Get List Of Common English Words That Have Weak Forms (used When The Word Is Not

In one sentence a word might be easier to hear or said with emphasis. In another sentence the same word might be less easy to hear and not said with emphasis. We call the first one the strong form and the second one the weak form of the word. Strong forms of words are often longer and louder.

These words have no stress, and so they are weakened. That weakened form is called "weak form" as opposed to a "strong form", which is the full form of the word pronounced with stress. The strong form only happens when we pronounce the words alone, or when we emphasize them.

The sentence 'I like that' is pronounced ai laık ðæt (strong form); the sentence 'I hope that she will' is pronounced aı həʊp ðət ſi wil (weak form). There are roughly forty such words in English. It is possible to use only strong forms in speaking, and some foreigners do this.

In one sentence a word might be easier to hear or said with emphasis. In another sentence the same word might be less easy to hear and not said with emphasis. We call the first one the strong form and the second one the weak form of the word. Strong forms of words are often longer and louder.

These weak form words are what we call function words, and typically they are words such as: auxiliar verbs am, are, be, been, can, could, do, does, has, had, shall, should, was, were, would, prepositions at, for, from, of, to, pronouns he, her, him, his, me, she, them, us, we, you,

That means most nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs don't have weak forms.

In an English sentence, some words are pronounced with more stress than others. Generally, the words which carry the main meaning are stressed, while 'grammar' words like prepositions, pronouns and so on are not stressed. Words which are not stressed can be weak forms.