Pronunciation insight 7

 Negative forms

In spoken English, was / wasn't, were / weren't and could / couldn't are usually weak forms and the negative forms are often contracted.

1Play the recording, listen and repeat. 

• 1/wəz/Who was at the party?

• 2/wɒznt/Tim wasn't there.

• 3/wə/My parents were happy.

• 4/wɜ:nt/They weren't rich.

• 5/kəd/He could dance well.

• 6/kʊ[d]nt/I couldn't watch TV last night.

2Play the recording and listen to the sentences. Choose a tick (✔) for affirmative verbs and a cross (✘) for negative verbs. 

• 1I _______ ✔✘✘ at school today. I _______ ✔✘  at home.

• 2I _______ ✔✘  dance when I was younger, but I _______ ✔✘  sing.

• 3We _______ ✔✘  safe. The road _______ ✔✘  dangerous.

• 4You _______ ✔✘  popular, because you _______ ✔✘  play football really well.

• 5Josh _______ ✔✘  cycle to school, because it _______ ✔✘  near his house.

• 6You _______ ✔✘  happy last night. I _______ ✔✘  worried about you.

• 7Kelly and I _______ ✔✘  well. We _______ ✔✘  at the cinema.

• 8They _______ ✔✘  go to the concert, because they _______ ✔✘  get tickets.

3Play the recording, listen, and complete the sentences. 

• 1I  at school today. I  at home.

• 2I  dance when I was younger, but I  sing.

• 3We  safe. The road  dangerous.

• 4You  popular, because you  play football really well.

• 5Josh  cycle to school, because it  near his house.

• 6You  happy last night. I  worried about you.

• 7Kelly and I  well. We  at the cinema.

• 8They  go to the concert, because they  get tickets.

Negative forms

/w/ is a difficult sound for many learners of English. Start by practising the /u:/ sound – your mouth makes the same shape when you say /u:/ and /w/.
uuu … where
/w/ is silent when it comes before r: write, wrong
/w/ can be silent when it comes before h and o: two, who

4Play the recording, listen to the sentences and underline the letters that make the /w/ sound. 

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5Practise saying the sentences in exercise 4. Pay attention to the pronunciation of /w/.