An English Accent

This book was written and recorded between 12/2009 - 03/2010 at the Pronunciation Studio and
Exo Studios in London.
© 2010 by Joe Hudson.
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written
permission of Joe Hudson.
Any queries about using this work should be directed to the author.
How To Use This Book
- This book is designed for self-study, for use with a teacher or in a classroom.
- It is split into 8 chapters, each containing the following sections:
Consonant Sounds
How to produce the different types of English consonant sound.
Vowel Sounds
How to produce the 19 English vowel sounds.
Spelling & Sound
How to interpret written English in speech.
IPA
How to read and write in International Phonetic Alphabet.
Structure
How to speak with natural English rhythm and stress.
Intonation
How to use the three English intonation patterns accurately.
General Study Advice

- You should allow 4 hours of study for each chapter.
- PRACTICE activities should be repeated daily.
- EXERCISE activities should be completed once.
- Sound Files (L__.mp3) should be listened to regularly.
In order to improve your accent, it is essential that you learn to recognize your mistakes so that
you can hear them and learn to correct them. For this reason, a very valuable exercise is to
record yourself using a microphone. PRACTICE activities are ideal for this.
You can make a lot of progress using this book for self-study. Any help you can find from a native
speaker or qualified English teacher will also be valuable, as they will be able to tell you if your
sounds are correct.
Index
1 pg 1-12 2 pg 13-24 3 pg 25-36 4 pg 37-48
Consonant Introduction Fricatives Plosives Nasals

Sounds
Vowel Sounds Introduction Long Vowels Short Vowels Diphthongs
Spelling & Voicing <r> < ed > endings < s > endings
Sound
IPA Introduction Crossword Transcription I Countries &

Capitals
Speech Schwa / / Function Words Weak Vowels Joining

Structure
Intonation Introduction Wh- Questions Yes/No Question Tags

Questions
5 pg 49-60 6 pg 61-72 7 pg 73-84 8 pg 85-96
Consonant Glottal Sounds Approximants Lateral Affricates

Sounds Approximants
Vowel Sounds Diphthongs Diphthongs Diphthongs Reduced

Ending /ʊ/ Ending /ɪ/ Ending /ə/ Vowels
Spelling & Have <t> Are Suffixes

Sound
IPA Transcription II Alphabet Syllabic Transcription

Consonants III
Speech Contractions Prominence & Compounds Shifting Stress

Structure Stress
Intonation Tone Units Fall-rise Contrast Review
Answer Key - pg 97-114

IPA Chart
1 2 3 4 13 14 15
Vowels (1-19) i: ɪ e æ eɪ ɔɪ aɪ
1-12 Monothongs
5 6 7 8 16 17
ə ɜ: ʌ ɑ: əʊ aʊ ɒʊ
13-19 Diphthongs
Consonants
20-26 Plosives
27-34 Fricatives 9 10 11 12 18 19
u: ʊ ɔ: ɒ ɪə eə ʊə
35-36 Affricates
37-39 Nasals
40-43 Approximants
44-45 Glottal
- Voiceless 20 21 22 27 28 29 30 35
- Regional
p t k f θ s ʃ tʃ
24 25 26 31 32 33 34 36
b d g v ð z ʒ dʒ
37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45
m n ŋ w r j lɫ h ʔ
1
1

Consonant Sounds Introduction
Vowel Sounds Introduction
Spelling & Sound Voicing loose / lose
IPA Introduction | pɜ:pəl |
Structure Schwa
ə
↘↘↗↗
Intonation Introduction
www.anenglishaccent.com © Joe Hudson 2010

2
Consonant Sounds - Introduction

1. A Consonant Sound is made by blocking the flow of air through the mouth.
2. There are different ways of blocking air to make sound. See the chart below.
a) EXERCISE L1.1 Below is an example of every consonant sound in English. Listen and
repeat them. Which of them are most difficult?
type of sound sound word-initial word-final
PLOSIVE /p/ park stop
Made by completely blocking the /b/ best lob

air in the mouth followed by an
explosion of air.. /t/ time might
/d/ done paid
/k/ cart lake
/g/ guide flag
FRICATIVE /f/ fine knife
Made by pushing the air through a /v/ van leave

gap in the mouth, creating a
friction sound. /θ/ think path
/ð/ those bathe
/s/ sort pass
/z/ zone cheese
/ʃ/ ship marsh
/ʒ/ - measure
AFFRICATE /tʃ/ chart itch
Plosive followed by fricative. /dʒ/ giant page
NASAL /m/ main lime
Made partly through the nose. /n/ no rain
/ŋ/ - sing
APPROXIMANT /w/ wall -
Imbetween a vowel and a /r/ right -

consonant, as the air is not fully
blocked. /j/ yes -
/l/ /ɫ/ like fall
GLOTTAL /h/ hate -
Produced in the glottis. /ʔ/ - what

3
Consonant Sounds - Mouth Diagram
1. Different consonant sounds block the air in different areas of the mouth
Diagram Of The Mouth
hard palate
lips
teeth alveolar ridge
tongue soft palate (velar)
glottis
b) EXERCISE - The sounds /p/, /b/ and /m/ are all made using both lips (diagram 3 below).
Place the other groups of consonants with their diagrams
a) p, b, m b) t, d, n, l c) θ, ð d) k, g, ŋ e) ʃ, ʒ f) f, v g) h, ʔ
1.____! ! ! ! 2. ____! ! ! ! 3.__ a__
4.____! ! ! 5.____! ! 6.____! ! ! 7.____!

4
Vowel Sounds - Introduction

1. A vowel sound shapes the flow of air in the mouth.
2. In spoken English there are 19 vowel sounds (shown below):
3. Sounds 1 - 12 are monothongs: they require one mouth position.

4. Sounds 13 - 19 are diphthongs: they require two mouth positions.
5. Sounds /ɒʊ/ and /ʊəә/ are common regional variations.
6. Sounds with / : / are long.
7. Sounds u: and i: can also be short /i/ and /u/.
a) PRACTICE L 1.2 - Listen and repeat each word:
Short Vowels Long Vowel Sounds Diphthong Vowels
ɪ thin, i: need, eɪ pave

ʊ look, u: food, ɔɪ boy
e left ɜ: turn, aɪ time
ʌ love ɑ: heart, əʊ road
æ cat ɔ: bored. aʊ down
ɒ lost ɪə beard
eə chair
Long, Short or Diphthong?

b) EXERCISE L1.3 - Decide if the words below are long (l), short (s) or diphthong (d) sounds.
The first three have been done for you.
1. laugh L 2. hot S 3. side D 4. chip 5. moment

6. worn 7. machine 8. lose 9. round 10. west
11. cheers 12. son 13. book 14. where 15. are
16. hat 17. annoy 18. bird 19. meat 20. have
! ! !- Check your answers on page 97.

5
Vowel Sounds - Mouth Movements
1. Each of the 19 vowels sounds has a different shape in the mouth.
2. The jaw can be mid-closed, mid-open, or open:

mid-closed (ə) mid-open (e) open (ɑ:)
3. The lips can be relaxed, spread sideways or rounded:

relaxed (ɜ:) spread sideways (i:) rounded (ɒ)
4. The tongue can be relaxed, raised at the front, or raised at the back:
relaxed (ɜ:) raised at the front (i:) raised at the back (ɔ:)
5. The combination of jaw, lip and tongue positions creates the different vowel
sounds of English.
As you study this course, you will learn and use these different mouth positions.
You can see videos of all the sounds on the bbc pronunciation website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/

6
Spelling & Sound - Voicing
TASTER L1.4 - Put your hand in front of your mouth and repeat:

pə bə tə də kə gə
- What do you notice about /pə/ /tə/ and /kə/.
1. Some sounds do not use the voice, they only use air. These are voiceless.
2. All other sounds use the voice. These are voiced.

3. On your IPA chart, the voiceless sounds are grey.
a) EXERCISE - Say the words below and decide if the underlined consonant is voiced or
voiceless:
walked entered present price bake
sprout Paul yes was thought those

L1.5 - Listen and check your answers.
/s/ or /z/?
b) EXERCISE L1.6 - Write down below the words you hear.
1. __________ 2. __________ 3. __________ 4. __________
- Check your answers.

- Do they contain voiceless /s/ or voiced /z/?
- Does the spelling show you the voicing?
c) EXERCISE Place the words in the box into the correct column below. They are all spelt
with <s> lease plays lose loose was lights it’s peas
what’s crease is us please pass as stop
he’s who’s chase
voiceless /s/ voiced /z/
! ! - L1.7 Listen to check your answers.

7
IPA - Introduction
TASTER Look at the IPA chart. Are there any symbols that you have never seen before?
1. IPA stands for International Phonetic Alphabet.

2. IPA shows us how to pronounce words instead of how to spell them.
3. The most common sound in English is /ə/.
4. /ə/ can be spelt with < a > < e > < o > or in written English.
a) PRACTICE L1.8 Before you do the exercise below, listen to and repeat /ə/ sound.
Name it!
b) EXERCISE Match the categories on the left with words written in IPA on the left.
EG. A colour is ‘purple’ /ˈpɜ:pəl/
Category IPA
colour bəˈnɑ:nə
city ˈkærəlaɪn
man’s name məˈseɪdɪz
woman’s name ˈkwi:n ɪˈlɪzəbəθ
make of car ˈpɜ:pəl
fruit məˈdrɪd
vegetable ˈtɒməs
animal ˈkærət
famous English man ˈpɔ:tʃəgəl

ˈeləfənt,
famous English woman
ˈdeɪvɪd ˈbekəm
sport
kəˈnu:.ɪŋ
country
- L1.9 Listen then repeat the words. Pay attention to the /ə/ sound.
- What does / ˈ / show?

8
Speech Structure - The Schwa /ə/
1. Spoken English is divided into strong and weak forms.

2. The weak sound /ə/ is the most common sound in English.
3. /ə/ is found in unstressed syllables of words:
L1.10 ˈphotograph phoˈtography comˈputer

/ ˈfəʊtəgrɑ:f / / fəˈtɒgrə& / / kəmˈpju:tə /
4. /ə/ is also found in function words (see next page for full description).
L1.10 There are a couple of people here.

| ðər ər ə kʌpəl əv pi:pəl hɪə |
ə
PRACTICE L1.11 Listen and repeat the schwa /ə/ sound. Your mouth should be relaxed with
the jaw slightly open and the tongue resting in the middle. Your lips
should not move when you produce the sound.
! !
EXERCISE L1.12 Listen and underline the schwa sounds in these words
EG comˈpassion
ˈEngland ˈmother poˈtato ˈbottomless coˈllapse

conˌgratuˈlations ˈdarken parˈticular ˈLondon
EXERCISE L1.13 Listen to the recording as you read the extract. The schwa sound is written.
My mothəәr is coming təә see me təәmorrow aftəәrnoon. She oftəәn

comes ovəәr on Satəәrdays becəәse my fathəәr is əәt thəә football. Thəә’s
nothing thəәt mum hates more thəәn football.
Norməәlly we have əә chat əәbout whatevəәr we’ve been doing, or if

thəә wəәs əәnything good on teləәvision yestəәrday. Təәmorrow əә’m certəәn
she’ll ask me əәbout my trip təә Brəәzil. əә’m going there fəәr əә month təә
film wild animəәls in thəә jungəәl, like tigəәrs əәnd parrəәts.
- ‘Həәve you checked thəә weathəәr forecast?’ she’ll ask.

- ‘Yəә’ve packed yəәr pyjaməәs əәnd yəәr slippəәrs’ will be next.
- ‘əәnd you won’t drink əә lot əәf alchəәhol, will you?’
əә probəәbly won’t mentəәn thəәt əә’ll be photəәgraphing səәme əәf thəә

most dangəәrəәs animəәls in thəә world. It might make həәr worry........

9
Speech Structure - Function Words
TASTER L1.14 i) Listen to the word ‘from’.

ii) Listen to the sentence ‘It’s from Keith’.
iii) How has the word changed in the sentence?
1. A function word only has a grammatical use in the sentence.

2. These are normally - pronouns (eg. she, his, they)
- auxilliary verbs (eg be, do, have, would, will)
- prepositions (eg to, from, for, at)
- articles (eg the, a, an)
- quantifiers (eg some, any)
3. Function words can be said in two ways: strong and weak.
4. Most function words contain the schwa /ə/ sound when they are weak.
5. Words that are not function are called Content Words.
PRACTICE L1.15 - Repeat the function word as a strong form, then as a weak form within a
sentence.
Function Word Function Word In Sentence

(Strong Form) (Weak Form)
1 for Is that for John?
2 are Are you ok?
3 have What have you done?
4 as As good as it gets.
5 to Let’s go to the cinema.
6 at She’s at school.
7 can Can I help you?
8 from It’s from Peter.
9 her What’s her name?
10 do Do you need some help?

10
Intonation - Introduction
1. Intonation is the movement in pitch of the voice.

2. There are three intonation patterns in spoken English:
fall fall-rise rise

13
↘ ↘↗ ↗
3. Intonation tells us the speaker’s attitude to the words they are saying:
L1.16 ↘No (no) ↘↗No (maybe) ↗No (surprise)
a) PRACTICE Repeat the words in the box on the right:

L1.17 1. Using ↘ Falling intonation no yes what
L1.18 2. Using ↘↗ Fall-rising intonation how right
L1.19 3. Using ↗ Rising intonation terrible ridiculous
b) PRACTICE L1.20 Repeat after the recording.
1. ↘No ↘↗No ↗No

2. ↘Yes ↘↗Yes ↗Yes
3. ↘What ↘↗What ↗What
4. ↘How ↘↗How ↗How
5. ↘ Right ↘↗ Right ↗Right
6. ↘ ˈTerrible ↘↗ ˈTerrible ↗ ˈTerrible
7. ↘ Riˈdiculous ↘↗ Riˈdiculous ↗ Riˈdiculous
c) EXERCISE L1.21 Listen to the words and write the pattern that you hear below:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

11
Intonation - Tonic Syllable
TASTER L1.22 - Listen to the same question in 4 different ways:

1. | are you from ˈGermany? |

2. | are you ˈfrom Germany? |

3. | are ˈyou from Germany? |

4. | ˈare you from Germany? |
1. The tonic syllable is the most important syllable in the sentence.

