Pronunciation: You are, we are, they are = You’re, we’re, they’re

In this Pronunciation episode I teach you guys how to contract the word “Are” onto the pronouns “You”, “We” and “They”.

Pronunciation: You are, We are, They are = You’re, We’re, They’re

G’day guys. Welcome to this episode of Aussie English. In this episode we’re going to be contracting the word “Are” onto the pronouns “You”, “We” and “They. So, “You are”, “We are”, “They are” becomes “You’re”, “We’re”, “They’re”. So, “Are” is the plural form of the verb “To be” in the present tense. And we’ll start this episode by doing a quick listen and repeat exercise as we usually do guys where I’ll say the uncontracted form with these pronouns, “You are”, “We are”, “They are” followed by the contracted forms “You’re”, “We’re”, “They’re”. If you want to make it a little bit trickier for yourself try and anticipate the contractions before I say them. So, that is, try and say the contracted form directly after I’ve said the uncontracted form, and then listen for me to say the contracted form to hear whether or not you got it correct. Otherwise, just treat this exercise as a listen and repeat exercise to practice your pronunciation of these contracted forms until it becomes natural. So, listen and repeat after me guys.

Listen and repeat: 

You are – you’re x 5

We are – we’re x 5

They are – they’re x 5

 

And so, now let’s try and do a substitution exercise where I’ll say a sentence using the uncontracted forms “You are”, “We are”, “They are”, and I want you to listen to the sentence and then repeat it with the contracted form “You’re”, “We’re” or “They’re”. So, I will then give you the answer after that in its contracted form and you can see whether or not you were correct. If you want to make things a little easier for yourself, if you’re only just beginning to practice these kinds of contractions then as I’ve said previously treat this exercise as a listen and repeat exercise. So, that is, just try and mimic everything that I say as I say it. You don’t even necessarily have to worry about the meaning of the sentences, just practice your pronunciation and eventually you’ll get it, it’ll become a lot easier, and you’ll be able to focus more on the meaning of these sentences and then try and use it as a substitution exercise. So, here we go guys. Let’s get started.

 Substitution exercise: 

They are late.

They’re late.

You are pretty tall.

You’re pretty tall.

We are mopping the floor.

We’re mopping the floor.

We are going to the beach.

We’re going to the beach.

We are on the way to work.

We’re on the way to work.

You are looking for your keys.

You’re looking for your keys.

You are way smarter than I am.

You’re way smarter than I am.

They are the second biggest group.

They’re the second biggest group.

I think we are going to win the game!

I think we’re going to win the game.

They are the people we are looking for.

They’re the people we’re looking for.

You are always complaining about something.

You’re always complaining about something.

Do you know where they are going on holiday?

Do you know where they’re going on holiday?

 

So, that’s it for this episode guys. Keep practicing it. Keep working on your pronunciation and on making these contractions. This is the way that native English speakers speak. So, the more you can use these and the better you can understand these contractions the more you’re going to sound like a native speaker and the more you’re going to be able to rapidly increase your listening comprehension and ease of speaking with natives when you’re using English. So, see you in the next episode guys.

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