Pronunciation Practice
發音練習
Hello. I'm Sammy, and this is part two of the Connected Speech series. Connected speech is used when you're speaking quickly and casually, and it can help your American English sound more natural. Today, we'll be discussing informal contractions.
哈囉。我是 Sammy，這是連音系列第二部。連音是用在你快速且輕鬆說話時，那可以幫助你的美式英文聽起來更自然。今天，我們要來討論非正式縮讀字。
Can you hear the differences between the formal and casual sentences below?
你能聽出下面正式和日常句子間的差別嗎？
Formal: "I'm going to eat cake."
正式：「我要去吃蛋糕。」
Casual: "I'm gonna eat cake."
日常：「我要去吃蛋糕。」
"Do you want to go?" "Do you wanna go?"
「你想去嗎？」「你想去嗎？」
"I have to do homework." "I hafta do homework."
「我得做功課。」「我得做功課。」
In the following story, pay attention to the underlined words and see if you can hear the informal contractions.
以下故事中，仔細聽聽畫底線的字，看看你能不能聽出非正式縮讀字。
I wanna surprise my sister for her birthday. So I've gotta buy her a present. I'm gonna hafta go to the mall. I coulda gotten her a dog, but she already has a cat. I woulda bought her a car, but it's too expensive. Instead, I'm gonna make her a big birthday cake.
我想要給我姊姊生日驚喜。所以我必須買給她一個禮物。我得去賣場。我可以買給她一隻小狗，但她已經有隻貓了。我會買一台車給她，但車太貴了。取而代之，我要做一個大生日蛋糕給她。
Phrases like "gonna," "wanna," "hafta" are called informal contractions. They are often used in casual spoken American English, but not in written English. They are formed by combining words to shorten them from their original form. Practicing these can help you sound more natural and become better at understanding fast, casual speech.
像 gonna(將要)、wanna(想要)、hafta(必須)這些詞被稱作「非正式縮讀字」。它們常被用在美式英文日常口語中，不過不會用在書面英文。它們是由結合單字來縮短它們的原形所組成。練習這些可以幫助讓你聽起來更自然，而且更能理解速度快、日常的說話方式。
Here are some examples of informal contractions with "to": "Going to" becomes "gonna," "want to" "wanna," "have to" "hafta," "got to" "gotta," "ought to" "oughtta."
這裡是一些有 to 的非正式縮讀字的例子：Going to 變成 gonna(將要)、want to 變成 wanna(想要)、have to 變成 hafta(必須)、got to 變成 gotta(必須)、ought to 變成 oughtta(應該)。
There are also examples with modal verbs plus "have," such as "should have" becoming "shoulda," "would have" "woulda," "could have" "coulda," "might have" "mighta."
還有一些情態動詞加上 have 的例子，像是 should have 變成 shoulda(應該)、would have 變成 woulda(就會)、could have 變成 coulda(可以)、might have 變成 mighta(可能)。
Let's practice! In the following story, try to pronounce the underlined phrases using informal contractions. Press pause at each page to practice at your own pace.
來練習吧!在以下故事中，試著用非正式縮讀字來念出有畫底線的片語。在每一頁按下暫停來以自己的步調練習。
I want to surprise my sister for her birthday. So I've got to buy her a present. I'm going to have to go to the mall. I could have gotten her a dog, but she already has a cat. I would have bought her a car, but it's too expensive. Instead, I am going to make her a big birthday cake.
我想要給我姊姊生日驚喜。所以我必須買給她一個禮物。我得去賣場。我可以買給她一隻小狗，但她已經有隻貓了。我會買一台車給她，但車太貴了。取而代之，我要做一個大生日蛋糕給她。
I wanna surprise my sister for her birthday, so I've gotta buy her a present. I'm gonna hafta go to the mall. I coulda gotten her a dog, but she already has a cat. I woulda bought her a car, but it's too expensive. Instead, I'm gonna make her a big birthday cake.
我想要給我的姊姊生日驚喜。所以我必須買給她一個禮物。我得去賣場。我可以買給她一隻小狗，但她已經有隻貓了。我會買一台車給她，但車太貴了。取而代之，我要做一個大生日蛋糕給她。
Next time, we'll discuss linking in part three of the Connected Speech series. This is American English. Thanks for watching.
下一次，我們會在連音系列第三部討論連音。這是美式英文頻道。謝謝收看。