2. In the taster above, the tonic syllable is different in each sentence.
3. The intonation pattern begins on the tonic syllable.
4. The intonation pattern ends at the end of the sentence/unit.
5. Before the tonic syllable, the pitch is quite flat.
d) PRACTICE L1.23 Repeat, following the patterns shown, the tonic syllable is underlined:
1.| Are you going ↘out tonight |↗

2. | Is everything ↗alright |↗
3. | How ↘ˈare you | ↗
4.| How are ↘ˈyou | ↗
5. | You’re ↗ˈwhat? |
6.| ↘ Good | ↘isn’t it | ↗
7.| ↘ Finished | ↗have you | ↗
8. | I’m ↘ˈbroke | ↘ˈaren’t I | ↗
9. | I hoped it would ↘ˈrain today | ↗
10. | I ↘↗hoped it would rain today |

12
End of Unit Checklist 1

EXERCISE - Explain and give examples for each term below then check your answers on
page 111.
- Cross the boxes X when you have understood each term.
Vowel Sound
Consonant Sound

Voiced / Voiceless
schwa
↘ ↘↗ ↗
Tonic Syllable

2
13

Consonant Sounds Fricative
Vowel Sounds Long

i: u: ɜ: ɔ: ɑ:
Spelling & Sound < r > bird / rib
IPA Crossword
Structure Weak Forms

ə
Intonation Questions
↘↗?
14
Consonant Sounds - Fricative

1. A Fricative is made by squeezing air through a part of the mouth.
2. There are 8 fricatives in English: Voiceless /f/ /θ/ /s/ /ʃ/ Voiced /v/ /ð/ /z/ /ʒ/
a) PRACTICE L 2.1 Repeat after the recording.
sound mouth spellings / words L 2.2 position / practice
f <f> 1. voiceless / teeth on lip
fine force, fight, toffee, safe,

fəә fəә fəә fəә
knife fork, life, əәf əәf əәf əәf
v <v><f> 2. voiced / teeth on lip
van very, live, vacant,

vəә vəә vəә vəә
love beaver, vanish, rival əәv əәv əәv əәv
θ < th > 3. voiceless / tongue on teeth
think thick, thump, three,

θəә θəә θəә θəә
bath path, ninth, month əәθ əәθ əәθ əәθ
ð < th > 4. voiced / tongue on teeth
these the, bother, their, rather,

ðəә ðəә ðəә ðəә
bathe that əәð əәð əәð əәð
s <c><s> 5. voiceless / tongue on

alveolar ridge
seen side, price, chase, rice,
son, parts səә səә səә səә
face əәs əәs əәs əәs
z <s><z> 6. voiced / tongue on alveolar

ridge
zoo maze, daisy, rise, drives,
was, zero zəә zəә zəә zəә
lose əәz əәz əәz əәz
ʃ < sh > < t > < c > 7. voiceless / tongue on hard

palate with the tip down
short fish, fashion, mention,
welsh, ocean ʃəә ʃəә ʃəә ʃəә
motion əәʃ əәʃ əәʃ əәʃ
ʒ <s><j> 8. voiceless / tongue on hard

palate with the tip down
- leisure, measure,
pleasure, closure ʒəә ʒəә ʒəә ʒəә
leisure əәʒ əәʒ əәʒ əәʒ

15

b) EXERCISE - Underline the fricative sounds in the following sentences.
1. I think she’s fine though.

2. Shall we measure the volume?
3. Sleep is the mother of invention.
4. The first thing Safi saw was the North
5. Thanks ever so much.

c) PRACTICE L 2.3 Repeat the sentences slowly, then at normal speed.
Voiced or Voiceless?
1. The spelling < th > can produce voiced /ð/ or voiceless /θ/.
EG thousand /θaʊzəәnd/ although /ɔ:lˈðəәʊ/
d) EXERCISE - Place the words in the box into the correct collumn.
think these bath
θ ð
bathe though
thought theatre
further thorough
authorise mother
think breath breathe faith these
bath Northern North bathe
thanks the clothes
cloth thigh feather
with fourth there
father worth
Southern South
d) PRACTICE L 2.4 Listen and check your answers. Repeat the words.

16
Vowel Sounds - Long

1. There are 5 Long Vowel Sounds in English: i: u: ɜ: ɔ: ɑ:
2. In IPA a long sound has two dots after it /:/
3. The actual length of the vowel can change depending on its position. This is
covered in ‘Reduced Vowels’ - Chapter 8
a) PRACTICE L 2.5 - Repeat the sounds, phrases and words with the recording.
sound phrase / spellings / words position
i:
eat some meat
lips - slightly spread
< e, ee, ea, ie, ei > jaw - nearly closed
tongue - tip pushing up at
these, meet/meat, bean, believe, receive, the front of the mouth
seem, cheap, leap
u:
groovy blues
lips - rounded
< u, oo, o , ou > jaw - nearly closed,
tongue - tip low, rear high
glue, choose, lose, group, new, grew, fool,
fluke
ɜ:
first to work
lips - relaxed
< er, ur, ir, wor > jaw - slightly open,
tongue - relaxed
prefer, burn, third, word, incurr, stern,
heard, burp
ɔ:
walk and talk
lips - rounded
< ar, or, our, oor, au, aw, al > jaw - nearly fully open
tongue - tip low, rear very
warm, torn, four, poor, fault, raw, talk, court high
ɑ:
half a bar
lips - relaxed
< ar, a > jaw - open very wide
tongue - relaxed
car, glass, calm, dark, pass, bark, charm,
smart

17
Vowel Sounds - Long Exercise
b) EXERCISE - Place the words in the box in the correct column below.
word cause please improve heart achieve chew further

calm machine court turkey mark steep booze heard police
restore laugh chalk lose palm raw reduce internal loose
relieve poor dance floor these worm new return shirt
i: u: ɜ: ɔ: ɑ:
word
c) PRACTICE L 2.6 - Listen and check your answers. Repeat each word with the correct
vowel sound.
! Notice that the sounds /ɜ:/, /ɔ:/ and /ɑ:/ often contain an < r > in their spelling. We
would only say this < r > if the next sound is a vowel ! See ‘Sound & Spelling 3’

18
Spelling & Sound <r>

L2.7 1. We DO NOT SAY an < r > if the next sound is a consonant or nothing:
turn, cart, bird, father, water, ‘Bar London’, ‘We’re here’.
2. We SAY an <r> if the next sound is a vowel:
rabbit, arrive, interest, rice, ‘War and Peace’, ‘Her uncle’,
‘Mother and daughter’.
NOTE If a word ends in a silent vowel, we do not pronounce the <r>:
there, here, are, were, where
a) EXERCISE - Cross out the <r> we do not say.
EG Her interest is in Romanian card

x tricks.
1. Rain water is the most important resource we have.
2. Could mister Roberts come to the airport security desk.
3. Where are you going to get spare parts?
4. Four and a half hours later it was still burning.
5. Let’s go for a walk in the park.
6. That’s rather a fast car, Charles.
b) PRACTICE L 2.8 - Listen and check your answers. Repeat each sentence.
c) EXERCISE L 2.9 - Circle the words below that do not contain a silent <r>.
d) EXERCISE Find the IPA transcription for the following words:
reporter rɪpɔ:tə
alarm _________ Where to look.
Portugal _________
For IPA transcriptions, use the Cambridge site:
balloon _________ http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
achievement _________
For online audio, try howjsay:
happiness _________ http://www.howjsay.com/
guardian _________

19
IPA - Crossword
a) EXERCISE - Using IPA, complete the crossword using only long vowel sounds and
consonant sounds.
Across
1. Half way through the day.
3. Another word meaning ʻterribleʼ.
6. Manʼs name. ʻ________ and the wolfʼ.
7. Planet. We live on it.
9. Crops are grown and animals are kept here.
10. Visit many different places on one trip.
11. You will find it in a gallery.
14. A famous English artist.
16. A child without parents.
17. Verb. You will need to do this to a pencil.
18. Sixth month of the year.
Down
2. Adjective. Not in the South.
4. Adjective. Clear headed, not sleepy.
5. Verb. To appear.
6. One piece of something.
8. We have thousands of these every day.
9. Comparative. If you are too slow, go __________.
12. Noun. Something mechanical.
13. Verb. To give help and advice.
15. Verb. To make money.

20

1. Many function words can be said in 2 different ways: strong & weak.
eg ‘for’ = fəә or fɔ:
L 2.10 Who is that present for? /fɔ:/
It’s for John. /fəә/
2. Function words will be strong if their meaning is important in the

sentence.
3. Function words will also be strong if they are at the end of the speech
unit.
4. Function words are usually weak in all other cases.
weak or strong?
a) EXERCISE - In the following conversations, decide if the underlined function

words will be weak or strong.
Eg: A Are you going out tonight? weak strong

B I don’t think so, how about you? weak strong
1. are
A The police are looking for a clue. weak strong
B Are they? weak strong
2. from
A Who is this card from? weak strong
B It’s from Elizabeth. weak strong
3. to
A I’d like to go out tonight, how about you? weak strong
B I don’t want to. I’d rather stay in. weak strong
4. your
A Have you seen your mail, John? weak strong
B It’s your mail, not mine. weak strong
5. the
A Have you been to the new restaurant on Broad Street? weak strong
B No, but apparently it is the place to go. weak strong
6. that
A Could you pass me that bag? weak strong
B Do you think that it’s big enough? weak strong
b) PRACTICE L 2.11 - Listen and check your answers. Practice the conversations.

21
Structure - Weak Forms

1. L 2.12 Words are made of strong (X) and weak (.) forms:
father photography insurance return
X . . X . . . X . . X
2. Weak syllables normally contain one of four vowel sounds, ə, ɪ, i or u:

/fa:ðə/ /fətɒgrəfi/ /ɪnʃɔ:rəns/ /rɪˈtɜ:n/
a) EXERCISE L 2.13 - Each word in the box contains one weak form. Place it in the correct
column, then check your answers:
father walking machine annoy risky shepherd employ

market Spanish funny compose running money occur
enough shopping rubber London England between
ə i or ɪ
father! ! ! ! !walking
b) PRACTICE L 2.14 - Repeat the rhythm, then the words (the weak forms ə and ɪ are in
IPA.
First syllable weak forms.
1. | . X | . X | . X | . X |
2. əbove | əlive | əstound | məchine | əccur | pəlite |
3. ɪxam | ɪclipse | ɪxcite | ɪxplain | ɪgnite | ɪnsure | ɪnough | rɪturn |
Final syllable weak forms
1. | X . | X. | X . | X . |
2. | fathər | mothər | Englənd | *owər | purpəl | abəl |
3. | wantɪd | markɪt | workɪng | charmɪng |
First and final syllable weak forms
1. | . X . | . X . | . X . | . X . |
2. | ɪnsurənce | ɪquatər | ɪxhaustɪd | əmazɪng | əppallɪng | əsertɪve | fəmiliər |

22
Intonation - Information Questions
New Information Questions

1. Information questions begin with a question word: who, how, why, where,
when etc.
2. The normal pattern for new information questions is ↘ falling:

L2.15 Who is that ↘present for? Where are you ↘from?
3. The Tonic Syllable is normally the last content word.
Repeat Information Questions.

4. Repeat information questions use ↗ rising or ↘↗fall-rising intonation.
5. The tonic syllable is the question word:
L2.16 ↗Who is that present for? ↘↗Where are you from?
a) PRACTICE L2.17 Repeat after the recording.
1. ↘Where? 2. ↘How? 3. ↘Why? 4. ↘Who? 5. ↘When?
6. Where ↘are you? 7. How ↘was it? 8. Why ↘haven’t they?
9. Who are you ↘going with? 10. When did the ↘police arrive?
b) PRACTICE L2.18 Repeat after the recording.
1. ↗Where? 2. ↗How? 3. ↗Why? 4. ↗Who? 5. ↗When?
6. ↗Where are you? 7. ↗How was it? 8. ↗Why haven’t they?
9. ↗Who are you going with? 10. ↗When did the police arrive?

23
c) EXERCISE L2.19 - Listen to the questions. Underline the ‘Tonic Syllable’ and write the
intonation pattern ↗ or ↘.

EG (Falling) Where are we going? ↘

(Rising) Where are we going? ↗

1. How long have you been here? ____

2. Whose car is that? ____

3. What’s the teacher like? ____

4. How many more apples do we need? _____

5. How much? ____

6. Who’s cooking tonight? ____

7. Why are you wearing a tie? ____

8. Where have you put the yoghurt? ____

9. Why are they here? ____
d) EXERCISE L2.20 - In the conversations, decide if the question (B) is a new (↘) or repeat
(↗) question. Listen and check your answers.
1. A Sarah isn’t speaking to me.

B What did you say to her? ↘ ↗
A I told her not to marry Jim.
2. A I’m having dinner with Queen Elizabeth.

↘ ↗

B Who are you having dinner with?
A My friend Liz. We call her ‘Queen’ because she’s so posh.
3. A I’ll meet you at 8 outside the cinema.

B OK. What time does the film start? ↘ ↗
A At 8:30 I think.
4. A I’ve booked a holiday in Seville.

B Where? ↘ ↗
A Seville. I think they call it ‘Sevilla’ in Spanish.
5. A We’re going to Liskard next week.

B How long are you going for? ↘ ↗
A Just a week.

24

page 111.
Fricative Consonant
Long Vowel Sound

Silent < r >
weak form
new information question
Repeat Information Question

3
25

Consonant Sounds Plosive
Vowel Sounds Short

ɪ ʊ e ʌ æ ɒ
Spelling & Sound < ed > wanted
IPA Transcripiton I
Structure Function Words

əɪiu
Intonation Yes / No Questions
↘↗?
26
Consonant Sounds - Plosive
1. A Plosive is made by totally blocking air then releasing it in an explosion.

2. There are 6 plosives in English: Voiceless /p/ /t/ /k/ Voiced /b/ /d/ /g/

p
1. voiceless / lips touching
port, lip, pace, pike,

step, prize, grasp pə pə pə pə
əp əp əp əp

b
2. voiced / lips touching
big, cab, ball, orb,

harbour, bath, tub, bə bə bə bə
baby əb əb əb əb
< t, ed >
t
3. voiceless / tongue on
alveolar ridge
tan, fit, take, time,
light, rat, soft, trick tə tə tə tə
ət ət ət ət
<d>
d
4. voiced / tongue on alveolar
ridge
dice, lead, day, laid,
down, road, deck, odd, də də də də
əd əd əd əd
< c, k, q >
k
5. voiceless / rear of tongue on
velar
cat, lake, cake, rack,
bank, car, queen, kə kə kə kə
quality ək ək ək ək
<g>
g
6. voiced / rear of tongue on
velar
guy, bag, ground,
game, dog, rag, gasp, gə gə gə gə
əg əg əg əg

27
Plosive Voice Exercise

PRACTICE L3.3 - Repeat after the recording:
Voice Exercise Phrase
1. pi: pɪ pə pɔ: pass the map
2. ti: tɪ tə tɔ: take the lift
3. ki: kɪ kə kɔ: call them back
4. bi: bɪ bə bɔ: buy a hub
5. di: dɪ də dɔ: don’t be sad
6. gi: gɪ gə gɔ: get a bag
Plosive Poem - Penelope Pepper

PRACTICE L3.4 - Practice the poem paying attention to the sounds, stress and intonation:
Penelope Pepper spoke politely.

