ESL Saigon logo

ESL Saigon


The most common weak-form words

"The", "a", and "an"

It might be surprising but the articles "the", "a", and "an" have weak-forms in particular situations.

The

Weak-form pronounced /ðə/ – before a word that starts with a consonant sound (the mountain, the book, the car etc.)
Strong form pronounced /ðɪ/ – before a word that starts with a vowel sound (the airplane, the answer, the end etc.)

A

Weak-form pronounced /ə/
Strong-form pronounced /eɪ/
Normally, the indefinite article a is pronounced in its weak form /ə/. It is only pronounced in its strong form /eɪ/ when we want to emphasize it. However, I often hear people, English native speakers, using the strong form of a in all situations. I doubt that they want to emphasize it all the time.

An

Weak-form pronounced /ən/
Strong-form pronounced /æn/

"And", "but", "that", and "then"

Here are other words that not many learners of English know they have a weak form.

And

The very common word “and” is always pronounced /ænd/ but in speech it is very often pronounced /ənd/, /ən/, or even /n/.
And – strong form pronounced /ænd/
And – weak form pronounced /ənd/ or /ən/ (sometimes it is pronounced /n/ after t, d, s, z, ʃ)

But

But – strong form pronounced /bʌt/
But – Weak form pronounced /bət/

That

The word “that” is pronounced in its weak form only when it is used in a relative clause, otherwise “that” is pronounced in its strong form).
That – strong form pronounced /ðæt/ (Example: Is that /ðæt/ a lion?)
That – weak form pronounced /ðət/ (Example: This is the car that /ðət/ I like the most.)

Than

Then – strong form pronounced /ðæn/ or by some speakers /ðɛn/
Then – weak form pronounced /ðən/ or sometimes /ən/

Pronouns

The pronouns that have a weak and strong form in different situations are his, her, your, them, he, and you. The other pronouns also have a weak and strong form but they are often insignificant.

His

Weak form (when it occurs before a noun) /ɪz/ (Example: I remember his name.)
Strong form (always at the beginning of a sentence) /hɪz/ (Example: His car was first.)
His is also used in its strong form in situations as shown in the following example (It was his.)

Her

Weak form /hər, ər, ə/ is used with possessive sense, preceding a noun (Example: Take her home.)
Note: The word her is often pronounced /ə/ before consonants and /hər, ər/ before vowels; usually according to its position in the sentence (the h sound is always pronounce if the word her is sentence-initial).

Your

Weak form /yər/ (before vowels) or /yə/ (before consonants).
Example:
/yər/ You are on your own.
/yə/ Take your time.

He

Weak form /i/ is pronounced usually without the h sound except when it occurs at the beginning of a sentence (Example: What did he choose?)
Strong form /hi/ pronounced with the h sound when it occurs at the beginning of a sentence (Example: He chose the blue one.)

You

Weak form /yʊ, yə/
Strong form /yu/ is usually used contrastively or emphatically (Example: Is that you!)

Note:
When the word you is preceded by a word that ends with /d/ sound it is linked with that word and it is pronounced as /dʒu/.
Example:
What did you do? /wʌt didʒu du/.
The word "you" is pronounced /tʃu/ when it is preceded by a word that ends with /t/ sound.
Example: Don’t you know that? /doʊntʃu noʊ ðət/.

Them

Weak form /ðəm, əm/ (Example: Leave them here.)
Strong form /ðɛm/ (Example: I meant them, not the others.)

Prepositions and function words

The next group of words that we are going to analyze is prepositions and other function words. These words usually occur in their strong form when they are found at the end of a sentence. In other cases they are used in their weak form (with one exception, the word to).

At

Strong form /æt/ (Example: What are you looking at?!)
Weak form /ət, ɪt/ (Example: I will see you at school.)

For

Strong form /fɔr/ (Example: What is it for?)
Weak form /fər/ (Example: Thanks for asking.)

From

Strong form /frʌm, frɒm/ (Example: Where is she coming from?)
Weak form /frəm/ (Example: I am home from 9 to 11.)

Of

Strong form /ʌv, ɒv/ (Example: This is the guy I heard of.)
Weak form /əv/ or /ə/ before consonants (Example: Most of them are unprepared.)

