Sound like a native speaker: Modals

Would you like to improve your English speaking and pronunciation skills? Could you use a lesson on how to sound more natural and fluent in English conversations? This is the lesson for you. Learn how to understand and produce common pronunciation patterns with modal verbs. This lesson covers reduced pronunciation sounds for “could you,“ “should you,“ “would you,“ “would he,“ “should he,“ “should have,“ “might have,“ and many more! Build your speaking and listening confidence with this very practical English pronunciation lesson, then go out into the world and sound more natural than ever! TAKE THE QUIZ: TRANSCRIPT Hey, everyone. One sec. I’m Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this pronunciation lesson on “Reduced Pronunciation for Modals“. So we’re going to look at a whole bunch of modal verbs and situations where you can reduce the pronunciation. Now, this is going to help you improve your listening comprehension, and also to improve your speaking so that you can sound more comfortable and more natural when you’re speaking as well. So, here we have: “would you“, “would he“, “could you“, “could he“, “should you“, “should he“, “have got to“, “has got to“, “have to“, “has to“, “ought to“, and there’s going to be five more after this board as well. Okay? Now, if you’re wondering: “Okay, you have ’would you’, ’would he’, what about: ’would I’, ’would she’, ’would they’, ’would it’?“ There’s no reduced pronunciation for those so I only gave you the ones where people normally do some kind of reduced pronunciation when they have these words together. Okay? So, one: “would you“, in speaking very quickly can be pronounced and often is pronounced: “wouldja“. Okay? So it’s like a “ja“, “ja“. So, repeat after me: “wouldja“. So, you could say: “Hey, would you mind holding the door?“ Or just like this, repeat after me: “Wouldja mind holding the door?“ Try it one more time. “Wouldja mind? Wouldja mind“, okay. I will review them afterwards, too. So if you didn’t get it the first time, don’t worry. Next: “would he“ can be pronounced: “wouldee“. You’re basically cutting off the “h“ when you have “he“ with the modal in this case. So, repeat after me: “wouldee“. Like Woody from Toy Story, say it like that. Okay? So: “Would he know the answer?“ Or very quickly repeat after me with the reduced pronunciation: “Wouldee know the answer?“ Okay? Next: “Could you“, same idea as “wouldja“, we have: “couldja“. Okay, so you could say: “Hey, could you help me with something?“ Or very quickly: “Couldja help me with something?“ Okay, try one more time with just: “couldja“. Good. Next: “Could he“, same idea “would he“, “wouldee“ or you can say: “couldee“. So, you could say: “Could he do it?“ or you can do it, repeat after me: “Couldee do it?“ Perfect. Next we have: “Should you“, same like “wouldja“, “couldja“, “shouldja“. Okay? So “shouldja“ is a little more difficult for me I think. And you can say it this way, in this case: “Should you be doing that?“ Or with “shouldja“: “Shouldja be doing that?“ And if you’re shaking your head right now, saying: “Alex, I can’t, I can’t“, let’s try it one more time, let’s try just saying “shouldja“. So just repeat after me: “Shouldja?“ And now the whole question: “Shouldja be doing that?“ Okay, keep practicing. Next: “Should he“, again, you have: “wouldee“, “couldee“, “shouldee“, okay? So: “Shouldee be here?“ And, again, you could say: “Hey, should he be here? Should he be here?“ Or when you have the reduced pronunciation, just: “Shouldee“, “Shouldee be here?“ Excellent. All right, next: “Have got to“ and “Has got to“, so you’ve got “’ve gotta“ and “’s gotta“. Okay? So, it’s just fun to do, it’s like an airplane. Speaking of, think of it like this. Right? “’v gotta, ’s gotta“. Okay? So let’s try these two sentences with the plane. You could say: “You’ve got to try harder“, okay? Or you can say: “You’v gotta try harder.“ Okay, repeat after me: “You’v gotta try harder.“ Okay, a little faster now that the airplane is making me... Making me say it longer, like “vvv“, anyway. So, let’s try it a little faster. “You’v gotta try harder.“ Good. Next: “Has got to“, “’s gotta“, so: “Mark’s got to go home early“, or contraction: “Mark’s gotta go home early. Mark’s gotta go.“ One more time: “Mark’s gotta go home early.“ All right, next we have: “Have to“ and “Has to“, very simply: “hafta“, “hasta“. So you can say: “We have to get a new car.“ Or you can say: “We hafta get“. Complete sentence this time: “We hafta get a new car.“ And: “Patricia has to ask her mom first before she can go to the party: “Or: “Patricia hasta ask her mom first.“ Let’s just try the “Patricia has to“ or “Patricia hasta“. So: “Patricia hasta“, “Patricia hasta ask“, “Patricia hasta ask her mom“. Okay, and finally on this board we have: “ought to“, so we have: “hafta“, “hasta“. “Ought to“ is just: “oughta“. So repeat after me: “oughta“.