But Bill Bones beleived she might’ve been,
Taught to talk t-t-too quickly!
He tried to explain,
“What is the point” he said.
In ‘Thank you’ and ‘Please’
If the people you talk to,
Can’t hear you with ease?

28
Vowel Sounds - Short

1. There are 6 Strong Short sounds in English: ɪ ʊ e ʌ æ ɒ
2. We will see short weak sounds ( ə ɪ i u ) in ‘Speech Structure’.
a) PRACTICE L 3.5 - Repeat the sounds, phrases and words with the recording.
sound phrase / spellings / words position
ɪ
silly as Tim
lips - relaxed
< i, y > jaw - nearly closed,
tongue - tip pushing up
thing, witch, sit, risk, bid, ship, gym, sting slightly (less than /i:/)
ʊ
look at a book
lips - relaxed
< u, oo, o , ou > jaw - nearly closed,
tongue - tip low, rear high
pull, good, wolf, should, took, could, wool,
push,
e
when was it sent
lips - relaxed
< e, ea > jaw - slightly open,
tongue - pushing up at the
sent, went, beg, head, read, never, rest, front.
check, melt
ʌ
run in the sun
lips - relaxed
< u, o, ou, oo > jaw - relaxed and open
tongue - relaxed
fun, love, enough, blood, suck, sum, rough,
gun
æ
cat on the mat
lips - spread sideways
<a> jaw - open very wide
tongue - tip is low, rear is
man, bag, sad, thanks, have, cap, drank, very high
chap
ɒ
watching the clock
lips - rounded
< o, a, ou, au > jaw - open very wide
tongue - tip is low, rear is
lost, watch, Australia, cough, want, top, very high
shock, boss

29
b) EXERCISE - Place the words in the box in the correct column below.
sad love injure fan butcher head Fred match son

chocolate wool none when tick hunt watch chicken
summer let look list bread Harry put rob pin enough
what could plastic send woman West Australia sun solve
pad box should sit rabbit link
ɪ ʊ e ʌ æ ɒ
sad
c) PRACTICE L 3.6 - Listen and check your answers. Repeat each word with the correct
vowel sound.
! Notice that the sound /ɪ/ can also be found in weak syllables, eg cottage.
This is covered in ‘Speech Structure’. !

30
Spelling & Sound - < ed >
TASTER - What is the difference in the < ed > ending in these words:
shipped dragged lifted
L3.7 1. < ed > endings can be pronounced in three different ways: /t/ /d/ /ɪd/
EG stopped /t/ played /d/ wanted /ɪd/
2. RULE - If the root word (eg stop) ends in a voiceless sound, the ending will
be voiceless /t/.
3. RULE - If the root word (eg play) ends in a voiced sound, the ending will be
voiced /d/.
4. RULE - If the root word (eg want) ends in a /t/ or /d/, the ending will be /ɪd/
a) EXERCISE - Put the words into their correct column.
finished fined wasted pleaded raked faced prized hinted

clocked fostered shopped liked printed fried plotted
murdered rocked strayed lasted interested bored
voiceless /t/ voiced /d/ exception /ɪd/
stopped played wanted
b) PRACTICE L3.8 - Listen to check your answers. Repeat the words.
c) PRACTICE L3.9 - Repeat the rhythms and phrases.
Rhythm Phrase Phonetics
|. X . X .| I picked an apple | aɪ pɪkt ən æpᵊl |
|. X . . X . | I wanted an apple. | aɪ wɒntɪd ən æpᵊl |
|X X . X | John stopped the car. | dʒɒn stɒpt ðə ka: |
|X X . . X | John started the car. | dʒɒn sta:tɪd ðə ka: |

31
IPA - Long & Short Vowels

a) EXERCISE - Write a word for each picture in IPA. Use each long and short vowel once.
ɪ ʊ e ʌ æ ɒ i: x
u: ɜ: ɔ: ɑ:
tu:
EXERCISE L3.10 - Listen to the conversation & write the missing vowel sounds in IPA using
only long and short vowel sounds:
1. A Wh___t have you d___ne with the c___?

B I’ve l___ft it in the g___rage.
2. A Is this y___ dog?

B No. I only k___p cats.
3. A Why are you ironing your sh___t? B I h___ve to go to w___k.

4. A Would you like a b___k to r___d? B As l___ng as it’s g___d!
5. A Can you ch___se the c___lour for the w___lls? B I think the bl___ or the p___ple.

32
Structure - Weak Vowels
əɪiu
L3.11 1. There are 4 weak vowel sounds in English:
2. Function words that contain /ə/ when they are weak:

the a an and but that your them us at for
from have of to as there can could shall should
would must do does am are was were some
3. Function words that contain /ɪ/ when they are weak:

it in with is been him his
4. Function words that contain /i/ when they are weak:

me she he we be the*
5. Function words that contain /u/ when they are weak:
you to* do*
*only before a vowel.
a) PRACTICE L3.12 - Repeat the rhythm exercise with the recording.
1 to the 2 to the 3 to the 4

b) PRACTICE L3.13 - Repeat the exercise replacing ‘to the’ with the words below:
in a was a and the should have are a can be and a in the
c) PRACTICE L3.14 - Repeat the phrases:
Phrase a car for John an island and then your brother from Keith am I?
IPA ə ˈka: fə ˈdʒɒn ən ˈaɪlənd ən ˈðen jə ˈbrʌðə frəm ˈki:θ əm ˈaɪ
Phrase to the bar and a bit would you say in the car there are three
IPA tə ðə ˈba: ən ə ˈbɪt wəd ju ˈseɪ ɪn ðə ˈka: ðər ə θri:
Phrase it’s for his bike she’s in the cellar there are a few are you in love?
IPA ɪts fər ɪz ˈbaik ʃiz ɪn ðə ˈselə ðər ə rə ˈfju: ə ju ɪn ˈlʌv

33
Structure - Weak Vowel Joining
1. The words ‘the’ is pronounced /ðəә/ before a consonant, /ði/ before a vowel.
2. The word ‘to’ is pronounced /təә/ before a consonant, /tu/ before a vowel.
a) PRACTICE L3.15 - tə or tu? Say the word < to > before each of the words below:
go eat see enjoy avoid laugh make

to Scotland England rain employ understand
b) PRACTICE L3.16 - ðə or ði? Say the word < the > before each of the words below:
car aeroplane line only hour park

the
other orange pear Scottish English
c) EXERCISE L3.17 - Listen to the sentences & fill in the weak forms in IPA.
- ONLY use ə, ɪ, i, u and consonant sounds.
həә car _______

EG _______ əәn bike _______
əәv bɪn stolen.
_______
1. What _______ _______ doing?
2. _______ John _______ Mary finished?
3. _______ _______ want _______ _______ go there?
4. I’m going _______ _______ concert tonight.
5. _______ ready _______ _______ couple _______ minutes.
6. Where _______ _______ put _______ keys?
7. _______ wanted _______ _______ employ her.
8. _______ _______ going _______ _______ park _______ lunch.
9. How many chocolates _______ _______ eaten?
10. _______ _______ _______ awful lecture.

34
Intonation - Yes/No Questions
TASTER L3.18 - Listen to the question said in three different ways:
1. Were you at ↘home last night?

2. Were you at ↘↗home last night?

3. Were you at ↗home last night?

- Which one sounds (i) surprised (ii) friendly (iii) serious?
1. Yes/No questions can use ↘falling, ↘↗fall-rising or ↗rising intonation.

2. Fall-rising is friendly and may show the speaker knows the answer.
3. Rising can be friendly or show surprise. The speaker may know the answer.
4. Falling intonation has a more serious feeling, the speaker does not know the
answer
a) PRACTICE L3.19 - Repeat the questions with the recording using ↗ rising intonation.
1. Are you ↗OK? 2. Does he ↗know? 3. Have they ↗seen it?

4. Would it ↗fit in there? 5. Do you think we should ↗go to it?
6. Have they sent the ↗report yet? 7. Did you do anything ↗exciting?
8. Has ↗Peter been to see you? 9. Is ↗that the best you can do?
b) PRACTICE L3.20 - Repeat the questions with the recording using ↘↗ fall-rising.
1. Are you ↘↗OK? 2. Does he ↘↗know? 3. Have they ↘↗seen it?

4. Would it ↘↗fit in there? 5. Do you think we should ↘↗go to it?
6. Have they sent the ↘↗report yet? 7. Did you do anything ↘↗exciting?
8. Has ↘↗Peter been to see you? 9. Is ↘↗that the best you can do?
c) PRACTICE L3.21 - Repeat the questions with the recording using ↘ falling intonation.
1. Are you ↘OK? 2. Does he ↘know? 3. Have they ↘seen it?

4. Would it ↘fit in there? 5. Do you think we should ↘go to it?
6. Have they sent the ↘report yet? 7. Did you do anything ↘exciting?
8. Has ↘Peter been to see you? 9. Is ↘that the best you can do?

35
d) EXERCISE L3.22 - Listen to the questions and circle the intonation pattern.
EG Did Arsenal win today? ↘ ↘↗ ↗
1. Have you been here long? ↘ ↘↗ ↗
2. Were the fire brigade there? ↘ ↘↗ ↗
3. Do you want to go home? ↘ ↘↗ ↗
4. Would Mary be interested in coming? ↘ ↘↗ ↗
5. Can you play the piano? ↘ ↘↗ ↗
6. Aren’t they ready yet? ↘ ↘↗ ↗
7. Do I have to do all the exercises? ↘ ↘↗ ↗
8. Will this cable work with an i-pod? ↘ ↘↗ ↗

9. Can’t anyone help you with the packing? ↘ ↘↗ ↗
10. Shall we rent a car for the weekend? ↘ ↘↗ ↗
e) EXERCISE - Match A + B to make a question, then find the reply in column in C.
A B C
wə ju driving home? Yes, would you like my ↗notes?
dɪd ju seen her recently? Yes please. Did ↘↗you make them?
də ju like another one? Havenʼt you ↘↗heard? Sheʼs left.
həv ju in class yesterday? No. Did ↘↗United win?
ə ju see the match last night? Yes. Would you like a ↗lift?
wəd ju speak English? A little. Can I ↗help you?
c) PRACTICE L3.23 - Listen to check your answers. Practice the conversations.
d) EXERCISE L3.24 - Listen to the questions & underline the tonic syllable.

EG Can you put the oven on?
1. Have you seen that program?

2. Was it worth the effort?
3. Won’t it be cold tomorrow?
4. Is Jenny coming?
5. Could you help me with it?
6. Are Londoners welcoming?

36

page 112.
plosive

Short Vowel Sounds
< ed > endings
4 weak vowels
tu/tə, ðə/ði
yes/no question intonation

4
37

Consonant Sounds Nasal
Vowel Sounds Diphthong
Spelling & Sound < s > plays
IPA Countries &

Capitals
Structure Joining
͜ʳ ʲ ʷ ͜
Intonation Question Tags
↗is he?
38
Consonant Sounds - Nasals

TASTER L4.0 - Mr. Schwa has a cold. What is he trying to say? Why can’t he say it?
“ I haved got ady buddy od be!”
“ You couldn’t lend me ten

pounds, could you?”
1. A nasal sound is made partly through the nose.
2. There are three nasal sounds in English: m nŋ
<m>
m
1. voiced / lips touching
must, hammer, them,

mum, money, maze, mə mə mə mə
memory, mile, lime, əm əm əm əm
Monday
<n>
n
2. voiced / tongue on alveolar
ridge
night, honour, plane,
knee, plain, soon, nə nə nə nə
never, now, chain, nice, ən ən ən ən
sinner, need
< nk, ng >
ŋ
3. voiced / rear of tongue on
velar
singer, flying, think,
hung, bring, singing, ŋə ŋə ŋə ŋə
England, fling, wrong ɪŋ ɪŋ ɪŋ ɪŋ

39
b) PRACTICE L 4.3 Nasal warm up - repeat after the recording.
1. mə nə
2. ɪm ɪn ɪŋ
3. ɪmə ɪnə ɪŋə
4. kɪmə kɪnə kɪŋə
5. sɪmə sɪnə sɪŋə
6. dɪmə dɪnə dɪŋə
c) PRACTICE L 4.4 Poem - say the poem focussing particularly on nasals, rhythm and
intonation.
March in England
Is coming again
There maybe rain and snow

Or rain and more rain
Some sun may shine
And see me smiling
But then again......
I don’t really think so.
March in England has gone again

But next Spring’ll be lovely,
We’ll keep on hoping, then.

40
Vowel Sounds - Introduction to Diphthongs

TASTER L 4.5 Listen to the diphthongs. How are they different from short and long vowels?
1. A diphthong is a vowel sound that contains two mouth positions.

2. There are 7 diphthongs in English - eɪ ɔɪ aɪ əʊ aʊ ɪə eə
3. There are 2 additional regional diphthongs - ʊə ɒʊ
4. The first sound in a diphthong is stronger than the second.
NOTE - This chapter introduces the diphthongs. You will practice them individually
in later chapters.
a) PRACTICE L 4.6 Repeat the diphthongs and words.
diphthong production words
eɪ e + ɪ = eɪ
day, made, they, paid,
patient, eight, great, stay
ɔɪ ɔ + ɪ = ɔɪ
toy, ploy, annoy, choice,
avoid
aɪ a + ɪ = aɪ
why, fried, buy, light, fine,
quite, like, my
əʊ ə + ʊ = əʊ
no, nose, boat, old, flow,
mould, sew, go, chose,
stone,
aʊ a + ʊ = aʊ
how, cow, plough, round,
bow, tower, foul
ɪə ɪ + ə = ɪə
near, beer, hear/here, billion,
stadium, shield, gear, cheer,
eə e + ə = eə
care, bear, there, chair,
wear, hair/hare, flare

41
b) PRACTICE L 4.7 Repeat the sentences. Each one focusses on a diphthong.
Which way to the train station? /eɪ/

Why don’t we try to climb it? /aɪ/
The boy enjoyed playing with the toy. /ɔɪ/
Don’t go so slowly, Joe. /əʊ/

There are such crowded towns in the South. /aʊ/
A million? That’s nearly the real deal. /ɪə/

Where’s the rare bear, in there? /eə/
b) EXERCISE - Make a word for each space using ONLY the consonant and diphthong.
A grey square indicates no possible word.
eɪ ɔɪ aɪ əʊ aʊ ɪə eə
b bay boy buy
dʒ
d) PRACTICE L 4.8 - Listen and check your answers. Repeat they words.

