- Hello, lovely students,
and welcome back to English with Lucy.
Today, oh, this video is a bit of a mix of everything.
It's going to be about pronunciation,
and a little bit of grammar too.
And it's going to help your vocabulary.
Today, we're going to talk about contractions.
Contractions are perfect for informal situations,
for conversational English,
native speakers use them all the time.
Today, I'm really going to be focusing
on how to pronounce them,
because lots of students struggle with that.
A contraction is when we take two words,
and we shorten them into one word.
For example, I will, I'll.
In today's lesson,
we are going to discuss positive contractions.
And maybe in another video,
I'll talk to you about negative contractions.
I would also like to say that, as always,
there is a free PDF and quiz that goes with today's video.
And I must say that today's PDF
is possibly one of my favourite PDFs ever.
There is so much information about contractions on there.
It's basically everything you need to know
about positive contractions.
If you would like to download the PDF and quiz,
all you have to do is click on the link
in the description box.
You enter your name and your email address.
You sign up to my mailing list,
and the PDF will arrive directly in your inbox.
After that, every week,
you'll automatically receive my free lesson PDFs,
along with all of my news, course updates, and offers.
It's a free service, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Let's get started with the lesson.
So let's take a look at that I will example again, I'll.
You'll notice that we use the apostrophe
to replace some missing letters.
To form contractions,
we usually combine a verb, auxiliary,
or modal with a pronoun.
However, there are always exceptions, because it's English.
We just love exceptions.
The most common contractions are formed with am, is, are,
has, had, and would, will.
So I think to start, we'll take a look
at how to pronounce contractions that include the be verb,
as in am, is, and are.
First, we have I am,
which is written and pronounced as I'm, I'm.
I'm sorry I'm late, there's so much traffic today.
We also have he is,
and this can be pronounced in various ways.
The most common one is he's.
You can also hear his,
that's a very short sort of weak form.
Sometimes people will even drop the H, the H sound.
And they'll say is, this is only in certain dialects.
Most commonly you'll hear he's or his.
He's at the store, he'll be back soon.
We also have she is, which is pronounced as she's,
she's, or the weak form, she's, she's.
She's the smartest in the group.
It is is nice and easy.
It's pronounced it's, it's.
It's not supposed to go in the cupboard.
It goes in the refrigerator.
We also have your, your.
And there's another way of pronouncing this.
You can also say your, your,
but your is a bit simpler, a bit easier to say I think.
You're right about that.
We also have we are, as in we're, we're.
This can be a tough one to pronounce E, U, ear, ear.
We're off to the cinema, see you in a few hours.
And finally, they are makes they're, they're.
I know that air sound can be quite challenging, too.
E, U, E, U, air, air.
Some students find it easy to just pronounce the E sound,
and elongate it.
Air, air, air.
They're still here.
Do you want me to get them for you?
Let's move on and focus on the contractions
including has, had, and have.
They can be used as contractions,
but only when they are auxiliary verbs.
This part's really important.
We can't use have, has, or had as a contraction
if it is the main verb in the sentence.
Take a look at these two examples.
This should clarify it for you.
I had just heard the news when you called me.
Had in that sentence is an auxiliary verb.
We can use it as a contraction there.
I'd just heard the news when you called me.
In this next sentence, I had a cup of coffee this morning.
It's the main verb of the sentence, we can't contract it.
I'd a cup of coffee this morning.
It just doesn't sound right.
I had a cup of coffee this morning.
Let's take a look at has first,
because it can be quite confusing.
Firstly, we have she has, she's, she's.
We also have the weak form, she's.
She's been working late most nights.
We have he has, he's, he's,
or the weak form, his.
He's got a meeting at 10.
And finally, it has contracted to it's, it's.
It's been sitting out all night.
Now these three are confusing,
because they have the same pronunciation and spelling
as the contracted form of she is, he is, and it is.
How do you know the difference?
Well, it should be fairly clear from the context,
but if you have a doubt,
you need to see how the sentence has been conjugated.
