STRONG AND WEAK FORMS

Auxiliary verbs
WORD STRONG WEAK EXAMPLE TRANSCRIPTION
m (after I) Im tired. aIm taI@d
am &m
@m (elsewhere) Why am I here? waI @m aI hI@
Theyre going. De@ g@UIN
A; @ (before consonants)
The girls are beautiful. D@ g3;lz @ bju;t@fl
are
Theyre honest. De@r QnIst
A;r @r (before vowels)
The men are ugly. D@ men @r VglI

s (after voiceless sounds That is fine. D@ts faIn

other than /s, tS, S /)
This cat s fast DIs k&ts fA;st
This dog is lovely. DIs dQgz lVvlI
is Iz z (after voiced sounds
other than /z, dZ, Z /) Where is John? Johns
we@z dZQn/ dZQnz hI@ /
here.
Iz (after / s, z, tS, dZ, S, This watch is mine. DIs wQtS Iz maIn
Z /)
Which is right? wItSz raIt
was wQz w@z The weather was terrible D@ "weD@ w@z "ter@bl
w@ (before consonants) We were late. wI w@ leIt
were w3;
w@r (before vowels) They were asleep. DeI w@r @sli;p
d@ (before consonants) How do they come? haU d@ DeI kVm
do du;
dU (before vowels) What do I get? wQt dU aI get
When does the train
does dVz d@z wen d@z D@ treIn li;v
leave?
h@z (initially in a Has he paid the bill? h@z I peid D@ bIl
sentence)
The rose has withered. D@ r@Uz @z wID@d
@z (after /s, z, S, Z, tS, dZ/ )
The places changed. D@ pleIs @z tSeIndZd
has h&z The lions died. D@ laI@nz daId
z (after voiced sounds
other than / z, dZ, Z/)
Marys passed. me@rIz pA;st

s (after voiceless sounds The milks gone sour. D@ milks gQn saU@
other than / s, tS, S/)
Johns been sick. DZQns bIn sIk
v (after I, he, she, we, Youve broken it. ju;v br@uk@n It
they)
have h&v
@v (elsewhere) The men have eaten. D@ men @v i;tn
h@d (initially in a Had he already danced? h@d I O;lredI dA;nsd
sentence)

h&d Wed never seen it

had wi;d nev@ si;n It bIfO;
d (after vowels) before.
Theyd left home early. DeId left h@Um 3;lI
 The men had gone
D@ men @d gQn h@Um
@d (elsewhere) home.
The night had been fine. D@ naIt @d bIn faIn
When has, have and had are full verbs they
should always be pronounced h&z, h&d, I have two brothers. aI h&v tu; brVD@z
h&v
can k&n k@n How can I help? haU k@n aI help ju;
could kUd k@d How could he do it? HaU k@d I du; It.
shall S&l S@l/Sl We shall need to run. wI Sl ni;d t@ rVn
Why should he care for
should SUd S@d waI S@d I ke@ f@ enIbQdI
anybody?
m@s (before consonants) You must try your best. jU m@s traI jO; best
must mVst
m@st (before vowels) He must eat well. hI m@st i;t wel

l (after consonants except This watchll do. Dis wQtSl du;

/ l /, and also after I, he,
Theyll give it away. DeIl gIv It @weI
she, we, you, they
personal pronouns)
will wIl Thisll teach him. Disl ti;tS hIm
The girlll win. D@ g3;l @l wIn
@l (after vowels and / l /)
The boyll loose. D@ bOI @l lu;z
Would you come for a
w@d (sentence initially) w@d jU kVm f@ @ wO;k
walk?
would wUd d (after I, he, she, we, Hed be happy. hi;d bI h&pI
you, they)
@d (elsewhere) All would agree. O;l @d @gri;
Conjunctions