42
Spelling & Sound - < s >
TASTER - What is the difference in the < s > ending in these words:
stops plays finishes
L4.9 1. < s > endings can be pronounced in three different ways: /s/ /z/ /ɪz/
EG it’s /s/ he’s /z/ Josh’s /ɪz/
2. RULE - If the root word (eg it) ends in a voiceless sound, the ending will be
voiceless /t/.
3. RULE - If the root word (eg he) ends in a voiced sound, the ending will be
voiced /d/.
4. RULE - If the root word (eg Josh) ends in a /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /tʃ/ or /dʒ/, the
ending will be /ɪz/
a) EXERCISE - Put the words into their correct column.

things watches thinks Mark’s Joe’s Liz’s employer’s
boss’s servants Iraq’s England’s Greece’s how’s
whose’s what’s bus’s cart’s taxi’s ants horses lions
voiceless /s/ voiced /z/ exception /ɪz/
stops plays finishes
b) PRACTICE L4.10 - Listen to check your answers. Repeat the words.
c) PRACTICE L4.11 - Repeat the rhythms and phrases.
Rhythm Phrase Phonetics
|. X . X | The trains are late! | ðə treɪnz ə leɪt |
|. X . . X | The buses are late! | ðə bʌsɪz ə leɪt |
|X X . X . | Tim wished he hadn’t. | tɪm wɪʃt i hædᵊnt |
|X X . . X . | Tim wishes he hadn’t | tɪm wɪʃɪz i hædᵊnt |

43
IPA - Countries & Capitals
a) EXERCISE - Match the capital cities with their numbers on the map.
11
13
12 10
15 14 16 9 7 8
17 5
4 6
3
1
18
b) PRACTICE L4.12 Listen and check your answers. Repeat the country names.
ˈwɔ:sɔ: ______ helˈsɪŋki ______ ˈæŋkərə ______

beɪˈdʒɪŋ ______ ˈedɪmbʌrə ______ ˈwɒʃɪŋtən ______
məˈdrɪd ______ ˈbrʌsəlz ______ ˌnaɪˈrəʊbi ______
sʌ.ul ______ kəˈbʊl ______ ˈtrɪpəli ______
dʒəˈhænəzˌbɜ:g ______ nju: ˈdelɪ ______ ˈri.æd ______
brəˈzɪlɪə ______ ˈæθənz ______ ˈli:mə ______
c) EXERCISE L4.13 Listen to the country names and write an IPA transcription:
Bolivia bəˈlɪvɪə
_____________ Russia _____________
France _____________ Japan _____________
Wales _____________ Finland _____________

44
Structure - Joining
TASTER L4.15 - Listen to the conversation. What happens where you see this ͜ ?
A Have you got ͜ any ͜ oranges?

B I’m ͜ afraid not. There ͜ are some clementines, though.
A Where ͜ are they? I can’t see ͜ any.
B Go ͜ over there, to your right. Can you see them?
1. In spoken English we join words together.

Consonant Joining
2. If the next word begins with a vowel, and the previous word ends in a
consonant, we join the consonant to the vowel:
got ͜ any Iʼm ͜ afraid this ͜ old ͜ English ͜ engine.
Notice the consonant moving into the next word.
Vowel Joining
3. If the next word begins with a vowel and the previous word ends with a vowel,
we add a /j/ /w/ or /r/ sound to join the words:
# see $ʲ͜ any go ͜ʷ over where ͜ʳ are they
4. If the first word ends in i, eɪ, ɔɪ or aɪ, the joiner will be j.
5. If the first word ends in u, u:, əәʊ or aʊ the joiner will be w.
6. If the first word ends in ə, ɜ:, ɔ:, ɑ:, ɪə, or eə, the joiner will be r.
7. The joiner is often included in the spelling of the word:
# there /ðeə/ how /haʊ/ why /waɪ/
8. Some words do not contain the joiner in their spelling:
sigh (joins with /j/) go (joins with /w/) idea (joins with /r/)
9. Words spelt ‘aw’ join with /r/:
law ʳ ͜ and order saw ʳ ͜ a film
10. Some speakers, particularly older and upper class, consider joining
words with /r/ incorrect. It is now, however, widely practiced and is
regularly heard on the BBC.
a) PRACTICE L4.16 - Repeat the joiners followed by a phrase. Ensure the words are joined.
1 j i - be a good boy eɪ - pay a lot ɔɪ - enjoy a film aɪ - buy a CD

2 w u - are you in u: - chew a bone əәʊ - no answer aʊ - how is she?
3 r əә - brother and sister ɜ: - incurr a charge ɔ: - pour a drink
ɑ: - far away ɪəә - hear a song eəә - care about

45
b) EXERCISE Write < ͜ > wherever two words are joined in the following sentences.
eg My ͜ interest ͜ is ͜ in Physics.
1. It's now or never. 7. He tore into the meat.

2. It was so interesting! 8. There's a bar on the first floor
3. You'll pay a lot for a new bike. 9. Is it a car over there?
4. It's a toy in a box. 10. I might refer another student to you.
5. Change gear in a moment. 11. I like tea in the afternoon.
6. Where are you going? 12. He flew into that joke!
c) PRACTICE L4.17 - Listen and check your answers.

- Repeat the sentences slowly then at normal speed.
d) EXERCISE - Each sentence in the grid contains a /w/, /j/ or /r/ joiner. Write them into the
boxes
I saw ͜ an eagle. He ͜ isn’t here. How ͜ awful. High ͜ above the Why ͜ aren’t
r j w trees. you here?
Poor ͜ e"ort. Go ͜ away Come to ͜ India A pair ͜ of Wild boar ͜ are

next year. shoes. dangerous.
I prefer ͜ War ͜ and It’s really ͜ Her ͜ arm is in a She ͜ understood

orange. peace. interesting! sling. you.
True ͜ or false? Near ͜ or far? I dare ͜ anyone Law ͜ and order Blue ͜ or green?
to go.
The ͜ only I’ll wear ͜ it Be ͜ a good boy Grow ͜ up! Employ ͜

problem. tonight. another writer.
e) PRACTICE L4.18 - Listen and check your answers.

46
Intonation - Question Tags

TASTER L4.19 - What is the difference in meaning between the following:
‘It’s a bit cold, ↘isn’t it?’

‘It’s a bit cold, ↗isn’t it?’
‘It’s a bit cold, ↗is it?’
L4.20
1. A question tag is added to a statement to create a question:
It’s a bit cold, ↘isn’t it? So they’ve won, ↗have they?
2. Standard Question Tags can use ↘ falling or ↗ rising intonation:

↘ falling intonation means ‘I know that my statement is correct’.
↗ rising intonation means ‘I am not sure, please reply’.
That car’s a bit expensive, ↘isn’t it?

That car’s a bit expensive, ↗isn’t it?
3. Imperative Question Tags use ↗ rising intonation.

Answer the phone, ↗will you?
Pass me the wine, ↗could you?
4. Positive + Positive Question Tags use ↗ rising intonation. The meaning can be sarcastic:
You’re twenty one, ↗are you? (I do not believe it)
You think you’re clever, ↗do you? (I do not.)
5. Suggestions use ↗ rising intonation:

Let’s go to the cinema, ↗shall we?
Let’s buy that car then, ↗shall we?
- Reply tag questions use ↗ rising intonation.
A I’m leaving. A I’ve finished.
B ↗Are you? B ↗Have you?
a) PRACTICE L4.21 - Repeat the tags after the recording. Each tag is said firstly with ↗
rising then ↘ falling intonation.
1. are you 2. did they 3. has she 4. were they 5. will he 6. shall I
7. won’t they 8. can’t he 9. wouldn’t it 10. couldn’t you.

47
b) EXERCISE L4.22 - Listen to the sentences. Circle the intonation pattern you hear.
EG That was such a good film, wasn’t it? ↘ ↗

1. Been here long, have you? ↘ ↗
2. The police turned up last night, didn’t they? ↘ ↗
3. So you want to go home, do you? ↘ ↗
4. You can’t play the piano, can you? ↘ ↗
5. But they’re not ready yet, are they? ↘ ↗
6. Pick up a newspaper for me, would you? ↘ ↗
7. You won’t forget to call, will you? ↘ ↗
8. This cable is suitable for an i-pod, isn’t it? ↘ ↗
9. Let’s raise a toast to the new president, shall we? ↘ ↗
10. This ring is worth 2,000, is it? ↘ ↗
c) PRACTICE L4.22 - Check your answers and repeat the sentences.
d) EXERCISE L4.23 - Listen to the recording and reply with a tag using ↗ rising intonation.
Is he?
EG ‘John’s going out with Sue’. ___________
1. ________________
2. ________________ 3. ________________
4. ________________ 5. ________________ 6. ________________
7. ________________ 8. ________________ 9. ________________
e) EXERCISE - Explain the intonation used in each question tag in the conversation.
A Beautiful day, isn’t it?

B Not bad.
A It hasn’t been this warm for months, has it?
B No. Let’s go out then, shall we?
A We could do. Where do you want to go?
B I don’t know. Pass me the paper, will you? I think ‘News at 1’ is on.
A Is it? But you aren’t going to watch telly, are you?
B Well......
A The first sight of the sun in months and you’d stay in, would you?
B Alright, alright. I’ll get my coat.

48

page 112.
nasal consonants

Diphthong Vowels
< s > endings

joining
/j/ /r/ /w/ joiners
Question Tags

5
49

Consonant Sounds Glottal
Vowel Sounds Diphthongs ending

/ʊ/
Spelling & Sound have hæv hæf həv əv
IPA Transcription II c k q y
Structure Contractions
ʻ
|.-.↘|
Intonation Tone Units

50
Consonants - Glottal Sounds
1. The glottis is at the bottom of the throat (see diagram).

2. There are two glottal sounds in English: /h/ and /ʔ/
3. /h/ is a voiceless fricative. It can only appear at the
beginning of a syllable.
4. /ʔ/ is a voiceless plosive that can replace /t/ at the end of
a syllable.
5. /h/ is often silent in spoken English.
a) PRACTICE L5.1 - Repeat after the recording. Aim for a clean sound, with no fricative
noise in the mouth.
sound spelling words L5.2 voice ex.
h
< h > < wh > hell, hop, hat, hitch, half, hə hə
heat, horse, hoop, home, hɪ hɪ
house, hair, here hi hi
who, whose, whom, ha: ha:
wholesome. hɜ: hɜ:
həʊ həʊ
haʊ haʊ
ʔ
<t> See Spelling & Sound 5 əʔ əʔ
ɪʔ ɪʔ
ɒʔ ɒʔ
b) PRACTICE L5.3 - Repeat the sentences with a clean /h/ sound.
How much was your haircut?

Whose house is that? It’s hideous!
Do we have to go to Holland for our holidays?
Harry and Heather haven’t had a baby, have they?

51
Consonants - Silent < h >
L5.4 1. /h/ is always silent in the following words:

honour, hour, honest, heir, exhausted, shepherd, exhilirate,
exhibit, vehicle, vehement,
2. /h/ is often silent in function words if they are not at the beginning of the
sentence/unit/.
How’s her job going? What have you done.
3. /h/ is never silent in ‘have’ when it is a content word.

I’ll have a shower. Do we have to go?
a) PRACTICE L5.5 - Repeat the function words and sentences, focussing on silent < h >
Function Word Function Word with /h/ Function Word - Silent < h >
1 he He’s ok. Where’s he gone.
2 her Her car’s over there? What’s her name?
3 him Him? They want him to help.
4 have Have you finished? What have you done?
5 had Had they seen it? It had already gone.
6 has Has Jane been in? The bus has broken down.
7 his His sister’s gone Where’s his sister gone?
b) EXERCISE L5.6 - Cross out the < h > sounds we do not say, then listen to check:
x x
EG: You’re exhausted. What have you been doing?
1. Has he honoured the payment?
2. I’ve had enough of her new hairstyle.
3. Honestly, has she finished her homework?
4. Harry asked if he could have shepherd’s pie tonight.
5. It’s hours since he last had anything to eat.
6. Both his computer and his bike were taken by thieves.

52
Vowel Sounds - Diphthongs Ending /ʊ/
TASTER - L5.7 Say the word for ‘no’ in your mother tongue / accent. Is it different from the
recording? How?
1. There are two diphthongs ending in ʊ in English: /əʊ/ and /aʊ/.

2. It is important to make a full, rounded movement of the mouth.
a) PRACTICE L5.8 - Repeat after the recording.
sound spelling / words production
əʊ
row the boat 1. Start in a neutral position
with the tongue relaxed, the
< o, o_e, oa, ou > jaw slightly open, the lips
relaxed.
opponent boat toe doughnut 2. Move the lips into a forward
cone ghost though soak zone and rounded position, the
shown joke rope woke yolk jaw closing.
nose lonely moment
aʊ
around the town 1. Start with the jaw open, the
lips slightly spread, the
< o, ow, ou > tongue tip low, similar to /æ/.
2. Move the lips into a forward
and rounded position, the jaw
powder bow town doubt
closing.
cow gown thousand south
shout round wound now
lousy mouse
b) PRACTICE L5.9 - Say the following consonant sounds followed by /əәʊ/ then preceded by
/əәʊ/.
b, t, g, f, ð, s, ʃ, m, n, l
L5.10 - Repeat the exercise with /aʊ/
c) PRACTICE L5.11 - Compare monothong /ɒ/ with diphthong /əʊ/
ɒ rob not robot block cop Ros
əʊ robe note row boat bloke cope rose

d) PRACTICE L5.12 - Compare monothong /æ/ with diphthong /aʊ/
æ band alas tan lad pat hand
aʊ bound a louse town loud pout hound

53
L5.13 1. Diphthongs ending in /ʊ/ and followed by a vowel, will join with /w/:
səʊ ͜ʷɔ:fəl nəʊ ͜ʷ aɪdi.ə ə rəʊ ͜ʷ əv haʊzɪz
e) PRACTICE L5.14 - Practice the sentences below.
1. | ˈəʊ ˈrɪəli | haʊ ͜ʷ ˈɪntrəstɪŋ ‖

2. | gəʊ ͜ʷ əˈweɪ ‖
3. | lets nɒt ˈraʊ ͜ʷ əʊvə ˈmʌni ‖
4. | ɪts ˈnaʊ ͜ʷ ɔ: ˈnevə ‖
5. | ˈwɒt ə ˈʃəʊ ͜ʷ ɒf ‖
6. | ˈgrəʊ ͜ʷ ɪt ˈlɒŋ ‖
7. | ˈnəʊ ͜ʷ aɪˈdi.ə ‖

f) EXERCISE L5.15 - Listen to the recording & reply with one of the sentences above.
EG - A ‘Excuse me, do you know where the station is?’

