Strong and Weak Forms

Words	Strong Forms	Weak Forms (quantitative and qualitative reduction, elision of sounds)	Examples
Articles the	ði:	ðə + consonant	→lɔ:k ət ðə \bʊk
		ðɪJ, ði, ðɪ + vowel	aɪl →teɪk ðɪ ɪg\zæm
a	eɪ + C	ə + C	hɪəz ə \letə
an	æn + V	ən + V	hɪəz ən \ æpl
Prepositions: at	æt	ət	ət \hɜʊm
from	frɒm	frəm	frəm \lʌndən
of	ɒv	əv, v	ə →dჳʌg əv \mɪlk
to	tu:	tə + C	→spi:k tə ðə \di:n
		tu, tʊ + V	→kʌm tʊ ə kən\klu:ჳn
into	ɪntu:	ɪntə + C	→kʌm ɪntə ðə \ru:m
		ɪntʊ + V	→pʊt ɪt ɪntʊ ə \bɒks
for	fɔ: + C	fə + C	→kʌm fə \ti:
	fɔ:r + V	fər + V	→kʌm fər ə \tɔ:k
Pronouns: you	ju:	ju, jʊ	jʊə \raɪt
he	hi:	hi, i, hɪ	hɪz \fri:
she	ʃi:	ʃi, ʃɪ	ʃɪz \prɪtɪ
we	wi:	wi, wɪ	wɪ ə\gri:
me	mi:	mi, mɪ	→let mɪ \si:
her	hɜ: + C	hз, hə, ə + C	→nɪks hə \sʌn
	hɜ:r + V	hər, ər + V	→tel hər \ ɔ:l
his	hɪz	ɪz	aɪ →laɪk ɪz \feɪs
him	hɪm	ɪm	→send ɪm ə \wɜ:d
us	ʌs	əs, s	→li:v əs ɪn \pi:s
them	ðəm	ðəm, əm	→ɑ:sk ðəm tə \du: ɪt
your	jɔ: + C	jɔ, jə + C	→hɪəz jɒ →hæt
	jɔ:r + V	jɔr, jər	aɪm jɒr →ɜʊld \frend
our	aʊə + C	aə + C	→braʊnz aə \neɪbə
	aʊər + V	aər + V	hɪz aər →ɜʊld \frend
Verbs: be	bi:	biJ, bi, bɪ	→dɜʊnt bi \nɔ:tɪ
been	bi:n	biJn, bin, bɪn	aɪv bin \ Ɵɪŋkɪŋ
am	æm	m – after I, əm	aɪm \taɪəd
are	ɑ: + C	a, ə + C	jʊə \leɪt
	ɑ:r + V	ar, ər + V	jʊər ə\lɜʊn
is	ɪz	z – after voiced consonants and vowels	→weəz \nɪk
		s – after voiceless consonants	ðæts \raɪt
		ɪz – after s, z, ʃ, ჳ, ʧ, dჳ	ðə →haʊs ɪz \lɑ:dჳ
was	wɒz	wəz	→wɒt wəz \rɒŋ
were	wɜ: + C wɜ:r + V	wз, wə + C wзr, wər + V	ðə →tri:z wə \gri:n ðə →bɔɪz wər \ ɒnɪst
have	hæv	hæv, əv, v – after personal pronouns	ðə →kɑ:z əv \stɒpt
has	hæz	həz, əz, z – after voiced consonants and vowels; s – after voiceless consonants	ðə →dɒktə həz \kʌm →dჳæks \kʌm
had	hæd	hə, əd, d – after personal pronouns	↘nɪk həd 'fɪnɪʃt ɪt baɪ \faɪv
can	kæn	kən, kn	ðeɪ kən \steɪ
could	kʊd	kəd, kd	ðeɪ kəd \fɜʊn
must	mʌst	məst, məs	aɪ məst \wɔ:n ɪm
will	wɪl	l	ðeɪl ə\gri:
would	wʊd	wəd, əd, d – after personal pronouns	ðə →gɜ:l wəd \steɪ
shall	ʃæl	ʃəl, ʃl – after personal pronouns	wɪʃl \wɜ:k
should	ʃʊd	ʃəd, ʃd – after personal pronouns	aɪ ʃd →laɪk tə \steɪ
do	du:	du, dʊ, də	→wɒt də ðeɪ \nɜʊ
does	dʌz	dəz	→wen dəz ɪ \kʌm
Conjunctions: and	ænd	ənd, ən, n	→beɪkn ənd \egz
that	ðæt	ðət	jʊ →nɜʊ ðət jʊə \rɒŋ
but	bʌt	bət	bət →waɪ \nɒt
than	ðæn	ðən, ðn	ɪts →wɔ:mə ðən \jestədɪ
as	æz	əz	əz →su:n əz \pɒsɪbl
or	ɔ: + C ɔ:r + V	ɔ, ə + C ɔr, ə + V	→red ɔ \waɪt →tɒm ɔr \ æn
Particles: to	tu:	tə + C	→traɪ tə \du: ɪt
		tʊ + V	→traɪ tə \i:t ɪt
there	ðeə	ðə + C ðər + V	ðə wə \letəz ðər ə \ ʧɪldrən

