In this Pronunciation episode of Aussie English I teach you how contracting HAS onto HE, SHE and IT is easy!

Pronunciation: Contracting HAS onto HE, SHE & IT

G’day guys. Welcome to this episode of Aussie English. Today we’re going to be contracting the word HAS onto the pronouns HE, SHE and IT. So, in the previous episode we did HAVE onto the pronouns I, YOU, WE and THEY. And so, now we’re going to effectively do exactly the same exercise but with HAS, which is the singular form of the verb TO HAVE in the present tense.

So, let’s just dive straight into it guys, and we’ll practice the listen and repeat exercise as we always do at the start where I’m going to say HE HAS followed by HE’S, SHE HAS followed by SHE’S and IT HAS followed by IT’S five times. So, listen and repeat after me guys, and practice your pronunciation.

Listen and repeat:

He has – he’s x 5

She has – she’s x 5

It has – it’s x 5

So, HAS here is usually left uncontracted if said on its own followed by something like a noun, because it can otherwise be confused with the contraction of IS. So, obviously, contracting HE HAS sounds like HE’S and contracting HE IS sounds like HE’S. So, if you’re talking about possessing something but you’re not using any other word in that sentence, for example, GOT, after HAS, you’ll leave HAS uncontracted, or else you’re going to confuse it. So,

HE HAS A CAT = HE’S A CAT,

HE IS A CAT = HE’S A CAT.

If I was to hear, HE’S A CAT, my automatic assumption would be that someone is saying HE IS A CAT contracted. So, if you want to contract HAS in this sense and you want to avoid confusion add the word GOT after the contraction of HAS onto the pronoun. And so, for example, you would say HE’S GOT A CAT meaning HE HAS A CAT instead of HE’S A CAT. Hopefully that makes sense guys. We’ll do some substitution exercises in a sec[ond] which will add the word GOT into phrases with HAS when it’s contracted in order to help you practice that.

And also, obviously, HAS can be contracted when forming the Present Perfect tense. So when the verb TO HAVE is followed by a past participle. So, HE HAS BEEN becomes HE’S BEEN, SHE HAS WATCHED becomes SHE’S WATCHED, and IT HAS TAKEN becomes IT’S TAKEN.

So, let’s do a substitution exercise guys. The very first one I’m going to focus on using HAS plus the word GOT. So, as I said in the previous episode the form HAS GOT can be used in two different ways primarily. The first one is when it’s followed by a noun and you’re contracting HAS and it’s just that idea of possession. So, HE’S GOT A CAT, HE’S GOT A CAR, HE’S GOT A HOUSE. And then there’s the second one HAS GOT + A VERB which means HE MUST DO SOMETHING, HE NEEDS TO DO SOMETHING, HE HAS TO DO SOMETHING, HE’S GOT TO DO SOMETHING. So, it’s that idea of NEED, MUST, HAVE TO, you’ve got to do it.

So, listen and repeat after me guys, and as I’ve said previously as well, if this is too advanced to start with, and it’s a bit too complicated, use this substitution exercise as a listen and repeat exercise and just practice your pronunciation. However, if you want to treat it as a substitution exercise then instead of repeating the first sentence that I say try and contract the first one and then listen to me say the second one as it’s the answer to the contraction of the first sentence.

So, here we go guys.

Substitution exercise: HAS + GOT

He has got time.

He’s got time.

It has got a new colour.

It’s got a new colour.

She has got several pets.

She’s got several pets.

It has got to be enough.

It’s got to be enough.

It has got a few features.

It’s got a few features.

He has got two brothers.

He’s got two bothers.

She has got to leave soon.

She’s got to leave soon.

She has got a lot on her mind.

She’s got a lot on her mind.

He has got nothing else to say.

He’s got nothing else to say.

She has got nothing to do today.

She’s got nothing to do today.

She has got an old pair of shoes.

She’s got an old pair of shoes.

He has got to stop asking questions.

He’s got to stop asking questions.

It has got four rooms and a garage.

It’s got four rooms and a garage.

It has got a number of different uses.

It’s got a number of different uses.

He has got two times as much as she has got.

He’s got two times as much as she’s got.

And so, now guys we’ll do the second substitution exercise where this time I’m going to be using the word HAS followed by a PAST PARTICIPLE of a verb. So, we’re talking about something that HAS HAPPENED.

And so, here we go guys.

Substitution exercise: HAS + PAST PARTICIPLE

It has been too long!

It’s been too long!

She has asked a few times.

She’s asked a few times.

It has taken ages to finish.

It’s taken ages to finish.

She has been learning to sing.

She’s been learning to sing.

He has eaten all of her dinner.

He’s eaten all of her dinner.

It has gotten worse and worse.

It’s gotten worse and worse.

She has tried her hardest to win.

She’s tried her hardest to win.

He has done more than we asked.

He’s done more than we asked.

He has just gotten home from work.

He’s just gotten home from work.

It has definitely changed my opinion.

It’s definitely changed my opinion.

He has just finished training at the gym.

He’s just finished training at the gym

She has watched the movie several times.

She’s watched the movie several times.

So, that’s it guys. Practice this episode a few times. Do it until this stuff becomes natural. It probably won’t happen overnight, but the more you do it and the more frequently you do it, you know, every few days, every few weeks, every few months. Just keep going over these episodes and eventually this stuff is going to become second nature. It’s going to become natural. You’re not going to have to think about when and how to contract these words when you’re speaking with other natives or with other English speakers.

So, see you in the next episode guys!