B ‘No idea.’
g) EXERCISE L5.16 - Listen to the poem and place the words on the right into the gaps.
snəʊ x3
plaʊ Snow Plough.
gəʊ
məʊmənt You can’t get __________ the __________,
nəʊ Can’t __________ __________ the __________.
wɪðaʊt __________ you __________?
naʊ At this __________ I’m __________,
raʊnd
əʊvə __________ a __________,
ələʊn Away from __________,
həʊm What do I really need __________?
dəʊnt A __________ __________
saʊnd

54
Spelling & Sound - Have
L5.17 - The word ‘have’ has 4 pronunciations in English:

/əv/ /həv/ /hæv/ /hæf/
1. When have is a function word it is normally weak, and said with /ə/:
Have you been here long?
2. When have is a function word and not at the beginning of the sentence, it is
often said with silent < h >:
What have you done?
3. When have is a content word it is always pronounced /hæv/:

I’ll have a black coffee with one sugar.
5. When have is the modal verb ‘have to’ meaning obligation, it is pronounced
/hæf tə/:
Do we have to go to Holland for our holidays?
6. When have is negative, it is always strong /hævənt/:
Why haven’t they?
a) EXERCISE L5.18 i) Read and listen to the conversation below.
A Have you seen the time?

B It’s not eight yet, is it?
A It’s a quarter past. We’ll be late if you don’t hurry up!
B Do we have to go?
A If you didn’t want to go out, you should have told me earlier.
B Fair enough. I’ll have a shower and then we’ll go.
A Alright, but be quick!
B I’ll be as quick as I can.
ii) Write the IPA for the word ‘have’ in each sentence below.
sentence pronunciation
Have you seen the time? həv
Do we have to go?
you should have told me earlier
I’ll have a shower and then we’ll go

55
IPA - Transcribing Words
TASTER - Say the words below. How would you spell them in English?
ˈkwaɪt ˈeksreɪ ˈjeləʊ ˈkɔ:n
1. Some letters in the English alphabet do not appear in IPA:

<c><q><x><y>
2. The phoneme /j/ exists, but it is pronounced differently:
joke = /dʒəәʊk/ yolk = /jəәʊk/
a) EXERCISE - Study the chart below showing IPA transcriptions for the letters c, q, x & y.
Letter IPA Examples
/s/ race /reɪs/

c /k/ cart /kɑ:t/
/ʃ/ spacious /speɪʃəs/
/kw/ queen /kwi:n/

q /kj/ queue /kyu:/
/ks/ explain /ˈɪkspleɪn/

x /gz/ example /ɪgˈzɑ:mpᵊl/
/j/ yes /jes/

y
b) EXERCISE - Use your dictionary or the internet to find an IPA transcription for the words
below.
1. crease
/kri:s/
___________ 9. cab

___________
2. facial
___________ 10. quite
___________
3. quarter
___________ 11. extend
___________
4. x-ray
___________ 12. yell
___________
5. lace

___________ 13. face
___________
6. quit

___________ 14. quick
___________
7. exam
___________ 15. exist
___________
8. yolk
___________ 16. cry
___________

56
Structure - Contractions
TASTER L5.19 - Listen to and read the conversation.
A You have finished all the yoghurts.

B It was not me. I do not eat yoghurt.
A Do you not? Who was it, then?
B Joe might have taken them.
A You are right. He is always eating other people’s food.
- What differences do you notice between what is spoken and what is written?
L5.20 1. Some verbs shorten in connected speech:

I’m (I am) You’d (you would / had)
2. A contraction is weak, it cannot appear at the end of a sentence/unit:
She isn’t going, but he is. (not he’s)
3. The following contractions are possible in spoken English:
contraction pronunciation example
ʻd had / would /d/ after a vowel Iʼd, youʼd

/əd/ after a consonant itʼd, whenʼd
ʻll will /l/ after a vowel Iʼll, sheʼll

/əl/ after a consonant thatʼll, Johnʼll
ʻve have /v/ after a vowel theyʼve, Iʼve

/əv/ after a consonant whatʼve, peopleʼve
ʻs is / has see ʻSound & Spelling < s >ʼ whatʼs, itʼs

bagʼs, heʼs
ʻre are - after a vowel theyʼre, weʼre
nʼt not nt wouldnʼt, donʼt
4. Double contractions are also possible:

not have (wouldn’t’ve) will have (she’ll’ve)
would have (I’d’ve)
5. We do not normally write contractions in formal English.

57
a) PRACTICE L5.21 - Say the sentences, then listen to the recording and repeat.
I’ll go.
We’ve finished.
We’re losing.
What’ve you done?
I wouldn’t like that.
He can’t, can he?
You shouldn’t’ve done that.
I’d’ve bought two.
It isn’t in the shed.
There aren’t any left.
John’ll eat it.
We’ll’ve finished by Monday.
b) EXERCISE - Underline the possible contractions in these conversations.
A Are you going away this year?

B We are thinking of going to Poland.
A Why have you chosen to go there?
B Cracow is a beautiful place, and my husband has cousins there.
A I cannot see the road properly.

B It might have been a good idea to bring a torch.
A There is one in the car, but it is too late to go back now.
B You are probably right.
A John and Jane are coming over tonight.

B You could have told me a bit earlier.
A I did not know until this afternoon. Anyway, they will be here at 7.
B At seven? That is in half an hour. What are we going to eat?
b) PRACTICE L5.22 - Listen to check your answers. Practice the conversations.

58
Intonation - Tone Units
TASTER L5.23 - Listen to the sentences.

- Below you can see three ways of transcribing them.
1 2 3
Shall we go out. How many were there? Does James want it?
| ʃəl wi gəʊ ˈaʊt | | ˈhaʊ meni wə ðeə | | dəz ˈdʒeimz wɒnt ɪt |
| . . . ↘ | | ↘ . . . ↗ | | . ↗ ` ` |
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method of transcription?
1. In written English, we divide language into sentences.

2. In spoken English, we divide language into units.
3. We show this in IPA with the symbols | (pause) and ‖ (long pause)
4. Every unit of speech has a Tonic Syllable.
5. The intonation pattern in the unit begins at the Tonic Syllable and
ends at the end of the unit.
a) PRACTICE L5.24 - Repeat the sentences following the three transcriptions.
Sentence Speech Unit Tone Unit
It’s really cold. | ɪts ˈrɪəli ˈkəʊld | |. - .↘|
They’ve done very well. | ðəv dʌn ˈveri ˈwel | | . . - . ↘ |
What did you say? | ˈwɒt dɪd ju seɪ | | ↗ ``` |
Do you think so? | də ju ˈθɪŋk səʊ | | . . ↘ ↗ |
Let’s go to Regent’s Park. | ˈlets gəʊ tə ˈri:dʒəns ˈpa:k | | - . . - . ↘ |
We’ve never eaten here before. | wiv ˈnevər ˈi:tən hɪə bɪfɔ: | | . - . ↘ . . . ↗ |
Sometimes I wonder why I | ˈsʌmtaɪmz aɪ ˈwʌndə waɪ aɪ | - . . - . . . ↘ . |

bother. ˈbɒðə |

59
b) EXERCISE L5.25 - Listen to the sentences, underline the ‘Tonic Syllable’ and circle the
o
intonation pattern.
EG I haven’t seen you before. ↘ ↘↗ ↗
1. I was hungry afterwards. ↘ ↘↗ ↗ 6. Why don’t you? ↘ ↘↗ ↗
2. If it’s alright with you. ↘ ↘↗ ↗ 7. Turn left at the station. ↘ ↘↗ ↗
3. What are you doing there? ↘ ↘↗ ↗ 8.You said you would. ↘ ↘↗ ↗
4. I know you are. ↘ ↘↗ ↗ 9. I hoped you’d be here. ↘ ↘↗ ↗
5. It wasn’t the pronunciation. ↘ ↘↗ ↗ 10.I hoped you’d be here. ↘ ↘↗ ↗
c) EXERCISE L5.26 - You will hear each sentence in three different ways. Match them with
their tone diagrams.
|. . - . ↘ . ↗ |
A Are you going out tonight? 1 |. ↘ . . . . ↗ |
| . . - . . . ↘↗ |
|- . . ↘ . . . |
B What are they doing in there? |↘ . . . . . ↗|
|- . . . . . ↘ |
|. . ↘ . . . . . . . . ↗ |
C I was going to buy a television. |. . - . . . . . . ↘ . |
|. . - . . ↘ . . . . . |
|. - . . . ↗ |
D I should be there by six. |. . . - . ↘ |
|. ↘ . . . ↗ |

60

page 113.
Glottal Consonants

əʊ & aʊ
4 pronunciations of ‘have’
c, q, x, y
‘
|↘ˈtəʊn ju:nɪts|

6
61

Consonant Sounds Approximants

/ɪ/
Spelling & Sound < t > t tʃ ʔ
IPA The Alphabet abcdefghi

jklmnopqr
stuvwxyz
Structure Prominence
ˈ
↘↗
Intonation The Fall-Rise

62
Consonant Sounds - Approximants
1. An Approximant is a vowel-like consonant.

2. There are three approximants in English: /r/, /j/ and /w/.
3. Approximants can only appear at the beginning of syllables in RP.
a) PRACTICE L6.1 - Repeat the words.
Production Notes /r/. To produce an /r/, the tongue tip should start near the alveolar ridge,
but not touching it. The tongue tip then moves down and into the position of the following
vowel. At no point should the tongue touch the mouth
sound spelling / words diagram
r
<r>
read rid rest rat

run grass rule rook
raw rock ray Roy
rye row row rear
rare
b) PRACTICE L6.2 - Voice Exercise - Repeat regularly until you have a smooth sound.
1. ri: ru: rɔ: rɑ: reɪ raɪ rəʊ raʊ rɪə reə
2. pri: pru: prɔ: prɑ:
3. Repeat with: tr, kr, br, dr, gr, fr, vr, θr, sr, ʃr,
c) PRACTICE L6.3 - Repeat the words.
Production Notes /j/. To produce a /j/, the tongue should be curved with the tip down at the
front, the sides of the tongue can touch the teeth. The air is pushed along the hard palate,
then the tongue moves into the position for the next vowel.
sound spellings / words diagram
j
<y> 
yeast yiddish yes piano

yearn yummy you
your yacht year pure
queue
d) PRACTICE L6.4 - Voice Exercise - Repeat regularly until you have a smooth sound.
ji: ju: jɜ: jɔ: jəʊ jɪə

63
e) PRACTICE L6.5 - Repeat the words.
Production Notes /w/ - the lips should be rounded and pushing forward. The tongue tip is
slightly curled down and the air is pushed through the space between the lips. Make sure
your teeth do not touch the lip.
sound spellings / words diagram
w
< w > < qu >
week wit well wack

werenʼt won would
wall what wait white
quote weird where
f) PRACTICE L6.6 - Voice Exercise - Repeat regularly until you have a smooth sound.
wi: wɜ: wɔ: weɪ waɪ wəʊ waʊ wɪə weə
1. Approximants are found in spoken English between vowel sounds.

go_ʷaway be_ʲa good boy fair_ʳenough
2. See Chapter 4 for the rules of joining
g) EXERCISE - Underline the approximants in this extract.
It was a cold winter’s Tuesday in West London. The

sky looked quite yellow, and the trees were swaying
in the wind. It looked like it might snow, but Rob
wasn’t really worried about the weather. His only
concern was writing the report which was to be
released from the Ministry of Defence the following
day. ‘Britain In Crisis’ was the title, and Rob was
going to brief the Prime Minister on the exact
details in a few hours.
h) PRACTICE L6.7 - Repeat the extract after the recording.

64
Vowel Sounds - Diphthongs Ending /ɪ/
1. There are three diphthongs ending in ɪ in English: /eɪ/, /ɔɪ/ and /aɪ/.
sound phrase / spelling / words production
eɪ
Pave the way 1. Start in a slightly open /e/
position with the tongue tip
< ay, a_e, ey, ai, a, ei, ea > behind the lower teeth.
2. Move towards the /ɪ/ position,
May stay make way steak closing the jaw.
train day break afraid
Spain change Jake station
raise place cake ray same
aɪ
Why be shy 1. Start with the jaw open, the
lips relaxed, the tongue
< y, ie, uy, i, i_e > relaxed similar to /ɑ:/.
fine time high might pie closing the jaw.
die Riegate pike cry type
right sigh chive Mike fight
arrive crisis bright white I
fly nice
ɔɪ
Royal soil 1. Start with the jaw open, the
lips rounded in the /ɔ:/
< oy, oi > position, the tongue tip low.
boy toy soil joy foil closing the jaw.
annoy appoint Roy employ
loiter choice enjoy Freud

65
b) PRACTICE L6.9 - Compare monothong /e/ with diphthong /eɪ/:
e red bet weddin hell shed wren

g
eɪ raid bait wading hail shade rain
c) PRACTICE L6.10 - Compare monothong /æ/ with diphthong /ɑɪ/:
æ band fan sad pram Mac hand
aɪ bind fine side prime Mike hind
d) PRACTICE L6.11 - Say the following consonant sounds followed by /eɪ/ then preceded
by /eɪ/.
p, t, d, k, v, ð, s, z, dʒ, m
L6.12 - Repeat the exercise with /aɪ/.
Joining Diphthongs Ending /ɪ/
L6.13 1. Diphthongs ending in /ɪ/ and followed by a vowel, will join with /j/:
peɪ ͜ʲ ə lɒt ɪndʒɔɪ ͜ʲ ə fɪlm baɪ ͜ʲ ə ˈsi:ˈdi:
e) PRACTICE L6.14 - Read and repeat the phrases.
1. | tu: | ə bɔɪ ͜ʲ ən ə gɜ:l ‖

2. | maɪ ͜ʲ æŋkl hɜ:ts ‖
3. | waɪ ͜ʲ ɑ:n tʃu gəʊɪŋ ‖
4. | baɪ ͜ʲ ə kʌpl fə mi: ‖
5. | meɪ ͜ʲ aɪ hæv wʌn ‖
6. | traɪ ͜ʲ ə bɪt hɑ:də ‖
f) EXERCISE L6.15 - Listen to the recording and reply with a sentence from c).
EG ‘I’m going to the shops for some apples‘ “Buy a couple for me”

66
Spelling & Sound - /t/ and /ʔ/

L6.16 The letter < t > can be pronounced as /t/, /ʔ/, /tʃ/ or become silent in connected
speech:
1. If the next sound is an approximant, /t/ often becomes /ʔ/.

tha t was that wall Scotland
2. If the next sound is a consonant, /t/ often becomes silent or /ʔ/.

football postman Wiltshire
3. If the next sound is /j/. t can become /tʃ/.

tha t year
4. If the next sound is a vowel or nothing, we say t.

