Strong and weak forms of auxiliary verbs

Have you checked your emails recently? No, I haven't.

1. How many words?

How many words do you hear? Contractions count as two words.

2. Listen and write.

Listen again and write what you hear.





See answers

1. I haven't seen you at the gym recently.
2. What have you been up to today?
3. She says she's seen that film already.
4. He hasn't found another job since we last spoke.
5. His house has been burgled twice recently.
6. Have the thieves been caught yet?
7. Their dog still hasn't been found.
8. The TV and video were taken from the house.
9. He wasn't given his Christmas bonus.
10. The window was smashed weeks ago and it still hasn't been repaired.

3. Weak forms.

In spoken English, the auxiliary verbs have, has, was and were are pronounced in two different ways. They have a strong form when they are emphasised and a weak form when they are not emphasised.

Have, has, was and were are always pronounced in their strong form in contracted negatives and short answers.

Listen to these sentences:

1. /hæv/ I haven't seen you at the gym recently.
2. /hæz/ "Has she seen the new James Bond film?"
"No, she hasn't."
3. /wɒz/ He wasn't given his Christmas bonus.
4. /wɜ:/ "Were you at home yesterday?"
"Yes, we were."

 

The same verbs are usually pronounced in their weak form in other contexts.

Listen to these sentences:

1. /həv/ What have you been up to today?
2. /həz/ His house has been burgled twice recently.
3. /wə/ The TV and video were taken from the house.
4. /wəz/ The window was smashed.

Select the weak forms of has, have, was and were in the following dialogues.

4. Listen and repeat.

Practise saying the dialogues in the previous exercise. Pause after each line and repeat it.

1. "He hasn't finished that report."
"Yes, he has. He left it on your desk this morning."
2. "It's 8 o'clock. Where have you been?"
"Sorry I'm late. The train was delayed."
3. "Greg's car was stolen this afternoon."
"No, it wasn't. It was taken away because he parked on a double yellow line."
4. "I haven't seen Graham at work lately. Has he been ill?"
"No, he hasn't. He was given the sack last week."
5. "Were you invited to Paula's party?"
"I was, yeah. Why? Weren't you?"
"No, I wasn't."
6. "I wasn't told about the meeting on Friday."
"Yes, you were. Everyone was sent an email on Monday. Have you checked your emails recently?"
"No, I haven't."