Pronunciation: 'Have to'
Hi. I'm Tim and this is my Pronunciation workshop. Here I'm going to show you how English is
really spoken. It'll help you to become a better listener and a more fluent speaker.
Are you ready? Come on, follow me.
Now, are you an early bird? Do you catch the worm? Do you even have the faintest idea what
I'm talking about? Well, in English, an early bird is someone who gets up early in
the morning. Now I hate waking up early, but because of my job sometimes I have to
get up before 11 o'clock in the morning. I know - that's terrible, but I do it, just
for you. Let's find out about some other Londoners.
The word 'have' ends in the sound /v/,
doesn't it - or does it? Listen again: what sound can you actually hear? Also, pay
attention to the pronunciation of the word 'to'.
Tim When we use the verb 'have' in its modal
form: 'have to' meaning an obligation, the /v/ at the end of the word changes to
an /f/. Also the vowel sound in the word 'to' changes to a schwa - /?/. 'Have
to' becomes /haeft?/. Here are some more examples.
Right, so you've heard the examples, and
now it's your turn. Are you ready to start? Listen and repeat.
Well done. Now remember, if you want to learn
more about pronunciation, then please visit our website, bbclearningenglish dot com. And
that is about it from the workshop for this week: I'll see you soon. Bye bye. Right, now
as I got up at the crack of 11.00 in the morning, I'm exhausted - I have to grab 40 winks
before the next shoot. Night night. Ah, that's good...