What are we going to eat? that exit
RULE:
t + consonant = ʔ or t
t + vowel = t
t + approximant (r, j, w, l) = ʔ
t+j= tʃ or ʔ
a) EXERCISE - Write the phonetic transcription for each < t > in the sentences below.
Follow the rules in the box above, sometimes 2 answers are possible.
t
EG: What have you got? ____ t
____
1. What are you doing? ____
2. Is that your only dog? ____
3. One last thing. ____
4. She liked his haircut. ____ ____
5. Most Europeans speak some English. ____
6. East England. ____
7. West Scotland. ____ ____
8. They laughed about it later. ____ ____ ____ ____
9. Don’t worry if it’s late. ____ ____ ____
10. Josh stopped playing the piano. ____
11. White water rafting. ____ ____ ____
12. Can you light this up? ____
b) PRACTICE L6.17 - Listen and check your answers. Practice the sentences.

67
IPA - The Alphabet

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
TASTER L6.18 - Listen to the alphabet song.
1. The letter < a > is pronounced /eɪ/ when we say it. is /bi:/.
a) EXERCISE - Fill in the chart below with the letters from the alphabet.
/eɪ/ ʲ /i:/ ʲ /e/ /aɪ/ ʲ /əʊ/ ʷ /u:/ ʷ /ɑ:/ ʳ
a b
c
- Check your answers before continuing.
2. When we spell something in speech, we join up the letters:

J o e l o n d o n
dʒeɪ ʲ͜ əʊ ͜ʷ i: el ͜ˡ əʊ ͜ʷ en di: ͜ʲ əʊ ͜ʷ en
3. These follow the same rules as joiners between words (see ‘joining’).
b) EXERCISE L6.19 - Listen to the spellings and write down the words. Check your answers.
finsbury
EG ___________________ 1. ___________________ 2. ___________________
3. ___________________ 4. ___________________ 5. ___________________
c) EXERCISE - Write the phonetic transcriptions for two of the words from exercise 1
including joiners, then check your answers.
EG Finsbury = | ef ͜ aɪ ͜ʲ en ͜ es bi: ju: ͜ʷ ɑ: waɪ ‖

_________________ = __________________________________________________________________
_________________ = __________________________________________________________________

- Follow-up: Spell your name and address out making sure you join the letters.

68
Structure - Prominence & Stress
A I’ll ˈhave a ˈblack ˈcoffee with ˈone ˈsugar.

B For ˈme a ˈwhite coffee, ˈno sugar.
TASTER L6.20 - Listen to the conversation.

- Why doesn’t person B stress ‘coffee’ or ‘sugar’?
1. We stress new information.

2. Stress is marked with / ˈ / before the stressed syllable.
3. The last stressed word in the unit is the tonic syllable.
4. If there are more than two strong words next to each other, we would stress the first
and last:
L6.21 A ˈcouple of thousand ˈkilometres (we don’t stress ‘thousand’)
ˈThree billion ˈpounds (we don’t stress ‘billion’)
Synonyms
5. If we use a synonym, it is not considered ‘new’ information, so we do not stress it:
A Do you like ˈoysters?
B I like ˈall seafood. (seafood is broader than oysters.)
6. If the synonym is more precise, it is considered ‘new’, so we do stress it:
A Do you like ˈseafood?
B Well, I like ˈmussels. (mussels are more precise than seafood.)
a) EXERCISE L6.21 - Mark the stress in these conversations with / ˈ /.

1.
A I’d like a vodka and tonic.
B A gin and tonic for me.
2.
A Would you like some milk in your tea?
B I’m allergic to milk.
3.
A Is that letter for Joe?
B No, it’s from Joe.
4.
A What are you putting in that apple tart?
B It’s a pear tart.

69
b) PRACTICE L6.22 - Repeat column A followed by column B paying attention to the

change in stress.
A) XX B) X . X
ˈfive ˈpounds ˈfive pounds ˈfifty
ˈthree and a ˈhalf ˈthree and a half ˈhours
ˈfive ˈthousand ˈfive thousand ˈmiles
ˈtwenty deˈgrees ˈtwenty degrees ˈcelcius
ˈtwo ˈdozen ˈtwo dozen ˈeggs
ˈthree ˈpints ˈthree pints of ˈmilk
c) EXERCISE L6.23 - Listen to the recording and reply with a sentence from B.
d) EXERCISE L6.24 - Underline the tonic syllable for person B in the conversations:
Example 1.
A Would you like to come to Paris?
B Great, I’ve never been to France before.
Example 2.
A Where shall we go in Germany?
B How about Berlin?
1.
A Is that your Ford Fiesta?
B I don’t drive a car.
2.
A Do you like jazz?
B Well, I like John Coltrane.
3.
A I’m going to make a dessert.
B Why don’t you make apple tart?
4.
A Do you own a car?
B Yes, a VW Golf.
5.
A Have you heard the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s latest?
B I never listen to rock music.
6.
A Would you like some apple tart?
B I can’t stand fruit.

70
Intonation - The Fall-Rise
I’d like to go to ↘Iceland

I’d ↘↗like to go to Iceland
TASTER L6.25 - Listen to the sentences above. How does the stress and intonation change
the meaning?
1. The Fall-rise is a very typically English intonation pattern and is commonly used to show
imply, repeat and correct.
Implicational Fall-Rise L6.26
2. The fall-rise shows that there is an implied meaning to the words:
You could come on ↘↗Monday. (Implies it might not be the best day.)
You could come on ↘Monday. (A simple fact.)
I ↘↗like jazz. (But not all types).

I ↘like jazz. (A simple fact.)
Repetion
3. The fall-rise (or the rise) is used to repeat information:
A I’m going on Saturday. B On ↘↗ Saturday?
A I’m the only person who eats meat. B The ↘↗only person?
A I’m going to the hairdressers. B ↘↗Where are you going?
Correcting
4. The fall-rise can be used to correct information in a polite way.
A They’re coming on ↘Thursday. B No, On ↘↗Friday.
A He was 88 when he died. B Eighty ↘↗nine.
a) PRACTICE L6.27 - Say each name firstly with the ↘↗ fall-rise, then with ↘ falling
intonation.
Charles Mary Anthony Joe Sarah Jennifer

James Caroline

71
b) PRACTICE L6.28 - Implicational Fall-Rise. Repeat each statement:
1. I’ve decided on the ↘↗starter

2. The ↘↗flights are booked
3. He was only ↘↗joking
4. They’ll only be here two ↘↗nights
5. It wasn’t ↘↗that bad
6. This is not for me to ↘↗say
c) EXERCISE L6.29 - Think of a suitable implication for each statement above.
EG 1. I’ve decided on the starter, but I don’t know what to have for mains.
d) EXERCISE L6.30 - Listen to the recording and correct the information you hear, with the
information below:
1. No, It’s 2 ‘o’ clock.

2. No, the A5.
3. No, the A5.
4. No, John Barry.
5. No, John Barry.
6. No, you are.
7. No, you are.
e) EXERCISE L6.31 - Listen to and read the conversation.
A | Are we going ↘↗out tonight? |

B | Well I’d ↘↗like to | but I have to finish this ↘essay. |
A | How much longer do you ↘need? |

B | I’d say about two ↘ hours. |
A | Two ↘↗hours! | I can’t wait ↘↗that long. |

B | I’ll do the best I ↘can! |
Find: i) 2 examples of an implicational fall-rise.

ii) 1 example of a yes/no question with a fall-rise.
iii) one example of repetition with a fall-rise.
iv) Which other tones are used? Why?

72

page 113.
Approximant Consonants

eɪ aɪ ɔɪ
ʔ
abcdefg
prominence
↘↗

7
73

Consonant Sounds Lateral Approximant

/ə/
Spelling & Sound are ə ɑ: ɑ:nt
IPA Syllabic Consonants i:vn̩ / i:vᵊn
Structure Compound Stress ˈgrandmother
↘↗
Intonation Contrast

74
Consonant Sound - Lateral Approximant /l/
1. There are two < l > sounds in RP English: /l/ & /ɫ/.
2. /l/ is found at the beginning of a syllable.
lot lazy pilot
3. /ɫ/ or ‘dark l’ is found at the end of a syllable.
fall called pale
PRACTICE L7.1 - Repeat after the recording.
Production Notes: The tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge.
Sound Spelling / words Mouth Position
l
<l>
lit left London lad lost leave

lose learn lawn laughter
late light lawyer loan allow
clear Claire
PRACTICE L7.2 - Repeat after the recording.
Production Notes: The tip of the tongue gently touches the teeth or the alveolar ridge. The
lips DO NOT MOVE.
ɫ
<l>
pill Iʼll full cull pal eel pool

hurl fall
gnarl theyʼll smile boil role
towel

75
PRACTICE L7.3 - Repeat the voice exercise making sure that your lips do not move for /ɫ/.
1. li lu: lɜ: lɔ: lɑ: leɪ laɪ ləʊ lɪə leə

2. əɫ ɪɫ u:ɫ ɜ:ɫ ɔ:ɫ aɪɫ eɪɫ aʊɫ
PRACTICE L7.4 - Practice the poem
London Railway Lines

Nearly aɫ the peopɫe in London
Have caɫed for less lies
About delays on their raiɫway lines
Russeɫ Square and Notting Hiɫ Gate

Are beautifuɫ places but not to wait
For a signaɫ faiɫure in Ealing Broadway
The Piccadily line is oɫd and blue

The Circɫe line is late, what’s new?
From Kiɫburn Park to Wembley or London Zoo
The Jubilee line wiɫ delay you
So allow me to make a suggestion,

To traveɫ from Hounslow to Wimbɫedon
Or Arsenaɫ to Waterloo
Between Goɫder’s Green and Maida Vaɫe
Try to avoid London Raiɫ.

76
Vowel Sounds - Diphthongs Ending /ə/
1. There are two diphthongs ending in ə in RP English: /ɪə/, /eə/.

2. There is another diphthong /ʊə/, which is common in Northern English
accents and among older speakers, but it has widely been replaced by /ɔ:/ in
modern RP.
sound phrase / spelling / words production
ɪə
Nearly here 1. Start with the jaw nearly
closed, the tongue raised
< ea, eer, ere, io, ia, ie, eo > slightly at the front in the /ɪ/
position.
dear clear appear area 2. Move towards the relaxed /ə/
idea deer career steer here position.
familiar billion billiards valiant
sillier twentieth barrier theory
b) PRACTICE L7.6 - Repeat after the recording.
eə
Whereʼs the bear 1. Start with the jaw slightly
open, the tongue tip behind
< ar, air, ear, ae > the bottom front teeth in the
/e/ position.
care rare flare barely stair 2. Move towards the neutral /ə/
fair hair despair pear tear position.
bear there where swear
aeroplane aerial
c) PRACTICE L7.7 - Compare monothong /i:/ with diphthong /ɪə/
i: read seed feed he’s fees seas
ɪə reared seared feared hears fears seers
d) PRACTICE L7.8 - Compare diphthong /ɪə/ with diphthong /eə/
ɪə sheer fear beer dear peer steer

eə share fare bear dare pear stare

77
e) PRACTICE L7.9 - Listen to the /ʊə/ diphthong.
ʊə
< ure, oor, our, ua, ue > 1. Start with the jaw nearly
closed, the tongue tip low, the
lips rounded in the /ʊ/
position.
pure cure sure poor gradual 2. Move towards the relaxed /ə/
usual fuel position.
f) PRACTICE L7.10 - Compare the diphthong /ʊə/ with its common replacement
monothong /ɔ:/
ʊə pjʊə kjʊə ʃʊə pʊə mʊə

ɔ: pjɔ: kjɔ: ʃɔ: pɔ: mɔ:
g) PRACTICE L7.11 - Place the diphthong /eə/ after the following consonants.
L7.12 - Repeat the exercise with /ɪə/.
p, b, t, d, k, g, f, ð, z, ʃ, tʃ, m
Joining Diphthongs Ending /ə/
L7.13 1. Diphthongs ending in /ə/ and followed by a vowel, will join with /r/:
feə ͜ʳ ɪnʌf peə ͜ʳ əv ʃu:z dɪə ͜ʳ emɪli
h) PRACTICE L7.14 - Say the phrases, they all contain an /r/ joiner.
1. | ˈweə ͜ʳ ə ju ˈgəʊ.ɪŋ ‖

2. | stɪə ͜ʳ ɪntə ðə kɔ:nə ‖
3. | ɪz ðæt jer aɪdɪə ͜ʳ əv ə dʒəʊk ‖
4. | peə ͜ʳ ɔ: ͜ʳ æpl ̩ ‖
5. | ɪts heə ͜ʳ əv ðə dɒg ‖
6. | hɪə ͜ʳ ən ðeə ‖

78
Spelling & Sound - ‘Are’

TASTER L7.15 - Listen to the conversation, paying attention to the highlighted words.
A ə you coming out tonight?
B No, I’m working. Where ə you going?
A wɪr all thinking of having a meal out.
B jər always eating out!
A Well, we all have our pleasures in life, don’t we?
B Yes, but some ə more expensive than others, ɑ:nt they?
L7.16 1. The verb ‘to be’ is the most commonly mispronounced word in English.
2. ‘To be’ is normally weak, even if it is a content word:
Where are you going? Funciton/weak

Some are more expensive..... Content/weak
3. ‘Are’ is normally pronounced /ə/.
Are you coming.....
4. If the next sound is a vowel, ‘are’ will join with an /r/.
We’re_all......
5. ‘Are’ can disappear after the words ‘they’, ‘we’ and ‘you’:
You’re_always.....
6. The strong form of ‘are’ is /ɑ:/
How are you?
7. The negative form is always strong /ɑ:nt/
Aren’t they?
8. In three word questions, ‘are’ is normally strong:
Where are they?
a) EXERCISE L7.17 - Write the pronunciation of ‘are’ from the box next to each sentence.
ə x 5 ɑ:nt x 2 ər x 1 ɑ: x 2
EG Are you OK? ə
_____
1. Oh yes, and there are three carriages coming through. _____

2. There are a couple of people here. _____
3. Are you driving home? _____
4. Aren’t they ready yet? _____
5. But they’re not ready yet, are they? _____
6. Where are you going? _____
7. Why aren’t you here? _____
8. I know you are. _____
9. Are you in love?

