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STUDY NOTES EPISODE 9: EYE TESTING

CONTRACTIONS IN INFORMAL ENGLISH STUDY TIPS

Communicating effectively andnaturally in English means usingcontractions in everydayconversational speech.

It is also beneficial to put this intopractice for the IELTS Speaking testo capture the rhythm of English inyour speech.

Extending the use of contractedforms to informal writing isimportant because it is common,correct and natural for that style ofwriting.

Its quite common and natural in everyday

English to use such forms as its / ts/, Ive

/a v/, isnt / znt/, theres / z/ andothers. These are contractions and areshortened forms of a word or words. Theyrepresent the grammar or spelling ofinformal writing, and the pronunciation ofinformal speech. Though found in informallanguage only, they are, nonetheless,important when writing informal letters,postcards and notes to friends or eveninformal emails. Of equal importance is notonly using but pronouncing contractedforms correctly when speaking English.Contractions help make your speech soundnatural.Identifying contractions

Contractions are formed with auxiliary verbsbe, have and do, and modalauxiliaries, including can, could, might, shall, should, will, would, ought, must andthe semi-modal need. They are also formed with irregular verbsbe, have and do

when theyre not auxiliary verbs.

There are two kinds of contractions.For example:

pronounnoun + (auxiliary) verbquestion wordother

Theyre travelling in China.

The weathers cold.Wheres the party?Heres the book.

(auxiliary) verb + not

She wont be attending the meeting.John cant have the car tomorrow.

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Here is a list of contracted forms.

IRREGULAR VERBS

BE /bi/Forms Contractions Negative

Contractions

Pronouns Nouns QuestionWords

present tense -1

stperson singular

am /m/m /m/

Im /a m/

friends/fr ndz/

Jacks / ks/

3rd

person singularis / z/

s /z/ or /s/

hes /hiz/shes / iz/

its / ts/

other words:heres /h rz/theres / z/nows /na z/

wheres/w z/

isnt / znt/she isnt

compare: shesnot

friendsre/fr ndzr/ or/fr ndz/sistersre/s stzr/ or/s stz/

otherare /a/

re // or /r/

youre /j (r)/were/w (r)/,/w / or /w (r)/theyre/ (r)/ or

/e (r)/

other words:

herere/h rr/ or/h r/therere/ rr/ or/ r/

whatre/w t/ or/w tr/

arent /ant/ or/arnt/they arent

compare:theyre not

Past tense1

stand 3

rdperson

singularwas /w z/ or /wz/

wasnt /w znt/I wasnthe wasntshe wasntit wasnt

otherwere /w / or /w /

werent/w nt/ or

/w rnt/you werentwe werentthey werent

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HAVE /HV/Forms Contractions Negative

Contractions

Pronouns Nouns QuestionWords

friends/fr ndz/Jacks / ks/

present tense -3

rdperson singular

has /hz/, /hz/ or/z/s /z/, /s/

hes /hiz/shes / iz/its / ts/

other words:theres / z/

wheres/w z/

hasnt /hznt/he hasntcompare:hes not

other singular andpluralhave /hv/, /hv/ or/ v/ve /v/ or / v/

Ive /a v/youve /juv/weve /wiv/theyve/e v/

tablesve/te blzv/sistersve/s stzv/

whatve/w tv/

havent /hvnt/they haventcompare:theyve not

friendsd/fr ndzd/sisterd/s std/

Past tensesingular and pluralhad /hd/, /hd/ or/d/d /d/ or /d/

Id /a d/youd /jud/hed /hid/shed / id/itd / td/wed /wid/theyd /e d/

other words:thered / d/

whod /hud/ hadnt /hdnt/he hadntcompare:hed not

DO /DU

/Forms Contractions NegativeContractions

Pronouns Nouns QuestionWords

present tense -3

rdperson singular

does /d z/ or /dz/

doesnt /d znt/he doesntcompare:he does not

other singular andpluraldo /du/ or /d /

dont /do nt/I dontyou dontwe dont

they dontcompare:

they do notPast tensesingular and pluraldid /d d/

didnt /d dnt/I didntyou didnthe didntshe didntit didntwe didntthey didntcompare:he did not

