Function words in English are generally not stressed, unless there is a need for special contrast or prominence on them. So, when these words are unstressed they have their weakforms, but when they are stressed they have their strong forms.
An important feature of English pronunciation is weakening or reduction /rI'dAkSn/ of function words in an unstressed position in an utterance. These words show reductions in the length of sounds, weakening of vowels towards /q, I/ and disappearances of some vowels and consonants.
Why is it important to learn how weak forms are used? It is possible to use only strong forms in speaking, for example /xnd/ instead of /qnd/ or /wPz/ instead of /wqz/. There are two main reasons for using weak forms. Firstly, most native speakers of English find an ‘all-strong-form’ pronunciation unnatural and foreign-sounding. Secondly, and more importantly, speakers who are not familiar with the use of weak forms are likely to have difficulty understanding speakers who do use weak forms; since practically all native speakers of British English use them, learners of the language need to learn about these weak forms to help them to understand what they hear.
There are about 40 function words in English:
Word | Strong form | Weak form | Examples | |
a | eI | q | (before consonants) | q *paVnd q *deI |
an | xn | qn | (before vowels) | *hxv qn *xpl |
the | DJ | Dq Di or DJ | (before consonants) (before vowels) | Dq *mL Dq *merIq qt Di *eqpLt |
and | xnd | qn | *blxk qn *waIt | |
as | xz | qz | qz *gVd qz *gqVld | |
but | bAt | bqt | *gVd bqt Iks*pensIv | |
than | Dxn | Dqn | *betq Dqn *evq | |
that | Dxt | Dqt | (only in a relative clause) | aI qd*mIt Dqt aI *dId It |
there | Deq | Dq | (as an indefinite adverb) | Dq z q *bVk Pn Dq *teIbl |
he | hJ | J | *dId J *wIn | |
him | hIm | Im | *lJv Im | |
his | hIz | Iz | aI *laIk Iz *taI | |
her | hE: | E: or q E:r or qr | (before consonants) (before vowels) | *teIk q *hqVm *teIk qr *aVt |
them | Dem | Dqm | *Jt Dqm | |
us | As | qs s | (only in let’s) | *raIt qs *lets *dH It |
you | jH | ju | *wPt dq ju *TINk | |
at | xt | qt | *kAm qt *wAns | |
for | fL | fq fqr | (before consonants) (before vowels) | *kAm fq *tJ *kAm fqr q *mJl |
from | frPm | frqm | aI *keIm frqm *lAndqn | |
of | Pv | qv | *mqVst qv *Ll | |
to | tH | tq tH or tu | (before consonants) (before vowels) | *traI tq *stPp *taIm tu *Jt |
some | sAm | sqm | (meaning ‘an unspecified amount of’) | aI *nJd sqm *peIpq |
do | dH | dq dH or du | (before consonants) (before vowels) | *haV dq DeI *nqV *haV du aI *nqV |
does | dAz | dqz | *wen dqz It q*raIv | |
am | xm | qm m | *waI qm aI *hIq aI m *taIqd | |
are | R | q qr | (before consonants) (before vowels) | Dq *gE:lz q *prItI Dq *men qr *AglI |
is | Iz | s z | (after voiceless consonants) (after vowels and voiced consonants) | *Dxt s *faIn *weq z *GPn *GPn z *hIq |
was | wPz | wqz | Dq *weDq wqz *faIn | |
were | wE: | wq wqr | (before consonants) (before vowels) | DeI wq *leIt DeI wer *JzI |
be | bJ | bi or bI | *dqVnt bi *rHd | |
just | GAst | Gqst | Gqst bI*haInd | |
have | hxv | v qv | (after pronouns, as an auxiliary verb) | DeI v *dAn It Dq *men qv *gPn |
has | hxz | qz s z | (after s, z, S, Z, C, G) (after other voiceless consonants) (after vowels and voiced consonants) | Dq *pleIs qz *CeInGd *Gxk s *gPn hJ z *gPn *GPn z *gPn |
had | hxd | d qd | (after pronouns) | DeI d *left *hqVm Dq *deI qd bJn *faIn |
shall | Sxl | Sql or Sl | aI Sl bi *krPs | |
should | SVd | Sqd | aI Sqd fq*get It | |
will | wIl | l ql | (after vowels and /l/) | *DIs l *dH Dq *gE:l ql *wIn |
would | wVd | d qd | (after pronouns) | *aI d *dH It *GPn qd *dH It |
can | kxn | kqn | *haV kqn aI *help | |
could | kVd | kqd | *hJ kqd *dH It | |
must | mAst | mqst | aI mqst *tel Im |
All these function words are in certain circumstances pronounced in their strong forms. It is important to remember that there are contexts where only the strong form must be used. There are some simple rules which we are to observe:
· whenever the function word is stressed it has its strong form:
/Dq *letqz *frPm *GPn nPt *tH *GPn/
· whenever the function word is at the end of an utterance:
/*Dxts *wPt aIm *fPnd Pv/
/*jH R/
· whenever it is cited or pronounced separately for some purpose:
/mAst/
· if the function word ends in a vowel and the following word begins with a vowel, the function word also has its strong form:
/tH Rsk/ or /DJ ADq/
But there are some exceptions. Pronouns he, him, his, her, them, us have their weak forms at the end of an utterance (unless they are stressed, of course). Also pronouns he, him, his, her, when found at the beginning of an utterance, are pronounced with an initial /h/.
There are some function words which always have their strong forms regardless whether they are stressed or not. These are:
on | Pn | Its Pn Dq *teIbl |
off | Pf | *GAst Pf Dq *rqVd |
in | In | Its In Dq *desk |
not | nPt | aI *hqVp nPt |
Also to this group we can refer the following words which can have their strong or weak forms according to their meaning in a sentence:
· have (when it is a main verb with the meaning ‘to possess’),
I have a *very *good *car. /hxv/
· do (when it is a main verb with the meaning ‘to make, to perform’),
He *always does his *best. /dAz/
· some (when it is an indefinite pronoun),
I *think some *animal *broke it. /sAm/
· that (when it is a demonstrative pronoun),
I must *answer that *letter. /Dxt/
· there (when it is an adverb of place),
He *went there to *study. /Deq/