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Tim's Pronunciation Workshop: Contracted 'have'

Episode 71 / 07 Aug 2017

Tim
Hi. I'm Tim and this is my Pronunciation workshop. Here I'm going to show you how English is really spoken. Come on, let's go inside. Phew, just made it. A little bit late today. My alarm didn’t go off this morning, so, I nearly missed the bus.

Voice
Err... Tim, why do you need a bus to get to the shed at the end of your garden?

Tim
Well, you know it’s a really big garden.

Voice
Really?

Tim
OK, fine. Look, I’ll let you into a little secret. This actually isn’t my workshop. I’ve been borrowing it from a friend. Anyway, I nearly missed the bus, but I didn’t. So, let’s ask some people in London what they would do if their alarms hadn’t gone off this morning.

Voxpops
If my alarm hadn’t gone off this morning, I’d’ve missed the bus.
I’d’ve stayed home.
I’d’ve woken up anyway.
I’d’ve been late for work.
I’d’ve missed the train.
I’d’ve stayed in bed.

Tim
In an earlier video we saw that the verb ‘have’ is pronounced as /hæf/ when it’s used in its modal form. But this isn’t the only way the pronunciation of ‘have’ can change. Watch and listen again. Can you hear how they pronounce it differently?

Voxpops
If my alarm hadn’t gone off this morning, I’d’ve missed the bus.
I’d’ve stayed home.
I’d’ve woken up anyway.
I’d’ve been late for work.
I’d’ve missed the train.
I’d’ve stayed in bed.

Tim
When the verb have is used as an auxiliary it’s often contracted. And when it comes after a consonant sound it’s pronounced /əv/. So, ‘I’d have been late’ becomes ‘I’d’ve been late’. This pronunciation is very common in conditional sentences, but it’s not the only time you’ll hear it. Here are some more examples.

Examples
Your parcel should’ve been delivered yesterday.
I would’ve done it differently.
We might’ve made a mistake.
The police’ve arrived.

Tim
Right, so you’ve heard the examples, and now it’s your turn. Listen and repeat.

Examples
Your parcel should’ve been delivered yesterday.
I would’ve done it differently.
We might’ve made a mistake.
The police’ve arrived.

Tim
Well done. Now remember, if you want to learn more about pronunciation, then please visit our website, bbclearningenglish.com. And that is about it from the pronunciation workshop for this week. I'll see you soon. Bye bye! OK, now how does this alarm work? I guess I should’ve read the instructions! That was really loud!

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