In this Pronunciation episode I show you guys how contracting IS onto words like THIS and THAT is easy and makes you sound more like a native.

Pronunciation: Contracting IS – This is, That is = This’s, That’s

G’day guys. Welcome to this episode of Aussie English. Today we’re going to be contracting the word “Is” and we’re going to contract it onto the words “This” and “That”. So, “This is” becomes “This’s” and “That is” becomes “That’s”. So, “Is” is the second person singular form of the verb to be in the present tense. And we’re going to start with a brief listen and repeat exercise guys where I’ll say “This is” and then “This’s” as well as “That is” followed by “That’s” five times each just so you guys can practice your pronunciation. So, listen and repeat after me.

Listen and repeat:

This is – This’s x 5

That is – That’s x 5

And now we’ll do a substitution exercise guys as we normally do. So, as usual I’m going to read out a series of sentences and they’re going to be in pairs. The first sentence in each pair is going to be uncontracted where you’ll here “This is” or “That is”, and the second sentence is going to have the contracted form of “This’s” or “That’s”. And so, I want you guys to try and substitute “This is” or “That is” for “This’s” or “That’s” and anticipate the second sentence that I say. So, this’s a good way of actively thinking about these things and problem solving on the spot with your English. And as I usually say, if it’s too complicated, if it’s a little too advanced at this stage practice it and treat it as a listen and repeat exercise, and keep repeating it until it becomes second nature, until it becomes natural, until it is incredibly easy for you to do. It just takes time. So, let’s go guys.

Substitution exercise:

This is what I want.

This’s what I want.

That is my car.

That’s my car.

This is where I live.

This’s where I live.

That is where I come from.

That’s where I come from.

This is all he cares about.

This’s all he cares about.

I knew that is what he wanted.

I knew that’s what he wanted.

This is just the beginning.

This’s just the beginning.

This is everything that is important.

This’s everything that’s important.

I don’t think that is necessary.

I don’t think that’s necessary.

She says that this is her suitcase.

She says that this’s her suitcase.

So, that’s it for this episode guys. Listen and repeat the episode until it becomes natural and until you can pronounce these words “This’s” and “That’s” incredibly easily and naturally, and your English is going to rapidly improve. See you in the next episode guys.