С - consonant

V – vowel Note: The sound [h] is not dropped in the words he, him, his, her, has, have, had at the beginning of intonation groups or sentences

The weak forms of the words listed in the Table should be used in unstressed positions.

The strong forms of auxiliary and modal verbs, personal and possessive pronouns and form-words are by far more rarely used.

They are used in their strong forms when they are said in isolation, when they become the communicative centers of utter­ances.

The following cases should be also remembered as the traditional use of strong forms in the English language.

Prepositions have their strong forms though they might remain unstressed:

1. at the very end of an intonation group or phrase, e.g. What are you looking at? [→ wɒt ə jʊ _\lʊkɪŋ æt].

2. at the end of an intonation group or phrase when they are followed by the unstressed pronoun. Monosyllabic prepositions are either stressed or not, according to the rhythmic pattern of the phrase, e.g. I'm not talking to you [aɪm  →nɒt _\tɔ:kɪŋ tu: jʊ] but [aɪm ↘nɒt 'tɔ:kɪŋ tə _\ju:]

Polysyllabic prepositions followed by a pronoun at the end of a phrase are stressed as a rule, e.g.   Have a look  under it [↘hæv ə 'lʊk _\ ʌndər ɪt].

Auxiliary and modal verbs have their strong forms:

1. at the end of an intonation group or a phrase whether stressed or not, e.g. Who has done it? - Mary has  [_\meərɪ hæz]. Are you  free?  -  I am   [aɪ _\ æm]

2. At the beginning of general and alternative questions in careful colloquial style, while in rapid colloquial style they are unstressed and reduced, e.g. Can you get it by tomorrow?  [↘kæn jʊ 'get ɪt baɪ tə_\mɒrɜʊ], but: Have you got any matches? [həv jʊ → gɒt enɪ _\mæʧɪz]

3. In contracted negative forms, e.g. I don't know the man [aɪ → dɜʊnt _\nɜʊ ðə mæn]

The following form-words should be remembered as having no weak forms whatsoever: what, where, when, how, which, on, in, with, then. The verb to have used as a content verb in the meaning of “to possess” has no weak forms (whether stressed or not) though often unstressed, e.g. I have a little brother [aɪ hæv ə  →lɪtl _\brʌðə].

The demonstrative pronoun that is never reduced while the conjunction that is, e.g. I know that  [aɪ _\nɜʊ ðæt], but: I know that he is here [aɪ  →nɜʊ ðət hɪz _\hɪə]

Neither are reduced the absolute forms of possessive pronouns, e.g. The ball-pen is mine [ðə  →bɔ:1 pen ɪz _\maɪn]

All the form-words, auxiliary and modal verbs, personal and possessive pronouns are generally stressed and consequently have their strong forms in case they become the logical centres of phrases, e.g. I'm speaking of your work, not of your sister's  [aɪm →spi:kɪŋ əv _\jɔ: wɜ:k|  →nɒt əv jə _\sɪstəz]

You have to analyze words with the cases of reduction mentioning:

1. type of reduction

2. the group of the word (form or content)

3. part of speech

For example, a  - [eɪ]>[ə] – qualitative, form word, article; Let me see – me [mi:]>[mɪ] – quantitative, form word, personal pronoun; younger [ə] – qualitative, notional word, unstressed syllable; Let’s go – elision, form word, personal pronoun; I’ve looked – elision, form word, auxiliary verb, after personal pronoun.

Comparison with Russian. Russian speech is characterized by different rhythmical structure. Personal and possessive pronouns, auxiliary and modal verbs are often stressed in Russian, e.g. By the → time we _\get there |it'll be → too _\late. К тому времени как мы туда доберёмся, | будет уже слишком поздно.

Mistakes of Russian Learners. Russian students of English fail to use weak forms correctly. On the one hand they introduce strong forms in unstressed positions. On the other hand they replace strong forms by weak forms in places where there should be no reduction in the unstressed position. Careful practice of form-words in various accentual patterns is desirable.