1.

Definition ( Phương )
(Đặt vấn đề từ ví dụ để dẫn dắt bài) 
Eg: Where are you from?
                                /frɒm/=> strong form
                   - I’m from London.
                           /frəm/ => weak from
 In this example, the word “from” can be pronounced frɒm (strong form)
and frəm (weak form). 
 The small words that manage the grammar in English have two
different pronunciations. These are called weak and strong forms. 
 Most weak forms have either schwa /ə/ or short /i/ vowel sounds. These
words are very important for the pronunciation of English grammar--
they are like the gluer in the phonetic system.
 The weak form is pronounced when the word is unstressed.
 The strong form is only pronounced when the word is stressed
2. Function words:
 Almost all the words which have both a weak form and strong form
may be called function words. 
 These function words are words such as auxiliary verbs, prepositions,
conjunctions, and pronouns, all of which are in certain circumstances
pronounced in their strong forms but which are more frequently
pronounced in their weak forms.
3. When to use strong forms
 The strong form is used in the following cases: 
1. For many weak-form words, when they occur at the end of a
sentence.
Eg: the word “of” has a weak form in this sentence əv in the
following sentence:
 “I’m fond of chips” aim 'fɒnd əv 'tʃɪps
However, when it comes at the end of the sentence, it has the
strong form ɒv 
“Chips are what I fond of”  'tʃɪp ə 'wɒt aim 'fɒnd  ɒv
2. When a weak-form word is contrasted with another word
Eg: The letter’s from him, not to him.
  ðə  'letəz  'frɒm him  nɒt 'tuː him
 A similar case is what we might call a co-ordinated use of
prepositions:
Eg: “A work of ad about literature” 
                  ə 'wɜːrk 'ɒv ən əˈbaʊt 'lɪtrətʃə
3. When a weak-form word is given stress for the purpose of
emphasis
Eg: You must give me more money ju 'mʌst 'giv mi 'mɔːr ˈmʌni
4. When a weak-form word is being “cited” or “quoted”
Eg: You shouldn’t put “and” at the end of a sentence
                Ju  'ʃʊdnt pʊt  'ænd ət  'end əv  ə ˈsentəns

4. Most common weak-form words 

1. Article (Trang Anh)
(Most noun, verbs, adj, adv don’t have weak form)

1. The most common sound in the English language is the schwa. The schwa
looks like this: /ə/ It is also the most common weak form.

e.g.    * the

    Weak forms: 

+/ðə/ ðə (before consonants):

Eg: The first floor. /ðə fɜ:st flɔ:r/

 + /ði/ ði (before vowels):

Eg: I would like the apple. /ai wəd laik ði 'ӕpl/

 * a/an

    Weak forms

+ /ə/ ə (before consonants)

Eg: I have got a new dress. / ai hæv gɔt ə nju: dres/

+  /ən/ ən (before vowels): 

Eg: He is an honest man. /hɪ iz ən 'ɒnist mæn/

2. Conjunction
* and: (strong form /ænd/)

     Weak forms /ən/ (sometimes ṇ after t, d, s, z, ∫)

e.g. Fish and chips /fɪʃ ən tʃɪps/

(The word and is pronounced fully with a /æ/. If you say this slowly and stress
each word it sounds like /fɪʃ ænd tʃɪps/. This doesn't sound natural because we're
not using a weak form. Weak forms usually sound like /ə/. So, when we say fish
and chips, we usually say /fɪʃ ən tʃɪps/. The grammar word (and) is not pronounced
fully - it is unstressed)

Me and you /mi: ən ju:/

* but: (strong form  /b ʌ t/)

     Weak form /bət/

e.g. The food is good but the service is terrible. /ðə fu:d iz bət ðə 'sɜ:vis iz 'terəbl/

       *than: (strong form /ðӕn/)

     Weak form /ðən/

e.g. Better safe than sorry.  /'betər seif ðən 'sɒri/

3. Pronouns:
* his:

- When it occurs before a noun

- Weak form: /ɪz/ (hɪz at the beginning of a sentence)

e.g. That is his last chance. / 'ðæt iz ɪz lɑ:st t∫eindʒ/

* her (Strong form /hɜː/)

- When used with a possessive sense, preceding a noun; as an object pronoun, this
can also occur at the end of a sentence. (At the end of a sentence, /hɜː/ is
pronounced with strong form)

