Reduced words in connected speech. English has its own rhythm just like music, this rhythm comes from patterns of stress and unstressed syllables in words. Stressed syllables last longer and have more emphasis. Unstressed syllables are shorter and weaker. Listen to this sentence, the rhythm of English is important. Can you feel that some syllables are longer and more emphasized than others? In this lesson, we’ll practice some changes that happen to unstressed words in sentences. They often have shortened forms with different pronunciations that when they are said slowly and carefully. These shortened forms are called reduced words. Listen to this sentence, can you hear how some words are reduced? Bob had a cup of coffee of with cream and sugar. People don't usually say Bob had a cup of coffee with cream and sugar. That's too careful and it takes too long to say. Listen especially to this phrase. A a cup a coffee. Of didn't sound like of, did it? It sounded like a. Try saying these phrases with of. A cup a coffee. The end a the day A couple of days. Now listen to this phrase. Cream and sugar. And didn't sound like and, it sounded like n. Try saying these phrases with and. Cream and sugar. Red, white, and blue. Salt and pepper. Many small grammar words have common reduced forms. Here are some examples. These are all prepositions. Try saying each word in its full, careful form and then say a phrase using its reduced form. At. They're at work. For. This is for you. From. He's far from home. Of. I drank a cup of tea. To. They went to school. The three articles, a, an, and the, are usually heard in reduced forms. Let's try saying them. A, I made a mistake. An, do you want an apple? The, the moon is shining. These are pronouns. Try saying both the full and reduced forms. You, what do you want? Your, what's in your bag? Our, this is our house. Some pronouns, mostly the ones that start with the letter h, can lost their first consonant sound. Try saying these. He, is he here yet? Him, I gave him a present. Her. I gave her a present. Them, also often loses its first sound and sounds like. Try saying both forms. Them. We talk to. These reduced forms are all conjunctions. Try saying each one word in both forms. And, it goes up and down. Or, did he say yes or no? Because. Why? because I say so. Many helping verbs also have reduced forms. These are just a few examples. Try saying the full and reduced forms. Is, he's studying, has, he's studied, do, what do you want? We'll, we'll talk to him. Now, try saying these sentences. Words that can have reduced forms are in red. At noon, we'll stop working and eat lunch. Do you think he's making them a cup of tea? I'm going to the beach because it's a sunny day. How far is it from San Diego to San Francisco? We hear reduced words anytime people speak English. They are all around us. Getting used to hearing reduced words. We'll make it much easier for you to understand everyday spoken English.