79
IPA - Syllabic Consonants
1. Some unstressed syllables can be pronounced without using a vowel. This is

called a syllabic consonant:
eg hospital / hɒspɪtl ̩/ action / ækʃn̩ /%
2. It is possible to say a vowel in the space, but uncommon:
eg hospital / hɒspɪtəl /
3. In IPA we mark a syllabic consonant with a line under the syllable / ̩/
eg bɒtl ̩ i:vn̩ krɪtɪsɪzm̩
4. Another way of representing this is a small elevated schwa / ᵊ /
eg bɒtᵊl i:vᵊn krɪtɪsɪzᵊm
5. Syllabic Consonants are most commonly found before /l/ or /n/ in
unstressed syllables:
eg hæsl ̩ netl ̩ pɔɪzn̩ mɪʃn̩
5. The suffix < ism > contains the syllabic consonant /ɪzm̩/
eg buddhism /bʊdɪzm̩/ classicism /klæsɪsɪzm̩/
a) EXERCISE - Write or find transcriptions for the following words in two ways:
(i) with / ̩/ (ii) with / ᵊ /:
(i) (ii)
1. cattle
ˈkætl ̩
______________ ______________
ˈkætᵊl
2. probable ______________ ______________
3. little ______________ ______________
4. fiddle ______________ ______________
5. medal ______________ ______________
6. parcel ______________ ______________
7. flatten ______________ ______________
8. often ______________ ______________
9. sudden ______________ ______________
10. inflation ______________ ______________
11. passion ______________ ______________
12. seven ______________ ______________

80
Structure - Compounds
My grandmother came to see me at the weekend. When she

came through the front door, she said ‘where’s my favourite grandson
then’. I was in the sitting room with my laptop, reading an online
newspaper, but I jumped up and gave her a hug. I asked her if she had
seen the e-mail I sent her.
‘E-mail!’ she replied, ‘What on earth is an e-mail?’.
I calmly started to explain, but this gave me a headache, so I
stopped and made our usual mid-morning filter coffee. We sat at the
kitchen table and I had another go.‘Your e-mail address is “Jane Smith at
hotmail dot com”’ I said.
‘But I live on Baker Street’ she replied. How on earth will it find
me?’. I was about to explain that the internet had replaced the postman,
but I thought better of it.
TASTER L7.18 - Listen to the story. Underline the remaining compounds.
1. A compound is a combination of two or more words that create a singular

meaning:
L7.19 ˈfootball ˈfirefighter ˈbus ticket ˈsomething
2. Normally a compound will have first element stress (as in the examples above).
3. Some compounds have double stress (see next page):
ˈtown ˈhall ˈChristmas ˈeve ˈcentral ˈheating
a) PRACTICE L7.20 - First Element Stress Say the compounds in the box.
Facebook background boardroom cupboard shipyard grapefruit

childhood airline timetable cornflakes shopping bag lamp shade
bed linen railway network basketball website alarm clock
stepping stone Hotmail mother-in-law
b) EXERCISE - Underline any compounds in the questions below.
1. Does anybody have a screwdriver?

2. Shall we go to the supermarket?
3. Are you a bricklayer?

4. Where are my car keys?

5. What’s your brother-in-law’s surname?
6. Do you accept credit cards?
7. Are those plants alright in the greenhouse?
8. Where’s my T-shirt?
9. Can I ask you something?

10. Will you come to my birthday party?
c) PRACTICE L7.21 - Listen to and repeat the questions paying attention to the stress.

81
L7.22 The following types of compound have double stress:
1. Names of people or places:
ˈHyde ˈPark ˈSaudi ˈArabia ˈCaptain ˈBeefheart
NOT if the second element is ‘street’: ˈOxford Street ˈChurch Street
2. Compounds with a place or time in the first element:
ˈTown ˈHall ˈkitchen ˈtable ˈsummer ˈholiday ˈChristmas ˈeve

3. Compounds with a material or ingredient in the first element:
ˈmango ˈsmoothie ˈsuede ˈshoes ˈchocolate ˈtart ˈmeat ˈpie
NOT if the compound is ‘cake’ or ‘juice’: ˈcarrot cake ˈfruit juice
d) EXERCISE L7.23 - Say your own name, & your address. Pay attention to the correct stress
in the compounds.
EG ʻMy name is ˌJoe ˈHudson, I live on ˌMilton ˈRoad in ˈHighgate, ˌNorth ˈLondon.ʼ
e) PRACTICE L7.24 - Say the list of Underground Stations in London. Pay attention to stress
if the name has ‘street’, we do not stress it.
A Goodge Street / Canada Water / Mile End / Burnt Oak / Oxford Circus
B Kingʼs Cross / Warren Street / Clapham Junction / Kensal Rise / Liverpool Street
C Piccadily Circus / Queenʼs Park / Stepney Green / Regentʼs Park / Kensington High Street
D Gloucester Road / Leicester Square / Tottenham Court Road / Bond Street / Marble Arch
E Mornington Crescent / Elephant & Castle / Kentish Town / Baker Street / Crystal Palace
f) EXERCISE - Using the rules, decide if the compounds in the box are first element, or
double-stressed.
fire brigade country garden tuna sandwich summer solstice policeman

winter olympics Christmas Day Boxing Day John Humphreys Regent Street
garden shed steering wheel apple juice egg salad chocolate cake apple tart
train station newspapers armchair Hackney Road
L7.25 Listen to check your answers.

82
Intonation - Contrast
We didn’t move to Spain because it’s ↘hot.
We didn’t move to Spain because it’s ↘↗hot.
TASTER L7.26 - What is the difference between the meaning of the two sentences?
New & Old Information
L7.27 1. New information is shown using falling intonation.

I thought it would ↘rain today (rain is new information)
2. Old information is shown with rising, or fall-rising intonation.
I ↘↗thought it would rain today. (rain is old information)
Lists
3. We normally use rising or fall-rising intonation when we list things.

4. The last item in the list is said with falling intonation.
Things to do: take the ↘↗rubbish out,

clean the ↗car

pick up some ↘food.
Subordinate Clauses (If, when, as soon as etc.)
5. A subordinate clause begins with an adverb such as ‘when’, ‘if’, ‘as soon as’,
‘before’:
«subordinate clause» | «main clause»
| When you arrive at the ↗airport | give me a ↘ring.
6. A subordinate clause does not make sense alone, it needs a main clause:
«subordinate clause» | «main clause»
| if ↘↗I were you | I’d take a ↘map |
7. Subordinate clauses use rising ↗ or fall-rising ↘↗ intonation.

8. Main clauses use falling intonation:
As soon as we’ve eaten ↗lunch | we can go ↘out.

83
a) EXERCISE L7.28 New & Old - You will hear each statement in two different ways.
Match each statement with its meaning:
EG I thought you’d be here!
- It’s lovely to see you. A
☐
- Where on earth are you? B
☐
1. I hoped the dinner would be ready 3. I thought you were coming by car!
- it looks delicious. ☐ - why have you got that helmet on? ☐
- Can you hurry it up a little bit? ☐ - that’s why I openned the garage door. ☐
2. John told us he’d be early 4. We should get a smoke alarm fitted
- so where is he? ☐ - I just haven’t had time to sort it out ☐
- and here he is. ☐ - it’s the law. ☐
b) PRACTICE L7.29 Lists - Practise the following conversations.

! 1.
A Are you going to the shops?
B Yes, do you need anything?
A Well, we need milk, eggs, salad and tomatoes.
B Right, anything else? Aren’t you making a lasagne tonight?
A Oh yes, I’ll need a some cheese and flour for the sauce.
! ! !
! ! ! 2.
A Which countries have you visited in Europe?
B Spain, France, Sweden and the UK of course.
c) EXERCISE L7.30 Subordinate Clauses - Write the intonation pattern you hear in the box
after each unit. The tonic syllables are underlined.
When you arrive at Gatwick airport ☐ take the Southern train ☐

to London Victoria ☐ It will take about half an hour ☐
if you take the fast train ☐ If you canʼt afford the train ☐
there is a coach ☐ but it takes an hour and a half ☐
At Victoria station ☐ youʼll see a statue of Queen Mary ☐
My sister will be waiting for you ☐ underneath it ☐

84

page 114.
/l/ & /ɫ/
ɪə eə

l ̩ ᵊl
are
compounds
if....↗ | then....↘

8
85

Consonant Sounds Affricates
Vowel Sounds Reduced Vowels lu:s / lu:z / lu:zə
Spelling & Sound suffixes -ment
IPA Transcription III
Structure Stress Shift 16 60
↘↗
Intonation Review

86
Affricate Consonant Sounds
1. An affricate is a plosive immediately followed by a fricative.

2. There are two affricates in English IPA:
voiceless /tʃ/ and voiced /dʒ/
3. /tʃ/ can replace /t + j/.
" " Tuesday = /tju:zdeɪ/ OR /tʃu:zdeɪ/
4. /dʒ/ can replace /d+j/.
" " Did you? = /dɪd ju/ OR /dɪdʒu/
5. ‘do you’ is often contracted to /dʒu/ in connected speech.
" " Do you like jazz? /dʒu laɪk dʒæz/
a) PRACTICE L8.0 Repeat after the recording.

L8.1
IPA mouth spellings / words position / practice
tʃ
Position 1 < ch > < ti > < tu >
alveolar gliding to hard
check chuck chat chop chalk palate
chart chase child choke cheer
chair itch wretch such watch
Gucci lurch porch arch nature
broach couch suggestion tʃ tʃ tʃ tʃ
chicken tʃ tʃ tʃ tʃ tʃ tʃ tʃ
watch
Position 2
dʒ
< j > < g > < dg > < dj > alveolar gliding to hard
palate
ridge judge gadget lodge
siege Goodge surge gorge
barge page hijack shortage
Joe jazz Johannesberg
jockey gymn
dʒ dʒ dʒ dʒ
joke dʒ dʒ dʒ dʒ dʒ dʒ dʒ
ledge

87
b) EXERCISE L8.2 Listen to the conversations and underline the affricate sounds:
1.
A Did you watch the match on Tuesday?
B I can’t imagine how Manchester City won!
2.
A Where did you go on holiday last year?
B To Germany in March and then China in June.
3.
A I have a question. Are you a bachelor or are you married?
B I’m a bachelor, why do you ask?
c) PRACTICE L8.2 Repeat the conversations.
Affricate or Fricative?
d) EXERCISE - Place the words in the box into the correct column below.
shirt chalk Japan leisure achieve machine

joke joy butcher measure match sharp
chocolate age short chose pleasure patient
gradual station cheer closure injure
ʃ ʒ tʃ dʒ
e) EXERCISE L8.3 Listen to check your answers.

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Reduced Vowels
TASTER L8.4 The vowel sound in each word is /u:/. In which word is the vowel longest?
lose loser loose
1. The length of an English vowel will shorten if the next sound is a weak form or a
voiceless consonant:
full vowel reduced vowel before a reduced vowel before a

weak form voiceless consonant
lose /lu:z/ loser /lu:zə/ loose /lu:s/
play /pleɪ/ place /pleɪs/ player /pleɪ.ə/
2. This change is most noticeable in long monothong and diphthong vowels
a) PRACTICE L8.5 Listen and repeat the words paying attention to the vowel length.
full / reduced + voiceless cons full / reduced + weak form
i: pea / piece fee / feet knee / neat leave / leave it cheese / cheesy
u: queue / cute shoe / shoot boo / boot chew / chewing lose / loser
ɜ: heard / hurt turn / Turk nerd / nurse dirt / dirty turn / Turner
ɔ: pour / port shore / short four / fought talk / talking store / story
ɑ: bar / bark star / start hard / heart hard / harder laugh / laughing
eɪ play / plate ray / rate laid / late play / player drain / draining
ɔɪ not possible annoy / annoying employ /

employment
aɪ why / white hide / height fly / flight hide / hiding height / heighten
əʊ grow / gross no / note throw / throat go / going toast / toaster
aʊ how / house down / doubt bow / bout pout / power drown / drowning
ɪə peer / pierce feared / Fiat near / nearly steer / steering
eə not possible bare / barely tear / tearing

89
b) EXERCISE - Write f (full) or r (reduced) under each strong vowel sound (X).
1. I’m going to the shops for a loaf of bread

|. X . . . X |. . X . X |
r r r f
2. Can you buy some more oranges | and pick up a bottle of wine?
|. . X . X X. . | | . X . . X . . X |
3. Yes. Do we need anything else?

|X| . . X . . . X |
4. No. I don’t think so. Oh, maybe a couple of pints of milk.

|X|. X X X | X |X . . X . . X . X |
5. Fine. See you later then.

| X | X . X. . |
c) PRACTICE L8.6 Listen and practice the conversation.
d) EXERCISE L8.7 Write the words and decide if the main vowel is full (f) or reduced (r).
laugh
1. ________________ r
_________
2. ________________ _________
3. ________________ _________
4. ________________ _________
5. ________________ _________
6. ________________ _________
7. ________________ _________
8. ________________ _________
9. ________________ _________
10. ________________ _________

90
Spelling & Sound - Suffixes
L8.8 1. A suffix is added to a word (root):
ˈpower / ˈpowerful ˈmanager / manaˈgerial
2. Many suffixes do not normally change the stress of the word. These include:
-ment -less -ful -ish -ism -ist -ive -ize -y
ˈlife / ˈlifeless proˈfession / proˈfessional inˈvest / inˈvestment
3. Some suffixes change the stress of the word to the syllable before the suffix. These include:
-al -ic -ion -ive -ious -ulous -eous -orous -ity
inˈvestigate / inˌvestiˈgation ˈhistory / hisˈtorical ˈmystery / mysˈterious
4. Some suffixes are the main stress in a word. These include:

-ade -ese -ette -esque -eer -ee
ˈPortugal / ˌPortuˈguese ˈpicture / pictuˈresque ˈballad / ballaˈdeer
5. For every rule, there are exceptions. It is advisable to check the stress of words in a
dictionary and learn them as you do.
a) EXERCISE - Mark the stress in the words with / ˈ /.
fanˈtastic beautiful African Congolese evaluation

summarize mountain mountaineer partially
partiality profitable employee statuesque
pronunciation bottomless fanatic fundamentalist
b) PRACTICE L8.9 Check your answers and repeat with correct stress.
c) EXERCISE - Write the adjective for each country name and mark the stress.
China Chi nese

_______________ Serbia _______________
Spain _______________ Taiwan _______________
Columbia _______________ Australia _______________
Iran _______________ Chile _______________
Sweden _______________ Finland _______________
Turkey _______________ Malta _______________

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IPA - Transcriptions
wi ˈwent tə ðə ˈzu: ɒn fraɪdeɪ ‖ ɪʔ wəz ˈreɪnɪŋ | bət wi

ˈsɔ: məʊst əv ði ˈænɪməlz ‖ maɪ ˈdɔ:tə ˈrɪəli laɪkt ðə
ˈtaɪgəz | ʃid nevə ˈsi:n wʌn bɪˈfɔ: ‖ wɪə ˈθɪŋkɪŋ əv
gəʊ.ɪŋ ɒn səˈfɑ:ri next jɪə | ˈsəʊ ðəʔ wi kən si: ðə ˈkæts
| ɪn ðeə ˈnætʃərəl ɪnˈvaɪrənmənt ‖
TASTER L8.10 - Listen and read the transcription above.

