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Hello. I'm Sammy
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and this is part two of the connected speech series.
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Connected speech is used when you're speaking quickly and casually
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and it can help your American English sound more natural.
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Today, we'll be discussing informal contractions.
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Can you hear the differences between the formal and casual sentences below?
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Formal
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I'm going to eat cake.
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Casual
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I'm gonna eat cake.
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Do you want to go?
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Do you wanna go?
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I have to do homework.
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I hafta do homework.
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In the following story, pay attention to the underlined words
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and see if you can hear the informal contractions.
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I wanna surprise my sister for her birthday.
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So I've gotta buy her a present.
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I'm gonna hafta go to the mall.
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I coulda gotten her a dog, but she already has a cat.
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I woulda bought her a car, but it's too expensive.
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Instead, I am gonna make her a big birthday cake.
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Phrases like "gonna," "wanna," "hafta" are called informal contractions.
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They are often used in casual spoken American English
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but not in written English.
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They are formed by combining words to shorten them
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from their original form.
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Practicing these can help you sound more natural
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and become better at understanding fast casual speech.
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Here are some examples of informal contractions with "to."
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"Going to" becomes "gonna."
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"want to" "wanna"
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"have to" "hafta"
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"got to" "gotta"
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"ought to" "oughtta"
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There are also examples with modal verbs plus "have."
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such as "should have" becoming "shoulda"
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"would have" "woulda"
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"could have" "coulda"
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"might have" "mighta"
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Let's practice.
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In the following story, try to pronounce the underlined phrases
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using informal contractions.
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Press pause at each page to practice at your own pace.
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I wanna surprise my sister for her birthday, so I've gotta buy her a present.
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I'm gonna hafta go to the mall.
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I coulda gotten her a dog, but she already has a cat.
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I woulda bought her a car, but it's too expensive.
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Instead, I'm gonna make her a big birthday cake.
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Next time, we'll discuss linking
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in part three of the connected speech series.
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This is American English. Thanks for watching.
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