- Weak form:

/ə/ (before consonants) She raised her voice. /∫i: reizd ə vɔis/

 /hə/ (before vowels) She told him her age. /∫i: təʊld him hə eidʒ/

* your:

/jə/ (before consonants) Is that your coat? /iz 'ðæt jə kəʊt/

/jər/ (before vowels) I love your eyes. /iz lʌv jər 'aiz/

 “She” ((Strong form /∫i:/))

 Weak form /ʃi/
‘why did she read it’ /ʹwɑɪ dɪd ʃi ʹrɪ:d ɪt/
‘who is she ?’ /ʹhu: ʹɪz ʃi/

* “He” 
The weak form is usually pronounced without h except at the beginning of a
sentence

- At the beginning of a sentence/hɪ/

e.g. He is my boyfriend. /hɪ iz mai 'bɔifrend/

- Weak form /ɪ/ 
‘which did he choose?’ /ʹwɪtʃ dɪd I ʹtʃu:z/

* “We” 
Weak form /wi/
‘How can we get there?’ /ʹhɑʊ kɘn wi ʹɡet ðeə/
‘We need that, don’t we?’ /wi ʹni:d ðæt ʹdəʊnt wi/
* “You” 
Weak form /ju/ /jə/ 
‘what do you think?’ /ʹwɒt də ju ʹθɪŋk/
‘you like it, do you?’ /ju ʹIɑɪk  ɪt ʹdu: ju/

4. “That”, “some”, “there”

* “That” 
This world only has a weak form when used in a relative clause, when used with a
demonstrative sense it is always pronounced in its strong from 
           
Weak form: /ðət/
                  ‘That price is the thing that annoys me’ ðə ʹprɑɪs ɪz ðə 
                   ʹθɪŋ ðət əʹnɔɪz mie 

* “Some”
  In one sense (typically, when it occurs before a countable noun, meaning “
an unknown individual”) it has the strong form:
e.g. “ I think some animal broke it” /ɑɪ ‘θɪŋk sʌm’ ænɪməI ‘brəʊk ɪt/
 It is also used before uncountable nouns (meaning “ an unspecified amount
of”) 
 before other nouns in the plural ( meaning “an unspecified number of”)  in
such uses it has the weak form /səm/
e.g. ‘ Have some more tea’ /‘həʌ səm ʹmɔ: ʹti:/
 In final position: /sʌm/ 
e.g. ‘I’ ve got some’ /ɑɪv ʹgɒt sʌm/

* “ There”
 This word has a demonstrative function, it always occurs in its strong
form /ðeə/ (/ðeɘr/  before vowels) for example:
‘There it is’ /ʹðeər ɪt ɪz/ 
‘Put it there’ /ʹpʊt  ɪt ʹðeə/ 

Weak forms:  /ðə/ (before consonants)

                     ‘ There should be a rule’ /ðə ʹʃʊd bi ɘ ʹru:I/
             /ðər/ (before vowels) 
                                  ‘There is’ ðər ʹɪz
In the final position: the pronunciation may be /ðə/ or /ðeə/      
             ‘There isn’t any, is there? 
             /ʹðər ʹɪznt eni ɪz ðeə/
        or /ðər ʹɪznt eni ɪz ðeə/

5. Preposition 
 ‘at’

Weak form: ət

‘I’ll see you at lunch’ ail 'si: ju ət  'lʌntʃ

In final position: æt

‘What’s he shooting at?’ 'wɒts i ' ˈʃuː.tɪŋ æt

‘for’

Weak form: fə (before consonants)

‘Tea for two’ 'ti: fə 'tu:

fər (before vowels)

‘Thanks for asking’ ' θæŋks fər ' ɑːsk ɪŋ

In final position: fɔː

‘What’s that for?’ ' wɒts ' ðæt fɔː

 ‘from’

Weak form: frəm

‘I’m home from work’ aim 'həʊm frəm ' wɜːk

In final position: frɒm

‘Here’s where it came from’ ' hɪəz weə it ' keɪm frɒm

 ‘of’

Weak form: əv

‘Most of all   ' məʊst əv ' ɔːl

In final position: ɒv

‘Someone I’ve heard of  ' ˈsʌm.wʌn  aiv 'hɜːd ɒv

 ‘to’

