Want to improve your grammar?
We have a podcast for that.
Listen to learning English grammar to improve your language for everyday conversation.
What do you regret?
Do you have a long to-do list?
And would you rather climb a mountain or sail across?
Hello and welcome to this episode of 6 Minute Vocabulary.
I'm Finn.
And I'm Feifei.
Hi.
Today we're going to be talking about contractions like I've.
Meaning I have or isn't meaning is not.
We're going to talk about what these contractions mean and how to pronounce them.
That's right.
And learning to use contractions like I've or isn't when you're speaking will make your English sound much more fluent and natural.
And that's got to be good news.
As usual, we'll have lots of examples.
There'll be a short quiz.
And finally, we'll give you a top tip to help you with your vocabulary studies.
So, let's start with an example.
Listen to Bill talking about his wife and his brother.
While you're listening, try to answer this question.
Has Bill's brother ever visited the US?
We've been married for about five years.
I've always lived in London, but she's lived in Germany and the US and lots of different places.
I've never been to the US, but my brother's been there many times because his wife is from New York.
So, Feifei asked you, has Bill's brother ever visited the US?
And the answer is yes.
Bill's brother has been to the US many times because his wife is American.
She's from New York.
Did you get the answer right?
Of course you did.
OK, now here is another question.
How long have Bill and his wife been married?
Listen again and check.
My wife and I live in London.
We've been married for about five years.
He said we've been married for about five years.
Did you notice that he didn't say we have been?
He said we've been.
When we're speaking, we often shorten the word have and just say v instead.
So I have becomes I've.
You have becomes you've.
We have becomes we've.
And they have becomes they've.
We use contractions like weave a lot when we're speaking, but sometimes we write them too, especially when we're writing something informal or unofficial like an email or a postcard.
Now, when you're writing contractions, remember to use an apostrophe.
So, for example, weave is spelt w-e-apostrophe-v-e.
The apostrophe shows that a letter or more than one is missing.
That's right.
So when we write we've instead of we have, we miss the letters h and a from the word have.
And the apostrophe shows that these letters have been skipped.
Right, OK, here's another question about Bill.
How many different places has his wife lived in?
Can you remember?
Here's a clip.
I've always lived in London, but she's lived in Germany and the US and lots of different places.
He said that she's lived in lots of different places, and he mentioned two of them Germany and the US.
Did you notice another contraction there?
Bill said she's lived.
It's the short form of she has lived.
She's lived.
This is a very common one.
Instead of has, lots of English speakers say zzz.
That's right.
So instead of he has, we say he's and instead of she has, it's she's.
Again, when you use this Z contraction instead of has.
When you're writing, don't forget to use the apostrophe.
That's right.
So, he's is spelt H-E apostrophe S and she's is spelt S-H-E apostrophe S.
And now it's time for a quiz.
Number one.
When we're speaking, we don't normally say, I have lived here for three years.
What do we say?
We say, I've lived here for three years.
Easy question, right?
I think so.
Here is another one.
Which pronunciation is correct?
Is it...
He's a teacher.
Or is it B?
He's a teacher.
This one is B. He's a teacher.
And one last question.
In the sentence, we've been listening to six-minute vocabulary, how do you spell weave?
It's W-E apostrophe V-E.
That's it.
And before we go, we have a top tip to help you learn vocabulary.
Vocabulary learning isn't a silent activity.
You learn words more effectively if you say them out loud.
It doesn't matter if nobody's listening.
Say the words out loud anyway.
Absolutely.
Very good.
And there's more about this at bbclearningenglish.com.
Join us again soon for more 6 Minute Vocabulary.
Bye.
Bye.
