| Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha. In this lesson, I'm going to talk about common omissions in pronunciation and in grammar. These are some common issues that I hear among learners, and they relate to pronunciation and to grammar. So, we're going to compare a few different sentences in each group and understand how our pronunciation and our grammar makes changes to the actual meaning of the sentence. Let's start on this side of the board. |
| First, I want to compare this common issue with present perfect and simple past grammar forms. So, first, I want to look at an expression like this, or rather I want to look at this pair. This is a very common issue that I hear. The student wants to say, "I have lived." So, when we say, "I have lived," we reduce the "I have" to "I've," I've. For example, "I've lived here for two years," or "I've lived there before." The key here is this /v/ sound. "I've lived there." I've lived there. The issue that I hear a lot is learners drop this /v/ sound, and they say "I," "I lived there." I lived there. So, the issue here is that "I lived there" is also grammatically correct. "I've lived there" and "I lived there" are both grammatically correct sentences, but they communicate different ideas. "I've lived there" means I have the experience of living in that place. So, we're talking about general life experience. "I lived there" means I did, I had that experience and I do not live there now. This is a past tense expression. "Oh, yeah. I lived there," so I don't live there now. I've lived there before. So, we're talking about general life experience here. We're talking about a simple past tense. Something that's finished. Something that's over. |
| So, this comes into play -- so this is an important thing to consider when you're talking about places where you live now. Like, "I've lived here for two years." So, in that sentence, it's important to use this grammar, "I've lived here for two years," which means I live here now. I want to talk about how long my stay has been. You cannot say, "I lived here for two years." Unless, you're talking about a city where you used to live, and that you are visiting now. Because this is a simple past tense expression. |
| So, again, these are both grammatically correct, but they communicate different ideas. "I lived here for two years," would be said if you are visiting a city or your country maybe. You're visiting a place where you lived in the past, and you do not live now. So, these are two different ideas. We communicate this in the reduced form with this /v/ sound. "I've." So, maybe this is hard for you to pick up when you listen, but make sure to make the sound as you practice. Take the time to practice making this sound. "I have lived" becomes "I've." And, similarly, when your subject changes, "we've" and "they've" as well follow this same pattern. |
| Let's look at one more pair. Same idea. "She has" reduces to "she's," she's. So, this "she's," this does not mean she is we know that because the verb that follows this is in the past participle form. So, "She is worked" is grammatically incorrect. "She has worked" is grammatically correct. Past participle verb here. So, this she's means "she has worked," she has worked. In contrast, on the other hand, however, "she" with no S, creates a simple past tense structure. "She worked." So, this is the beginning to a simple past tense expression. |
| So, to create another example, "She's worked here for two years." "She's worked here for two years," means starting two years ago until this conversation, she continued, she's non-stop worked at this place. That's what we communicate with this "she's," she's. This sentence however, "She worked here for two years," means she does not work here anymore. She worked here for two years, then she got a new job, or, then she moved to a new city. She worked here with no /s/ sound communicates that simple past tense. That means the situation is finished, it's over. So, "she's worked," "She's worked here for two and a half years." "She worked here for two and a half years," present perfect, simple past tense. So, don't forget this /s/ sound. The same rule applies when your subject is "he" or "it," "he's worked here," or "it's been there," and so on. So, we need to pronounce that /s/ sound, and we need to make sure to use the correct form of the verb, too. |
| So, in these cases, a nice example where the past simple past tense and the past participle form are the same, but there are some cases of course where they are different, too. So, another thing to keep in mind. But, please make sure to use this /s/ sound when your subject is "she," "he," or "it." And use this /v/ sound when your subject is "I," or "you," or "we," or "they" for your present perfect statements. |
| Okay. Let's go to pair number two for this lesson. Another common omission or change problem that I hear is this one making present tense statement or making a request with "would." So, sometimes, I hear students want they want to make a polite request. And, when we make a polite request, we can use "would" to do that. For example, "I would…" something, something. Like, "I would like water." So, I want to drink water, but a polite request is, "I would like water." I would like water. When we make the reduced form of "I would," we make this I'd," I'd. So, "I" becomes "I'd." "I would," or rather "I would" becomes "I'd." "I'd like water." This right here is the thing that many students forget to say and forget to write. I'd like water. I'd like water. |
