Watch the Video Lesson Take a look at the following sentences. Is the word to pronounced differently?
(1) Who did you give the book to? (2) I gave it to Ben.
In (1) the word to is pronounced /tuː/. In (2) it is pronounced /tə/. We call the first pronunciation strong and the second weak.
Some words in English have two very different pronunciations. They are usually part of a group called Function Words. Function words express grammatical relationships and are usually monosyllabic (= one syllable).
The weak form is much more common and should be considered the “normal” pronunciation. The vowel used in the weak form is usually the schwa /ə/ - but sometimes /i/ or /u/ is used. Examples: -
It’s for me -
- I went to London I was late
We use the strong form if the word is: (1) at the end of a phrase1:
(2) before a pause2: (3) stressed3:
for = /fə/ to = /tə/
was = /wəz/
Who’s that for? I went to….London I said, “I WAS late”, not “I WASN’T late”.
for = /fɔː/ to = /tuː/
was = /wɒz/
1 In some linguistics textbooks you will see the term stranded rather than “at the end of a phrase”. A function word can be optionally pronounced in a strong form before the end of a phrase. For example: Where does she come from really? The word from is not at the end of a phrase but rather the end of a grammatical phrase. It is not grammatically
linked to the adverb really. So from is described as stranded and can be pronounced with a strong form. 2 Weak forms may also be used before pauses: let’s go to….London /tə/ 3 (1) Usually strong forms are used all the time in singing (although a and the are often weak). (2) Sometimes, weak forms are stressed in speech, e.g. you may hear I’m ‘going to go as /ʌɪm ˈgənə gəʊ/. (3) Using a strong form does not necessarily mean you have to place stress on the word.
