Pronunciation insight 7

Negative forms

In spoken English, was/wasn't, were/weren't and could/couldn't are usually weak forms and the negative forms are often contracted.

2Play the recording and listen to the sentences. Choose a tick (✔) for affirmative verbs and a cross (✘) for negative verbs. 

• 1I _______ ✔✘✘ at school today. I _______ ✔ at home.

• 2I _______ ✔ dance when I was younger, but I _______ ✘ sing.

• 3We _______ ✘ safe. The road _______ ✔ dangerous.

• 4You _______ ✔ popular, because you _______ ✔ play football really well.

• 5Josh _______ ✔ cycle to school, because it _______ ✔ near his house.

• 6You _______ ✘ happy last night. I _______ ✔ worried about you.

• 7Kelly and I _______ ✘ well. We _______ ✘ at the cinema.

• 8They _______ ✘ go to the concert, because they _______ ✘ get tickets.

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Negative forms

In spoken English, was/wasn't, were/weren't and could/couldn't are usually weak forms and the negative forms are often contracted.

3Play the recording, listen, and complete the sentences. 

• 1I wasn't at school today. I was at home.

• 2I could dance when I was younger, but I couldn't sing.

• 3We weren't safe. The road was dangerous.

• 4You were popular, because you could play football really well.

• 5Josh could cycle to school, because it was near his house.

• 6You weren't happy last night. I was worried about you.

• 7Kelly and I weren't well. We weren't at the cinema.

• 8They couldn't go to the concert, because they couldn't get tickets.

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Negative forms

/w/ is a difficult sound for many learners of English. Start by practising the /u:/ sound – your mouth makes the same shape when you say /u:/ and /w/.
uuu … where
/w/ is silent when it comes before r: write, wrong
/w/ can be silent when it comes before h and o: two, who

4Play the recording, listen to the sentences and underline the letters that make the /w/ sound. 

• 1There were two women next to the window.

• 2Are you going to wear that coat for the whole winter?

• 3Where were you when I was at my swimming lesson?

• 4I want to write on this white paper.

• 5Who is with you?

• 6Are we walking in the wrong direction?

5Practise saying the sentences in exercise 4. Pay attention to the pronunciation of /w/. 

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