As

Strong form /æz/ (Example: That is what it was sold me as.)
Weak form /əz/ (Example: Do it as much as possible.)

To

Strong form /tu/ is used before vowels. (Example: It is time to eat.)
Weak form /tʊ, tə/ is used before consonants. (Example: Try to stop me!)

Note:
/tu/ is considered by many to be another form of weak form. In final position the strong form is not usually used and /tə/ is never used.

Some

Strong form /sʌm/ is used before a countable noun when it means “an unknown individual” or when it occurs in the final position. (Example: Probably some animal ate it.)
Weak form /səm/ is used before an uncountable noun meaning “an unspecified amount of”, and before other nouns in the plural form having the same meaning. (Example: Have some more chicken.)

There

Strong form /ðɛər/ is used when it has a demonstrative function. (Example: There it is.)
Weak form /ðər/ is used when it occurs in the final position. (Example: There is not any, is there?)

Auxiliary verbs

A characteristic of auxiliary verbs is that they are always used in conjunction with other verbs. One important thing is that in their negative form, auxiliary verbs never have the weak pronunciation. Some of the auxiliary verbs even have different vowels from their non-negative strong form.

Can

Strong form /kæn/ – The strong form is usually used in final position (Example: I think we can.)
Weak form /kən/ – (Example: We can do it.)

Could

The auxiliary verb could, as the verb can, is used in its strong form when it occurs at the end of the sentence.
Strong form /kʊd/ – (Example: Everybody could.)
Weak form /kəd/ – (Example: He could wait.)

Have

Strong form /hæv/ – The strong form is used in final position (Example: Yes, we have.)
Weak form /həv, əv, and in some situations hæf/ – (Example: Which one have you seen?)

Has

Strong form /hæz/ – The strong form is used in final position (Example: I think she has.)
Weak form /həz, əz/ (Example: Which has been done?)

Shall

Strong form /ʃæl/ – The strong form is used in final position (Example: I think we shall.)
Weak form /ʃəl/ – (Example: We shall need to hurry.)

Must

Let’s consider the following example:
He started at 4 o’clock, so he must have done it by now.

In this situation the auxiliary verb “must” is used to form a conclusion. Usually is this situation it is used in its weak form.

Weak form /məs/ – The weak form is usually used before consonants – (Example: You must try harder.)
Another weak form is /məst/. It is pronounced with the final sound t which is used before vowels – (Example: You must eat more.)

In the final position, strong form /mʌst/ is used – (Example: He certainly must.)

Do

Strong form /du/ – The strong form is used before vowels (Example: Why do airplanes fly?)
The strong form is also used when the word “do” occurs in final position (Example: You don’t like it but I do.)
Weak form /dʊ, də/ – The weak form is used before consonants (Example: Why do you like it?)

Does

Although the dictionary offers a single phonemic translation for “does”, that is /dʌz/, it is very easy to hear /dəz/ in so many situations.
The word “does” is often pronounced /dʌz / when it occurs in final position. In almost all other situations it is pronounced /dəz/ (Example: I don’t like seafood, but my wife does /dʌz/; Why does /dəz/ she like it?)

Am

Strong form /æm/ – The strong form is used when it occurs in final position (Example: He is not as good as I am.)
In all other situations weak form is used.
Weak form /əm, m/ – (Example: Why am I treated like this?)

Are

Strong form /ɑr/ – The strong form is used when it occurs in final position (Example: I believe the monkeys are!)
In all other situations the weak form is used.
Weak form /ər/ – (Example: The toys are in the room.)

Was

Strong form /wʌz, wɒz/ – The strong form is used when it occurs in final position (Example: Now he is not good, but last year he was.)
In all other situations the weak form is used.
Weak form /wəz/ – (Example: He was here!)

Were

Strong form /wɜr/ – The strong form is used when it occurs in final position (Example: You weren’t that hungry as we were.)
In all other situations the weak form is used.
Weak form /wər/ – (Example: The questionnaires were easy.)

Note:
These two verbs (“does” and “was/were”, to be more precise) create great difficulties for Vietnamese learners of English when it comes to listening. When it comes to pronouncing them, weak form is always pronounced and strong form is often misunderstood.


Back to index