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MODALS

WILL /W

L/Forms Contractions Negative

Contractions

Pronouns Nouns QuestionWords

friendll/fr ndl/Jimll / ml/

singular and pluralwill /w l/ or /w ll/ l l/l/ or / l/

Ill /a l/youll /jul/hell /hil/,/h l/shell / il/itll / tl/well /wil/,/w l/

theyll /e l/

other words:therell / l/

wholl /hul/ wont /wo nt/he wontcompare:he will not

WOULD /W D/, /WD/Forms Contractions Negative

Contractions

Pronouns Nouns QuestionWords

friendsd/fr ndzd/Sallyd /slid/

singular and pluralwould /w d/d /d/ or /d/

Id /a d/youd /jud/hed /hid/shed / id/itd / td/wed /wid/theyd /e d/

other words:

thered / d/

whered/w d/

wouldnt /w dnt/he wouldntcompare:he would not

OTHER MODALSFormstressed and unstressedpronunciation

Negative Contract ion Meaning

can /kn/, /kn/ cant /knt/ (Australian English,North American English), /kant/(Australian English), /k nt/(British English)

cannot

could /k d/, /kd/ couldnt /k dnt/ could notmight /ma t/ mightnt /ma tnt/ might notshall / l/, / l/ shant / ant/ (British English) shall notshould / d/, / d/ shouldnt / dnt/ should notought / t/ oughtnt / tnt/ ought notmust /m st/, /mst/ mustnt /m snt/ must notneed /nid/ neednt /nidnt/ need not

Here is a summary of question and other words, which are commonly contracted.

whats whens whos wheres howswhatll whenll wholl wherell howll

whodheres theres thats

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therell thatll

Stress in contractions

In spoken English the following type of contraction is unstressed. These contractionsare pronounced shorter and quicker, and, therefore, sometimes difficult to hear. It isan important aspect of casual, conversational English.

pronounnoun + (auxiliary) verbquestion wordother

Theyll /e l/ be living in Thailand.

The weathers /w z/ been warm.

Howve /ha v/ you been?

Theres / z/been a fire.

When an auxiliary verb is stressed at the end of a sentence or clause, contractionscannot be formed. For example,

Is he upset?Yes, he is. Yes, hes.

The other type of contraction can be stressed. These are auxiliary verbs in negativecontractions, which can, in distinction, be stressed at the end of sentences orclauses. Negatives are stressed in English, and so a contraction containing anegative is usually stressed.

(auxiliary) verb + not

He wont /wo nt/ be sitting the test.

You were late today?

No, I wasnt /w znt/.

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Contractions confusing forms

Though spelt differently some contractions have the same pronunciation as other

grammatical forms. This can cause confusion and misspellings.

Here is a list of such forms.

Word Pronunciation Grammar Example

its =it is orit has

contraction Its been raining all day.

it s

/ ts/

possessive The tree lost it s leaves.youre =you are

contraction Youre driving too fast.

your

/j /

possessivepronoun

Yourdrivers licence expires today.

theyre =there are

contraction Theyre sightseeing today.

their possessive Theyve postponed theirholiday.

there

/ /

adverb Theyll be travelling there tomorrow.whos =who is

contraction Whos going tonight?

whose

/huz/possessive Whose tickets are these?

Remember that is (to be) and has (to have), as well as had (to have) andwould (would), when used as auxiliary verbs contract to the same form s and d ,respectively. For example:

Its burnt. It is burnt. Im sorry, Ill lower the setting on the toaster.Its burnt. It has burnt. Im sorry, I wasnt watching the time.

Theyd travelled to China. They had travelled to China.Theyd travel to China. They would travel to China.

If there is any confusion, the context and grammar would make the meaning clear.