343 Weak & Strong Pronunciations have17 can do does must shall will would
/həv/ after P /əv/ after C /v/ after V /k(ə)n/
/də/ + C /du/ + V /dəz/
/məs/ + C /məst/ - /t/ is optional before V or /j/ /ʃ(ə)l/
/(ə)l/ or /w(ə)l/
/d/ after V /wəd/ after C
Have you eaten? I should’ve waited.
They’ve already gone. Can you email it to me?
Do you want it? How do I use this?
Where does he work?
I must go to catch my train! I must eat lunch before I faint!
Where shall we go?
I’ll go tomorrow. Sarah will go tomorrow
We would / We’d love to come! Dan would love to change jobs.
/ʃʊdəv/ /hav/ /kan/ /duː/ /dʌz/ /mʌst/ /ʃal/ /wɪl/ /wʊd/ You haven’t eaten, but I have. I can. He works more than I do. I assume she does. Yes, you must. I shall. I will go tomorrow. If I could, I would.
The above weak forms are essential for non-natives to be aware of. There are other weak forms that you will hear and you can use in fast speech. The words marked with * can optionally be pronounced weak at the end of a phrase.
Word any* be*
because been
Weak Form Strong Form Word I
/əni/ /bi/
/bɪˈkəz/19 /bɪn/
/ԑni/ /biː/
/bɪˈkɒz/ or /bɪˈkəz/
/biːn/ or /bɪn/ I’ll I’m just
Weak Form /ɑ/
/ɑl/ /ɑm/ /ʤəs/
could of and should of. (2) having is usually /havɪŋ/ rather than /həvɪŋ/. 18 Even though Oxford Dictionaies transcribe this sound as /ʌɪ/ I’d prefer you to think of it as /ɑɪ/. 19 The weak and strong pronunciations can start with /bə/ rather than /bɪ/.
Strong Form Word Weak Form Strong Form /ʌɪ/18
she* /ʌɪl/ or /ʌɪəl/ /ʌɪm/ /ʤʌst/ should their they /ʃi/ /ʃəd/ /ðԑ/ /ðԑ/ /ʃiː/ /ʃʊd/ /ðԑː/ /ðeɪ/ 17 (1) The fact that the weak forms of have /əv/ and of /əv/ can be the same leads some native speakers to misspell could have (or could’ve) and should have (or should’ve) as