American Accent 7 : Contractions, Negatives, and Questions

Contractions, Negatives, and Questions Are Closely Related

At the top of these charts, you'll find a sentence repeated three times. Under each one, there are three differences.

1. Contraction            The apostrophe replaces the letter i in the word is.
2. Negative                  The word not is added.
3. Question                  The first two words are reversed.

Contractions, Negatives, and Questions

Listen to the audio and repeat until you have mastered the sounds, rhythms, and concepts.





When you use the shorter form, you'll notice that the apostrophe takes the place of the first letter of the verb.


Contractions

Change the nouns to pronouns and put in the verb contraction.

The movie is interesting.                           It's interesting.

1. The teachers are happy.                       
2. My bus is here.                                          
3. The dogs are dirty.                                 
4. My hair is wet.                                         
5. The boys are late.                                    
6. The clock is fast.                                     
7. Tom is French.                                       
8. These reports are easy.                        
9. Sally is your friend.                               
10. Swimming is fun.                                

Contractions - Intonation and Pronunciation

Listen five times and focus on the pronounciation and the intonation.



1. The teechrzer hæppy.                        Ther hæppy.
2. My bəsiz hir.                                        Its hir.
3. Thə dägzer dirdy.                               Ther dirdy.
4. My hairz wet.                                    Its wet.
5. The boyzer late.                                  Ther late.
6. The cläcks fæst.                                  Its fæst.
7. Tämz French.                                      Heez French.
8. Theez r'portser eezy.                        Thereezy.
9. Sally iz yer frend.                              Sheez yer frend.
10. Swimming iz fən.                            Its fən.

Negatives
Change the positive to a negative by putting not after the verb.

The movie is interesting.                                The movie is not interesting.

1. The teachers are happy.                               
2. My bus is here.                                             
3. The dogs are dirty.                                      
4. My hair is wet.                                             
5. You are silly.                                                
6. The clock is fast.                                         
7. Tom is French.                                            
8. These reports are easy.                             
9. I am your friend.                                        
10. This is fun.                                                

Rule: The Question Flip

As mentioned, you can ask a question by flipping the subject and the verb.

Questions 

Rearrange the sentences into questions by flipping the order. Place the verb at the beginning.

The movie is interesting.                                Is the movie interesting?

1. The teachers are happy.                                 
2. My bus is here.                                               
3. The dogs are dirty.                                       
4. My hair is wet.                                               
5. You are silly.                                                 
6. The clock is fast.                                            
7. Tom is French.                                           
8. These reports are easy.                             
9. I am your friend.                                       
1 O. This is fun.                                             

Questions with Pronouns

Change the statements to questions and the nouns to pronouns.

The movie is interesting.                              Is it interesting?

1. The teachers are happy.                       
2. My bus is here.                                       
3. The dogs are dirty.                               
4. My hair is wet.                                       
5. You are silly.                                         
6. The clock is fast.                                   
7. Tom is French.                                     
8. These reports are easy.                       
9. I am a student.                                     
10. This is fun.                                           

Making a Tag Question

Now, we'll discuss tag questions, which are used to confirm or verify information. They're frequently used in spoken English, but not as much in writing. Remember, the tag for "I am" is irregular and is "aren't I?"

Making a Tag Question
Change the way the sentence is written and whether it's positive or negative to make a tag question. If the sentence is positive, the tag question is negative, and if the sentence is negative, the tag question is positive. Use the question flip to make the tag question at the end.

+- Sam is lazy,                                      isn't he?
- + Sam isn't lazy,                                is he?

1. The teachers are happy,                 
2. My bus isn't here,                           
3. The dogs are dirty,                          
4. My hair is wet,                                 
5. You are silly,                                      
6. The clock is fast,                               
7. Tom is French,                                 
8. These reports aren't easy,             
9. I am your friend,                             
10. This is fun,