Contractions (Easy)

Hello and welcome to this episode of 6 Minute Vocabulary. Im Finn…

Feifei

...and Im Feifei. Hi!

Finn

Today going to be talking about contractions, like Ive meaning I have, or isnt’

meaning is not. Were going to about what these contractions mean, and how to

pronounce them.

Feifei

Thats right, and learning to use contractions like or isnt when youre speaking will

make your English sound much more fluent and natural.

Finn

And thats got be good news. As usual, well have lots of examples…

Feifei

Therell be a short quiz…

Finn

And finally give you a tip to help you with your vocabulary studies.

Feifei

So, lets start with an example. Listen Bill talking about his wife and his brother.

Finn

While youre listening, try to answer this question: has Bills ever visited the US?

INSERT

Bill

My wife and I live in London. Weve been married for about five . Ive always lived in

London, but shes lived in Germany, and the US, and lots of different places. Ive

been to the US, but my brothers been there many times, because his wife is from New

York.

Finn

, Feifei asked you: has Bills brother ever visited the US?

Feifei

And the answer is yes, Bills brother has to the US many times, because his wife is

American. Shes from New York.

Finn

Did you get the right? Of course you did!

Feifei

Ok, now here is another question. How long have Bill and his wife married? Listen

again and check…

INSERT 1 CLIP 1

My wife and I live in London. Weve been married about five years.

Feifei

You got the answer, didnt you? He said ‘’weve been married for about five years’.

Did you notice that he didnt say we have been, he said weve been? When were’

speaking, we often the word have, and just say –ve instead.

Feifei

So I have becomes Ive’, you have becomes youve’, we becomes weve and they have

becomes theyve’.

Finn

We use contractions like weve a lot when were speaking, but we write them,

too  � especially when were writing something informal or unofficial, like an email or a

postcard.

Now, when youre writing contractions, remember to use an apostrophe. So, for example,

weve is spelled w  � e  � apostrophe  � v  � e.

Finn

The apostrophe shows that a letter, or more than one, is missing.

Feifei

right, so when we write weve instead of we have, we miss the letters h and a from

the ‘’have��’. And the apostrophe shows that these letters have been skipped.

Finn

Right, Heres another question about Bill. How different places has his wife lived in?

Can you remember? Heres a clip.

INSERT 1 CLIP 2

Bill

Ive lived in London, but shes lived in Germany, and the US, and lots of different

places.

Feifei

He said shes lived in lots of different places. And he mentioned two of them: Germany,

and the US.

Finn

Did notice another contraction there? Bill said shes lived. Its the short form of she

has lived. Shes lived.

Feifei

is a very common one. Instead of has, lots of English speakers say –’s /z/ instead.

Finn

So instead he has we say hes’, instead of she has its shes’.

Feifei

Again, when you use this –’s /z/ instead of has when youre writing, dont forget

to use the apostrophe.

Finn

So, hes is spelled h  �  � apostrophe  � s, and shes is spelled s  � h  � e  � apostrophe –*%��

s.

IDENT

Youre to BBC Learning Englishcom.

Feifei

And now its time for a quiz. Number one. When were speaking, we dont say ‘*%I��

have lived here for three years’  � what do we say?

Finn

We say, ‘’Ive lived here three years’.

Feifei

Easy question, right?

Finn

I think so.

Feifei

Heres another one: Which pronunciation is correct? Is a) Hes /s/ a teacher or is it b)

Hes /z/ a teacher?

Finn

Its b) Hes /z/ a . And one last question. In the sentence Weve been listening to

6 Minute Vocabulary, how do you spell weve’?

Its w  � e  � apostrophe  � v  � e.

Finn

That's it. Before we go, heres a top to help you learn vocabulary.

Feifei

Vocabulary learning isnt a silent activity! Youll learn words more effectively if you them

out loud. It doesnt matter if nobodys listening  � say the words out loud anyway!

Finn

Absolutely. Very . Theres more about this at bbclearningenglishcom.. Join us again

soon for more 6 Minute Vocabulary. Bye!

Feifei

Bye!