| If we forget this, if we do not include this, if we omit this /d/ sound, it becomes this "I," "I like water." This is a simple present tense statement. I'm just sharing a fact about myself, "I like water." Okay, great. I like water. This is not a request, "I like water." This is a request, "I'd like water." I'd like water, please. I like water, totally different. So, we need to include this /d/ sound. "I'd like water." "I'd like water, please." So, please be careful to include this /d/ sound. |
| Let's look at one more example, this time with subject "we," we. So, this "we'd" is the reduced form of "we would." "We would" becomes "we'd," we'd. We'd. "We'd like steak." We'd like steak. So, this is a polite request for steak. We'd like steak. Again, if we do not pronounce this /d/ sound, or if we do not write this /d/ sound, it becomes this, "We like steak." A simple fact about yourself. "We like steak." Okay, great. Congratulations. You like steak. So, this /d/ sound in speaking and this in writing communicates a request. "We'd like steak." So, I've put these here. These are very commonly used at restaurants and bars and places where you make orders. So, when you make polite requests with "would," please make sure to use this /d/ sound when you make the request, just to make sure your communication is accurate. |
| Okay. Let's look at one more example. This one. This group, really, covers future tense and present tense issues. So, there are a couple of future tense forms. We can use "will" and we can use "going to" to make future tense expressions. But, I often hear learners forget to include things. So, let's look at this first group, "I'll," "I'm," and "I." So, "I'll" is the reduced form of "I will," I will. We use "will" when we're talking about making decisions in the conversation. There's a video about this "going to" versus "will," the simple future tense video on the channel. Please check that out. So, "I will," for example, reduces to "I'll. We can use it in, "I'll go to work." "I'll go to work." So, the issue here is often, I hear students forget to use "I'll," and they say "I," I. So, I'll cover this in just a moment. |
| Let's compare this to "I'm." "I'm," which is the reduced form of "I am." "I am" becomes "I'm." "I'm going to work." "I'm going to work." So, again, I often hear students drop the /m/ sound there, becomes "I going to work," which is totally incorrect, grammatically incorrect. Finally, "I." So, no "am," no "will," I. "I go to work." I go to work. So, "I go to work," it's just a simple present tense statement. For example, "I go to work every day," or "I go to work on Mondays." So, I'm sharing a simple fact about myself, I go to work. Okay, great. "I'll," however, "I'll go to work. "I'll go to work. I'm making a decision about my future right now. "Okay. I'll go to work." If I forget the /uh/ sound, "I'll," if I forget to include that, it becomes this, "I go to work." I'm just making a simple present tense statement. I'm not sharing any future plan at all. Same thing here, "I'm going to work." We have to use /m/ there. "I going to work," is grammatically incorrect. So, you cannot use "I going to work." We cannot make that. That's totally an incorrect sentence. "I'm going to work." So, these points are common points of omission. |
| Let's look at one more example. Let's change our subject, "he." "He," in this case, "he'll" is the reduced form of "he will." He will. "He will" becomes "he'll," he'll. "He'll come later." "He'll come later." So, again, this part right here, learners forget to say. "He come later," not correct. We cannot use this. Similarly, "he's." He's. So, because my subject is "he," I cannot use "am" like I did here. When the subject is "he," "she," or "it," we change our be verb to "is," is. "He is." He is. "He is" reduces to "he's," he's. He's. So, "he's." For example, "He's coming later." "He's coming later." So, oftentimes, students forget this /s/ sound. "He coming later," is totally grammatically incorrect, and we cannot use this. "He's coming later." "He's coming later." |
| Finally, if you don't have any sound here, you have "he," you might get a sentence like this, "He comes later." For example, "He comes later than his boss." So, this is a simple present tense expression that's just sharing a fact about the situation. "Oh, that guy, yeah. He comes later to the office than his boss." "He comes later," is just sharing a regular situation, general information. These two, which like we want to use simple future tense to communicate an idea, they need to include this "he'll" or this "he's" to communicate that future tense. If you don't have this, the sentences are grammatically incorrect. So, these are your key points for future tense expression. So, please don't forget these /m/, and /uh/, and /s/ sounds here. And, on this side, don't forget with present perfect expressions these /v/ and /s/ sounds. And, here in the middle, too. Don't forget these /d/ sounds as well. |
| So, I hope that this is helpful for you. These are very, very common issues. I've called them "omissions" because there's not really always a mistake, but it does share -- it does often communicate the wrong idea if you don't use the correct grammar. So, please try to be careful about these in your writing and in your speaking. Thanks very much for watching this lesson, and I will see you again soon. Bye-bye. |
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