@n (generally Come and sit down. kVm @n sIt daUn

everywhere)
black and white bl&k @n waIt
and &nd
n (occasionally after /t, Wash and wear wQS n we@
d, s, z, S/) Bread and butter bred n bVt@
This is as good as gold. DIs Iz @z gUd @z g@Uld
as &z @z Come as soon as
kVm @z su;n @z pQs@bl
possible.
Initial as is likely to As a father he was a failure &z @ fa;D@ I w@z @ feIlj@.
be accented - &z &z f@r Im Its nQt pQs@bl t@
As for him, it is not possible to say anything. seI enITIN
better than ever b@t@ D@n ev@
than D&n D@n/Dn
This is better than that. DIs Iz bet@ D@n D&t
He said that he was
hI sed D@t I w@z kVmIN
coming.
that D&t D@t This is the method that Dis Iz D@ meT@d D@t
works. w3;ks.
I admit that I did it. aI @dmIt D@t aI dId It
The word that in phrases like that man, and thats good is always pronounced D&t and never
weakened.
but bVt b@t But, why not today b@t waI nQt t@deI
Pronouns
hI (intially in a sentence) He likes it. hI laIks It
he hi;
I (elsewhere) Did he win? dId I wIn
him hIm Im Give him two. gIv Im tu;
hIz (intially in a His name was
hIz neIm w@z menSnd
sentence) mentioned.
his hIz
Iz (elsewhere) They all liked his tie DeI O;l laIkt Iz taI
she Si; SI Where does she live? we@ d@z SI lIv
h@ (initially in a sentence) Her face is red. h@ feIs Iz red
h3; (before
consonants)
@ (elsewhere) Take her home teIk @ h@Um
her h@r (initially in a
h3;r Her eyes are black. h@r aIz @ bl&k
sentence)
(before
vowels) @r (elsewhere) Give her a book. gIv @r @ bUk
me mi; mI Bring me a chair. brIN mI @ tSe@
we wi; wI We came here yesterday. wI keIm hI@ jest@deI
them Dem D@m/ Dm Send them by post send D@m baI p@Ust
hU (initially in a Who do you want? hU d@ jU wQnt
sentence)
who hu; D@ m&n u;z st&ndIN
u; (occasionally as a The man who is standing
relative pronoun) there is a thief. De@z @ Ti;f
you ju; jU Ill tell you everything. aIl tel jU evrITIN
Prepositions
at &t @t Hell come at nine. hi;l kVm @t nain
f@ (before consonants ) Come for coffee kVm f@ kQfI
for fO; Come for a game of
f@r (before vowels ) kVm f@r @ geIm @v tSes
chess.
from frQm fr@m Ive come from Delhi. aIv kVm fr@m delI
Hes a friend of my
of Qv @v hi;z
father.
tU (before vowels ) Try to ask him over. traI tU &sk Im @Uv@
to tu;
t@ (before consonants ) Hes gone to take a test. hI;z gQn t@ teIk @ test
Articles
a eI @ I want a pen AI wQnt @ pen
an &n @n Buy me an apple. baI mI @n &pl
The thiefs escaped D@ Ti;fs IskeIpt
D@ (before consonants )
Shut the door SVt D@ dO;
the Di;
The apples are rotten DI &plz @ rQtn
DI (before vowels )
Wait for the end weIt f@ DI end
some sVm s@m/sm I want some tea aI wQnt s@m ti;
Miscellaneous words
be bi; bI Dont be rude. d@Unt bI ru;d
been bi;n bIn He hasnt been invited hI h&znt bIn InvaItId
s3; s@ (before consonants ) Sir William s@ wIlj@m
Sir
s3;r s@r (before vowels ) Sir Anthony s@r &nt@nI

1. All the words with initial / h / (he, his, him, her, who, had, has, have) commonly lose their
/ h / when they occur unaccented within a sentence. But they retain / h / when they occur
initially in a sentence or when they are accented.
2. In almost all the cases, weakening is effected by the replacement of a vowel phoneme by
either / @ /, / I / or / U / according to the following pattern.

3. is and has follow the rules for formation of the plural morpheme.