If you can see a past participle after the contraction,
it means that the contraction represents has.
If you see been, eaten, seen,
then usually, the apostrophe S will be has.
Let's take a look at the easier ones we have.
To have, I have is I've, I've.
I've been here all day.
You have is you've, you've.
You've come all this way just to break up with me?
And we have is we've, we've, or the weak form, we've.
We've taken the dog to the vet.
And we have had.
I had becomes I'd, I'd.
I'd been studying English for three years
before moving to Leeds.
You had becomes you'd, you'd.
You would have passed if you'd studied.
She had becomes she'd, she'd.
She'd been sleeping all day when he called her.
He had becomes he'd, he'd.
He'd left before us, but was still late.
We had becomes we'd, we'd.
We'd seen him around the office,
but we didn't know he was the new boss.
And they had becomes they'd, they'd.
They'd eaten before coming over.
Let's take a look at would, the contractions for would.
You'll notice that they are very similar
to the contractions for had.
I will show you a couple of rules
after we've covered the pronunciation.
I would, I'd.
I'd like to visit London.
You would, you'd.
You'd look good in this dress.
He would, he'd.
He'd like to spend time with his family.
She would, she'd.
She'd like to go on holiday.
It would, it'd.
It'd be great to see you when you're back.
We would, we'd.
We'd love to come to your wedding.
And they would, they'd.
They'd take the train, but the tickets are too expensive.
So how do we know if contractions like I'd and we'd
are representing had or would?
Here are some rules to follow.
Would is followed by an infinitive.
She would go.
I would love.
She'd go, I'd love.
Would can also be followed by the present perfect tense.
They'd have slept.
I'd have given.
With had, a past participle follows.
I'd eaten, I had eaten.
He'd gotten, he had gotten.
Let's move on to our penultimate section, will,
before we move on to some extra ones.
These ones are fairly simple.
We have I will, I'll.
I'll come round later today.
You will, you'll.
I'm a great cook, you'll see.
He will, he'll.
He'll put it on his credit card.
She will, she'll.
She'll sleep on the sofa.
It will, it'll.
It'll need some food and water in the morning.
We will, we'll.
We'll see you next week.
And they will, they'll.
They'll move your luggage for you.
Finally, I have five more positive contractions
that don't follow the same patterns,
but you'll probably hear them quite frequently.
We have should have, should've.
We can also sometimes pronounce this as should've.
This is way more informal.
We should've left much earlier.
Would and could follow that same pattern.
I actually have a video on this.
I'll make sure I link it in the description box
all about should've, would've, and could've.
She would've been so angry.
They could've come.
Finally, we have want to and going to.
We shorten these to wanna and gonna.
I have a video all about these.
Again, I'll put it in the description box for you.
I wanna go to yoga in the morning.
I'm gonna finish this project.
So now you've learned all the basics.
It's time to take the quiz.
The quiz is in the PDF.
Again, if you'd like to download that,
just click on the link in the description box,
enter your name and your email address,
and it will arrive directly in your inbox.
That's all for me today.
Don't forget to connect with me on all of my social media.
I've got my Instagram, EnglishwithLucy.
I've also got my personal Instagram, just @Lucy.
I've also got my website, englishwithlucy.co.uk.
where I have a fantastic interactive pronunciation tool.
You can explore the phonemic chart.
You can click on sounds and hear how I pronounce them,
and hear words containing those sounds.
If you're looking to expand your vocabulary,
and improve your listening skills,
then I also have my vlogging channel
where we document our lives here in the English countryside.
Every single vlog is fully subtitled,
so you can use it to improve your English.
I will see you soon for another lesson.
Right, let's get started with the lesson.
So I'm gonna do that again.
Mm, no, wait, why am I repeating everything twice?
Oh, she'd, they'd have slept.
I would have.
Why am I not pronouncing at all correctly?
He'll see you in the morning.
Oh, so I'm gonna do that again.
(gentle music)