Transcript of AE 1323 - WILL - Spoken Contractions in Australian English

G'day you mob, and welcome to Aussie English. I am your host, Pete. And my objective here is to teach you guys the English spoken Down Under. So whether you want to sound like a fair dinkum Aussie or you just want to understand what the flippin' hell we're on about when we're having a yarn, you've come to the right place. So sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy Aussie English. Let's go.

G'day you mob. How's it going? Welcome to this episode of Aussie English. I'm your host, Pete, and as usual, it is a pleasure to be here, guys. And it is especially a pleasure to be working on pronunciation. I absolutely love teaching Australian English pronunciation. I feel like it's the English accent that is underrated. It's overlooked. More people need to learn it when learning English, you know. Anyway, getting into this episode.

So you will have seen the previous episode, or heard it rather, heard it. It was an audio episode and we covered the contractions of 'to be' in the present tense on to different pronouns, right? So 'I am', 'I'm', 'you are', 'your', 'he is', 'he's', etc. etc. We went through all the different pronoun and auxiliary verb combinations there. We pronounce those and then we had some example sentences that we went through and worked on the linking, the stress and other things in those sentences to hopefully help you speak with more confidence and sound more natural when speaking Australian English. So if you haven't checked out that episode, go back and check it out.

And also, there is a free PDF worksheet that you will be able to download today. With today's episode, it will include the different example sentences so that you can read them clearly and follow along when practising this episode. So just click on the link in the description and download that free PDF.

And lastly, if you want to work on your Australian English, if you want to work on your Australian accent and sound more like a fair dinkum Aussie, definitely sign up for the Australian Pronunciation Course. You can get this at AussieEnglish.com.au/apc100 APC 100. Again, the link will be in the description to when you sign up. You'll save 100 bucks if you use that link, and you'll also be able to grab my Spoken English course for half price at the checkout as well.

So the pronunciation course goes through all the different sounds in Australian English. All the vowel sounds, all the consonant sounds. It then goes through the more advanced aspects of spoken English. So things like linking sound changes, assimilation when two sounds are next to one another and they change into a new sound. We do things like the Australian R, the Intrusive R, the Linking R, The Yod. There's a whole bunch of really cool lessons in there that will help you better speak Australian English, develop your own accent and speak with confidence. Anyway, go check that out. It is at aussieenglish.com.au/apc100. The link will be in the description along with that free PDF worksheet.

Okay, so today we're going to be working on 'will', right. The future auxiliary verb will. "I will do something". "You will do something". "He will do something". So it's the same for every single pronoun. Whatever the conjugation is it is all the same. We use 'will' and then we use the bare infinitive of the verb, right. "I will call", "I'll call". "You will love", "you'll love". "He will arrive". "He'll arrive".

Okay, so what we're going to do, we'll first go through the unconjugated pronoun and auxiliary verb 'will', right. So things like I am, sorry. Well, "I will". "You will". "He will". We'll go through all that. Then we'll conjugate them together, right. So we'll say "I'll", "you'll", "he'll". We'll work on the pronunciation of those. And then we'll go through some example sentences in depth where you'll be able to hear how I say these things. And we can discuss things like linking and stress and maybe where the schwas are in different words, everything like that. Okay. So are you ready to rock? Let's do it.

I will. I'll. You will. You'll. He will. He'll. She will. She'll. We will. We'll. They will. They'll. It will. It'll.

It's interesting, isn't it? So that last one it will is actually. It's kind of complex. When we say it contracted, /it'll/ /it'll/ /it'll/ /it'll/. So what happens here is that we go, our tongue goes in to make the T sound, but we don't release the T, right.

So we do the first half where the tongue comes up and stops the airflow. /It/. But we don't release "it" with that /t/ sound, right. /It/ /it/ when we say it. And then we do what is called the Syllabic L with lateral release. This is a complicated aspect to English pronunciation, but effectively what happens is we don't use a schwa sound in here. The L itself is actually the vowel sound or the syllable, right, that we're saying /it'll/. So there's no /it all/ where we're saying a really obvious schwa sound there. Or like maybe if I use the T flap right, it'll it's a bit weird. It all, it all. It's a bit hard.

Instead what we do is the tongue goes to make that T sound it, and then the tip of the tongue doesn't move, but the sides of the tongue come away from the teeth and this is called lateral release. The lateral sides of the tongue on the sides, right. The lateral sides release away from the teeth, and the air comes out. It's kind of, it's complicated and it's kind of hard to hard to describe via audio. You kind of need to see it to understand it, but hopefully you understand what I'm describing. Hopefully this is helping. Remember we go over this in the pronunciation course. So you will learn this in more depth there if you're interested.