Weak forms: tə  (before consonants)

‘Try to stop 'traɪ tə 'stɒp

tu (before vowels)

‘Time to eat 'taɪm tu 'iːt

In final position: tu (it is not usual to use the strong form tu:)

 ‘I don't want to  ai 'dəʊnt 'wɒnt tu

 ‘as’

Weak form: əz

‘As much as possible əz 'mʌtʃ əz 'pɒs.ə.bl

In final position: æz

‘That’s what it was sold as”

ðæts 'wɒt it waz 'səʊld æz

 
6. Modals and auxiliary verbs

a, Modals verbs
 ‘can’, ‘could’

Weak forms: kən, kəd

‘They can wait’ 'ðeɪ kən ' weɪt

‘He could do it’ 'hi: kəd 'du: ɪt

In final position: kæn,  kʊd

‘I think we can’ aɪ ' θɪŋk wi ' kæn

‘Most of them could’ ' moʊst əv ðəm ' kʊd

‘shall’, ‘should’  
Weak forms: ʃəl or ʃl; ʃəd

‘We shall need to hurry’ wi ʃl 'ni:d tə 'hʌri

‘I should forget it’ 'ai ʃəd fə'get it

In final position: ʃæl, ʃud

‘I think we shall’ ai ' θɪŋk wi 'ʃæl

‘So you should’ ' səʊ ju 'ʃud

 ‘must’
This word is sometimes used with the sense of forming a conclusion or deduction
(e.g. ‘she left at eight o’clock, so she must have arrived by now); when ‘must’ is
used in this way, it is less likely to occur in its weak form than when it is being
used in its more familiar sense of obligation.
Weak forms: məs (before consonants)

‘You must try harder’ ju məs 'traɪ 'hɑːdə

məst (before vowels)

‘He must eat more’ hi məst 'i:t 'mɔ:

In final position: mʌst ‘She certainly must’ ʃi ' sɜː.tn.li 'mʌst

b, Auxiliary verbs
 ‘am’, ‘are’, ‘was’, ‘were’

Weak forms:

am:  əm

‘Why am I here?’ 'wai əm ai 'hɪə

Are: ə (before consonants)

‘Here are the plates’ ' hɪə ə ðə 'pleɪts

ər (before vowels)

‘The coats are in there’ ðə ' kəʊst ər in ' ðer

Was: wəz

‘He was here a minute ago’hi wəz ' hɪə ə ' mɪn.ɪt  əˈɡəʊ

wə (before consonants)

‘The papers were late’ ðə 'peɪ.pəs wə 'leit

Were: wər (before vowels)

‘The questions were easy’ ðə 'ˈkwes.tʃən wər 'i:zi

In final position: æm, ɑː, wɒz, wɜː

‘She’s not as old as I am’/ ʃiz 'not əz 'əʊld əz 'ai æm

‘I know the Smiths are’ ai ' nəʊ  ðə 'smɪθs a:

‘The last record was’ ðə ' lɑːst ' rɪˈkɔːd  wɒz

‘They weren’t as cold as we were’ ðeɪ ' wɜːnt əz ' kəʊld  əz  ' wiː wɜː

‘have’, ‘has’, ‘had’

Weak forms: əv, əz, əd (with initial h in initial position)

‘Which have you seen?’ ' wɪtʃ əv ju ' siːn

‘Which has been best?’ ' wɪtʃ əz bi:n 'best

‘Most had gone home’ ' moʊst əd gɒn ' həʊm

In final position: hæv, hæz, hæd

‘Yes, we have’ 'jes wi 'hæv

‘I think she has’ ai 'θɪŋk ʃi 'hæz

‘I thought we had’ ai 'θɪŋk wi 'hæd

‘do’, ‘does’
Weak forms:

‘do’ də (before consonants)

‘Why do they like it?’ 'waɪ də ðeɪ 'laɪk it

du (before vowels)

‘Why do all the cars stop?’ 'wai du 'ɔːl ðə 'kɑːz ' stɒp

‘does’ dəz

‘When does it arrive?’ 'wen dəz it ə'raiv

In final position: du:  dʌz

‘We don’t smoke, but some people do’ 'wi: dəʊnt ' sməʊk bʌt 'sʌm piː.pəl 'du:
‘I think John does’ ai ' θɪŋk ' dʒɒn  dʌz