否定句

Should not have. Americans will say this: shouldn-uh. Drop the word ‘not’ and just

本來不應該...。美國人會這麼說：shouldna, shouldna。略過 "not" 這個字不發音

只發 N 的音。所以它聽起來像是有 2 或 3 個音節

make an N sound. So it’s going to sound like two or three syllables, depending on

這要看你從 D 音轉換至 N 音的速度多快而定。shouldna, shouldna。一念完 should，馬上拉長 N 音：shouldnnnnn

how fast you transition from D to N: shouldn’t-uh. Right after ‘should’, hold out an N: shouldnnnnn.

舌頭發 D 及 N 音的位置幾乎一樣，Shouldnnnnnnnn-uh.

The tongue position for D and N is almost the same. Shouldnnnnnnnnnn-uh. Then just release

接下來只要放鬆舌頭，即可發弱化母音 [ə] Shouldn-uh, shouldn-uh.

the tongue to make the schwa. Shouldn-uh, shouldn-uh. This is the same for couldn’t

同理，"couldn't have" 變成 "couldna"； "wouldn't have" 變成 "wouldna"

have, couldna, and wouldn’t have, wouldna.

Let’s look at some example sentences: Shouldn’t have, shouldna.

讓我們檢視一些例句。Shouldn’t have, shouldna.

I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. It shouldn’t have started already. Shouldna.

我不應該這麼說的，我很抱歉。此事不應該這麼早就開始。 Shouldna.

Couldn’t have, couldna. You couldn’t have known.

Couldn’t have, couldna. 你原本不會知道的

We couldn’t have made it anyway. Couldna, couldna.

我們原本無論如何都無法達成的。Couldna, couldna.

Wouldn’t have, wouldna. I wouldn’t have said that.

Wouldn’t have, wouldna. 我原本不想這麼說的

It wouldn’t have mattered. Wouldna, wouldna.

此事原本無關緊要。Wouldna, wouldna.

I hope you’ll now be more comfortable identifying these phrases when you hear them, and reducing

我希望此時你們能更輕而易舉的聽出這些片語，就在聽到它們時

自己會將這些省音善用於交談中

them yourself in conversation.

If there’s a word or phrase you’d like help pronouncing, please put it in the comments

如果還有什麼單字或片語，你們想要發音上的協助，就將它寫在下方的留言中

below. Don’t forget to sign up for my mailing list by clicking here or in the description

別忘了要註冊加入我的郵寄名單，你可以按此處或下方的影片說明

below to keep up with all my latest videos – it’s free.

以隨時掌握我所有最新的影片，此完全免費

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

就這樣，非常感謝使用 Rachel 的英文