But this is the most complicated conjugation of any of these pronouns. And the auxiliary verb 'will' /it'll/ /it'll/ /it'll/ /it'll/ /it'll/ /it'll/. Okay. So yeah, it's an interesting thing to practice and work on. It'll. And again, if in doubt just say the two words. 'It will'. You can always do that guys. You don't have to use conjugations like these or contractions if you don't want to. Yeah. God, I've been saying conjugation the whole time. I mean contraction, guys. Contracting one word onto the other, right. Contracting it. 'It will'. 'It'll'. You don't have to. If in doubt, just separate them out, okay.

So anyway, let's go through it one more time. And I'll also do the dark L version where we're not pronouncing the L as a very clear L sound. The Light L where the tongue is touching the roof of the mouth. /Ul/ /Ul/. That's the Light L. Instead, we're using our lips to kind of do a Reverse W sound. Where the lips go, they go inwards to make a little circle. So instead of /ul/, you'll hear /oo/ /oo/. So maybe try practising that sound. It's kind of like you're curious or shocked. /Oo/, right. /Oo/ /oo/ /oo/ /oo/. So I'll do each of them. I'll do uncontracted. I'll then do the normal Light L version. 'I'll'. 'You'll'. And then I'll do the Dark L version. Without that strong L that the tongue stays flat. I'll show you. Okay, let's do it.

I will, I'll, I'll. You will, You'll, You'll. He will, He'll, He'll. She will, She'll, She'll. We will, We'll, We'll. They will, They'll, They'll. It will, It'll, It'll.

And so. Yeah, I guess in that case, when we're doing the It'll version with the dark L, we would use the T flap. /It'll/ /it'll/ /it'll/ /it'll/ /it'll/.

So let's go through these sentences and we'll talk a little bit about when and where I would use the Dark L versus the Light L, okay. So I'm going to say these sentences first. We'll then discuss them and then we'll finish up by saying them one more time. I'll try not to think too much about it. And we can try and work out what I'm doing pronunciation wise. Okay. So let's go.

I'll call you after lunch. I'll call you after lunch. I'll call you after lunch.

Okay, so I'm not actually using the Light L, I'm using the Dark L for both the I'll. I would say is /i'll/ and 'call' I would say as /call/, right?

I'll call you after lunch. I'll call you after lunch. I'll call you after lunch.

And it only really works when speaking quickly. The reason we're using the Dark L is because there's a consonant sound, or a semi consonant sound that comes after the L's, so it just makes it a little easier to flow. So after I'll or /i'll/, you get a C at the at the start of 'call', /I'll call/ instead of /I'll call/.

You can do both. Remember, you can do either. It doesn't matter. They're both correct. But I would say /I'll call/. /I'll call you/, right. And so the L's at the end of the word /call/ also get that /o/ Dark L sound because there's a /yuh/ at the front of the word 'youu, a semi consonant or semivowel. /Yuh/. /I'll call you/. /I'll call you after lunch/. /I'll call you after lunch/. /I'll call you after lunch/. Let's do the next one.

You'll love this movie. You'll love this movie. You'll love this movie.

So now I have to use the Light L and we're linking. We're effectively using one L sound where there are two. So there's an L sound at the end of the word 'you'll', and there's an L sound at the start of the word 'love'. But instead of saying /you'll/ /love/, we link them together. /You'll love/, /you'll love/, /you'll love this movie/. /You'll love this movie/. /You'll love this movie/. /You'll love this movie/. Good work. All right, next one.

He'll arrive in ten minutes. He'll arrive in ten minutes.

Now, one thing I've just noticed here. You'll notice how quickly I go over the pronouns sound. I say it very quickly. I don't really linger on it for too long. So instead of saying /he'll/ /arrive/ in ten minutes, it's really quick. It almost sounds like 'hill', right? /He'll/ /he'll arrive in ten/.

In fact, it is effectively 'hill'. /He'll arrive in ten minutes/. /He'll arrive in ten minutes/. And we're linking the L. I'm using a light L for 'will' that's contracted onto 'he' /he'll/ /la/ /la/ /la/ the Light L /he'll arrive/. Because we've got a vowel at the start of the word 'arrive'. He'll arrive in ten minutes. He'll arrive in ten minutes.

And you'll also notice me linking the V sound at the end of the word 'arrive' to the 'in' word. Well, the word 'in', right. /He'll arrive in/. /He'll arrive in/. /He'll arrive in ten minutes/. /He'll arrive in ten minutes/.

Now, I have a feeling we're going to notice the same thing in the next one. With how quickly I say the word 'she'll', okay, /she'll/. And listen out again. Do you hear a Dark L or do you hear the Light L? And is it linking to the next word? Let's have a listen.

She'll join us for dinner. She'll join us for dinner.

It's quick, isn't it? She'll join us for dinner. She'll join us for dinner.

Now, there's a lot going on in this sentence, so let's start with the first couple of words, right. /She'll join/. I'm using the Dark L because we have a /J/ consonant sound at the start of the word 'join'. She'll join, she'll join.

And we're really saying that /she'll/ quickly, /she'll join/. /She'll join/. Again focusing on that rhythm of English, right. You're hearing a /da dun/ /da dun/ as opposed to two even beats of /dun dun/, if that makes sense.

So instead of saying /she'll join/, you'll hear this. /She'll join/, /she'll join/.

Now, what do you notice happening to the vowels in the word 'us'? And for the same thing can happen for both of these words here. They're not really that important in terms of stressing them for the sake of the sentence and sentence and the meaning. So we reduce them and they get the schwa vowel sound. /She'll join us/ and you'll hear that N linking to the start of the word 'us', which is becoming /us/. /She'll join us/. /She'll join us for/. /She'll join us for dinner/. /Us for/ /us for/.

So 'for' also becomes /for/, it gets that schwa sound. She'll join us for dinner. She'll join us for dinner. Right. So, 'join' and 'dinner' are the words that are really being stressed in this sentence. And the others are kind of passed over pretty quickly because it's obvious what they mean from context, right. We can hear the consonants in these words, so we don't really need to linger on them. She'll join us for dinner. She'll join us for dinner. Let's continue.

We'll see you at the meeting. We'll see you at the meeting. We'll see you at the meeting.

Jeez, that. That's really quick, isn't it? 'We will' becomes 'we'll', and it gets the Dark L because we have an S at the start of the word 'see'. So there's a consonant that comes after the L. We can use the Dark L. That little reverse w sound with our lips. Tongue isn't moving.

We'll see, we'll see, we'll see. It's really quick. We'll see. /We'll/, /we'll/ /we'll see/, /we'll see with the meeting/. We'll see you at the meeting.

And so what's happening with the words 'at' and 'the'. They're kind of in the same position as the words 'us' and 'for' in the previous sentence. /We'll see you at the meeting/. So they're not really that important. They're not stressed. So we give them the schwa vowel sound, each of them /at the/ instead of /at the/, right, /at the meeting/. /At the meeting/. And again that rhythm. /Da da da da/, right.

The first syllable of meeting is stressed /at the meeting/. /We'll see you at the meeting/. /We'll see you at the meeting/. /We'll see you at the meeting/. /See you at the meeting/. Let's keep going.

They'll let us know soon. They'll let us know soon. They'll let us know soon.

So we're using the Light L here with 'they'll' because we're linking to the next word 'let'. There's an L at the start of that word. Two L's together or two L sounds. So we just use one L, okay. One L sound to link. /They'll let/, /they'll let/, /they'll let/. Now, what happens to the T at the end of the word 'let' now that it's followed by 'us' which starts with a vowel? /They'll let us/, /they'll let us/, /they'll let us/. We use the T Flap. So the T is at the start of a syllable that is not stressed.

I guess it's the it's the word us that it gets to the start of. /Let us/, /let us/, so we don't say it as a clear T, 'let us' or 'let us'. And it does sound like the vegetable 'lettuce'. We would say it the same way. /They'll lettuce/. 'I'm going to eat some lettuce', okay. /They'll let us know soon/.

And 'us' is getting that schwa sound. It's not important in the sentence in terms of needing to be really clearly articulated. So we reduce it. They'll let us know soon, they'll let us know soon. They'll let us know soon.

All right. Last one. And now we're using 'it' and 'will' becoming 'it'll' hopefully could become /it'll/ as well with the Dark L and the T Flap. Have a listen. I'm going to say this. I'll try not to think about it too much and get in my own head and adjust the pronunciation. Let's just say this sentence.

It'll take some time to finish. It'll take some time to finish. It'll take some time to finish.

So I am using the T Flap and the Dark L for /it'll/. And the reason is 'take', the next word, starts with a consonant sound. So I can use the Dark L. /It'll/, /it'll/. So use that T Flap and go into /oh/ /it'll/, /it'll/, /it'll take/ /it'll take some time/. It'll take some time to finish. It'll take some time to finish.

And we go over it so quickly /it'll/, /it'll/, /it'll/, /it'll take some time to finish/ and really focus on that rhythm. /Da da da da da da da da da da/. It'll take some time to finish. It'll take some time to finish. And 'two' gets reduced /to finish/. /To finish/. It'll take some time to finish.

So there you go guys. Hopefully you've enjoyed this episode. Don't forget to grab the free download. You can get that via the description. You'll get the PDF, you'll see the sentences you'll be able to read and listen at the same time and practice your pronunciation out loud. Take notes, everything like that.

If you want to work on your Australian English accent, don't forget to check out my Australian Pronunciation course as well as the Spoken English course. You can get the Australian Pronunciation Course for $100 off at AussieEnglish.com.au/apc100 APC as in Australian Pronunciation Course and 100 or 1 0 0, as in $100 off Aussie English. Apk 100 and don't forget to grab the Spoken English course for Course for 50% off at the checkout.

All right, before I let you go. Let's go through each of these sentences one more time. Are you ready? Let's do it.

I'll call you after lunch. You'll love this movie. He'll arrive in ten minutes. She'll join us for dinner. We'll see you at the meeting. They'll let us know soon. It'll take some time to finish.

Great job, mate. Tooroo!