- Which information is not shown in the transcription?
1. Broad IPA transcriptions show the pronunciation and stress of speech.

2. The following symbols are used in transcriptions:
symbol meaning
| pause / end of unit
‖ long pause / end of unit
ˈ stressed syllable
. syllable boundary
ˌ syllabic consonant
3. Joining and intonation are not shown in broad transcriptions.

4. Tone and mouth positioning are not shown in broad transcriptions, but can be
shown in phonetics transcriptions using the full IPA alphabet.
a) EXERCISE L8.11 - Write a transcription of the recording.
1. a d
2.
3.
4.

92
Structure - Shifting Stress

“Don’t let the handle go!” “Can you let go of me?”
TASTER L8.12 Listen to the recording. Where is the stress placed in each sentence?
1. Some words and phrases can be stressed in two ways, this is called stress shift.
2. This commonly occurs in numbers, abbreviations, phrasal verbs, and certain
verb/noun combinations.
-teen Numbers
L8.13 3. Numbers ending -teen normally place stress on -teen.
thirˈteen, fourˈteen, fifˈteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen.
4. If the next syllable is stressed, the stress in the -teen number moves:
ˈfourteen ˈworkers
5. Numbers ending -ty always place stress on the first syllable.
ˈthirty, ˈforty, ˈfifty, ˈsixty, ˈseventy, ˈeighty, ˈninety
Abbreviations
6. Abbreviations place secondary stress on the first letter and primary stress on the
last letter:
PˈC EˈU AGˈM BBˈC PTˈO RˈP
7. If the next syllable is stressed, we stress the first syllable of the abbreviation:
Are you an ˈEU ˈcitizen?
Phrasal Verbs
8. We normally place the stress on the particle.
Are we going ˈout tonight?
9. If there is a strong object, it will take the stress from the particle:
Didn’t you take up ˈdancing last year.
Verb/noun combinations.
10. Some words are stressed on the first syllable when they are a noun and the
second syllable when they are a verb or adjective:
The Sahara ˈdesert. (noun)
This party’s deˈserted. (verb)
a) PRACTICE L8.14 i) Say A then B ii) Say A+C then B+C. Focus on the stress shift in B+C.
A B C
thirty thirteen past
forty forteen workers
fifty fifteen miles
sixty sixteen pounds
seventy seventeen years old
eighty eighteen degrees
ninety ninteen policemen

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b) PRACTICE L8.15 Abbreviations - Repeat the abbreviations stressing the last letter.
PˈC EˈU AGˈM ETˈA PˈR IˈT BBˈC UˈK GDˈP PTˈO RSVˈP RˈP HˈR GMˈT OTˈT
c) PRACTICE L8.16 Abbreviations - Say the conversations paying attention to stress (ˈ).
A What kind of ˈsandwich do you want?

B A BLˈT.
A Are you an ˈEU ˈcitizen?

B Yes, I’m from the UˈK.
A ˈ Where did you get that ˈlaptop?

B From ˈPC ˈWorld.
A What’s your ETˈA.

B ˈFifteen hundred GMˈT
A ˈThat was a bit OTˈT, ˈwasn’t it?

B Bring it ˈup at the AGˈM then.
c) PRACTICE L8.17 Phrasal Verbs - Say the sentences, stress the particle.
I’ll help you ˈout with that. Don’t give ˈup.

I woke ˈup really early this morning I slept ˈin

Shall I throw this aˈway? Can you take this ˈout?

d) PRACTICE L8.18 Phrasal Verbs - Say the sentences, stress the object.
Can you ˈwake ˈmum up?

Have you really ˈgiven up ˈsmoking?

Don’t ˈlet the ˈhandle go.
ˈFinish your ˈdinner off.
d) EXERCISE L8.19 Noun/Verb Words - Listen and mark the stress in the underlined word in
each sentence. 1. and a) have been done for you.
1. I’m working on a new ˈproject. a) Proˈjections are low this year.

2. What was he convicted of? b) The convict has escaped.
3. How shall we finance the deal? c) Finances are low at the moment.
4. We need to proceed quickly d) The proceeds will go to charity.
5. Exports have been low recently. e) Scotland exports woolly clothes.
6. It’s a new world record. f) I’ve been recording a new album.
7. That tyre looks a bit suspect. g) You are suspected of burglary.
8. The transport system in London. h) Can you transport this case?
9. England’s win was a major upset. i) I’m very upset about that.
10. Sales have decreased sharply. j) There’s been a decrease in sales.

94
Intonation Review
TASTER L8.20 Listen to the conversation several times.
A | ¹Shall we get some of those ↘↗oysters? |
B | ²Well they look rather ↘tasty | ³↘don’t they? |
A | ⁴↘Yes | ⁵How many shall we ↘get | ⁶Two ↗dozen? |
B | ⁷Two ↘↗dozen | ⁸Are you out of your ↘↗mind? |
| ⁹It’s only you and I ↘eating tonight | ¹⁰↗isn’t it? |
A | ¹¹↘↗ No | ¹²↘Jane’s coming over | ¹³She’ll eat a ↘dozen |

| ¹⁴↘easily |
B | ¹⁵Oh well if ↘↗Jane’s coming over | ¹⁶we’d better get ↘three dozen|
a) EXERCISE - Place each sentence (nos 1-16) into one of the categories below:
2
a) ↘ New Information ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
b) ↘ New Information Question - Speaker does not know the answer. ___
c) ↘ Question Tag - Speaker knows the answer. ___
d) ↘↗ Yes/No question. ___ ___
e) ↘↗ Repeat Information. ___

f) ↘↗ Polite correction ___
g) ↘↗ Subordinate Clause ___
h) ↗ Question Tag - Speaker uncertain of answer. ___
i) ↗ Yes/no question ___
b) EXERCISE L8.21 Listen and check your answers

95
c) EXERCISE - Study the chart below, it shows the intonation covered on this course:
↘ ↘↗ ↗
Wh- Question new repeat repeat
Yes/No Question serious / open friendly / closed friendly / surprise /

meaning meaning closed meaning
Information new repeat repeat
implicational fall-rise
polite correction
correction
Contrast Main clause list / subordinate list / subordinate
d) PRACTICE - Read the conversation, following the intonation patterns. The tonic syllable is
underlined in each unit and stress is marked /ˈ/. Try to explain the use in each pattern.
A |¹ Are you ˈback in ↘↗England |

B | ²↘ Yes |³ I’ve ˈjust arrived ↘ˈnow |
A |⁴ So did you ˈhave a nice ↘↗time in Paris |
B |⁵ ↘Fantastic |⁶ I ↘loved it |

A |⁷ ˈWhat were the ↘museums like |
B |⁸ There are ˈso ↘many |⁹ I didn’t have time to ↘↗see them all |
A |¹⁰ Did you ˈgo to the ↘↗Louvre |

B |¹¹ It ˈfeels like I spent an entire ↘day there |
A |¹² ˈHow about the ↘food |¹³ What was ↘that like? |
B |¹⁴ The ˈbread and ˈcakes were ↘amazing |
|¹⁵ I ˈcouldn’t afford to eat ↘↗out much though |
A |¹⁶ Did you try ˈsnails or ↘↗frogs legs |
B |¹⁷ ↘↗No |¹⁸ but I ˈdidn’t see anyone ↘else eating them |¹⁹ ↘either |
A |²⁰ It ˈmust be a ↘myth |²¹ So do you fancy meeting ↘↗up later |
|²² You can ˈtell me all about it ↘then |
B |²³ ↘Absolutely |²⁴ The ˈKing’s ˈHead at ↗nine? |
e) EXERCISE L8.22 - Listen to the conversation and check your answers.

96

page 114.
Affricate

reduced vowel
suffix stress
| wɒt ə ju du.ɪŋ ‖
ˈexport / exˈport
↘ ↘↗ ↗

97
ANSWER KEY
CHAPTER 1
Consonant Sounds - Mouth Diagrams
b) EXERCISE - 1/c 2/f 3/a 4/g 5/e 6/b 7/d
Vowl Sounds - Introduction
b) EXERCISE L1.3 - 1.L 2.S 3.D 4.S 5.D 6.L 7.L 8.L 9.D 10.S 11.D
12.S 13.S 14.D 15.L (Can be S when weak) 16. S 17. D
18. L 19. L 20. S
Spelling & Sound - Voicing
TASTER L1.4 - ‘pəә təә kəә’ all produce more air than ‘bəә dəә gəә’.
a) EXERCISE L1.5 - walked = voiceless /t/ entered = voiced /d/ present = voiced /z/
price = voiceless /s/ bake = voiced /b/ sprout = voiced /b/
Paul = voiceless /p/ yes = voiceless /s/ was = voiced /z/
thought = voiceless /θ/ those = voiced /ð/
b) EXERCISE L1.6 - 1. plays 2. place 3. lights 4. freeze

- plays & freeze contain voiced /z/, place & lights contain voiceless /s/
- The spelling < s > does not show us the voicing.
c) EXERCISE L1.7 -
Voiceless - lease, loose, lights, it’s, what’s, crease, us, pass, stop, chase
Voiced - plays, lose, was, peas, is, please, as, he’s, who’s,
IPA - Introduction
b) EXERCISE - L1.9 NAME IT!
Category IPA
colour bəˈnɑ:nə
city ˈkærəlaɪn
man’s name
məˈseɪdɪz
woman’s name
ˈkwi:n ɪˈlɪzəbəθ
make of car
ˈpɜ:pəl
fruit
məˈdrɪd
vegetable
ˈtɒməs
animal
ˈkærət
famous English man
ˈpɔ:tʃəgəl
famous English woman
ˈeləfənt,
sport
ˈdeɪvɪd ˈbekəm
country
kəˈnu:.ɪŋ

98
ANSWER KEY
Speech Structure - Schwa
EXERCISE L1.12 - England, mother, potato, bottomless, congratulations, darken,

particular, London
Intonation - Introduction
EXERCISE L1.21 - 1. ↘↗ 2. ↘ 3. ↗ 4. ↘ 5. ↗ 6. ↘↗ 7. ↘↗
CHAPTER 2
b) EXERCISE
1. I think she’s fine though.
2. Shall we measure the volume?
3. Sleep is the mother of invention.
4. The first thing Safi saw was the North
5. Thanks ever so much.
d) EXERCISE L2.4
θ ð
think bath thought theatre thorough these bathe though further mother
authorise breath faith North thanks cloth breathe Northern the clothes feather
thigh fourth worth South with there father Southern
Vowel Sounds - Long
b) EXERCISE L2.6
i: u: ɜ: ɔ: ɑ:
please achieve improve chew word further cause court heart calm
machine steep booze lose turkey heard restore chalk mark laugh
police relieve reduce loose internal worm raw poor floor palm dance
these new shirt

99
ANSWER KEY
Spelling & Sound < r >
a) EXERCISE L2.8
EG Her interest is in Romanian card tricks.
1. Rain water is the most important resource we have.

2. Could mister Roberts come to the airport security desk.
3. Where are you going to get spare parts?
4. Four and a half hours later it was still burning.
5. Let’s go for a walk in the park.
6. That’s rather a fast car, Charles.
c) EXERCISE L2.9 ! bath sharp court/caught learn door
! ! ! park peace/piece worse move car
! ! ! leave short water hard need
! ! ! burger internal appalling law bought
d) EXERCISE
! alarm /əˈlɑ:m/ Portugal /ˈpɔ:tʃəgəl/ balloon /bəˈlu:n/ achievement /əˈtʃi:vmənt/
! happiness /ˈhæpɪnəs/ guardian /ˈgɑ:di.ən/
! NOTE - Some dictionaries may have slightly different transcriptions.
IPA - Crossword
a) EXERCISE
Across - 1. nu:n 3. ɔ:fəl 6. pi:tə 7. ɜ:θ 9. fɑ:m 10. tɔ: 11. ɑ:t 14. tɜ:nə 16.
ɔ:fən 17. ʃɑ:pən 18. dʒu:n
Down - 2. nɔ:ðən 4. əlɜ:t 5. si:m 6. pɑ:t 8. θɔ:t 9. fɑ:stə 12. məʃi:n 13. səpɔ:t
15. ɜ:n
a) EXERCISE
1. A weak B strong! 2. A strong B weak! ! 3. A weak B strong
4. A weak B strong! 5. A weak B strong! ! 6. A strong B weak
Structure - Weak Forms
a) EXERCISE L2.13
ə i or ɪ
father machine annoy shepherd compose walking risky employ market Spanish
occur rubber London England funny running money enough
shopping between

100
ANSWER KEY
Intonation - Information Questions Tonic Syllable in brackets.
c) EXERCISE L2.19
1. ↘ (been) 2. ↗ (whose) 3. ↘ (teacher) 4. ↘ (apples) 5. ↗ (how)
6. ↗ (whose) 7. ↘ (tie) 8. ↗ (where) 9. ↘ (they)
d) EXERCISE L2.20
1. ↘ (say) 2. ↗ (who) 3. ↘ (film) 4. ↗ (where) 5. ↘ (going)
CHAPTER 3
Vowel Sounds - Short
b) EXERCISE L3.6
ɪ ʊ e ʌ æ ɒ
injure tick butcher head Fred love son sad fan chocolate
chicken list wool look when let none hunt match Harry watch rob
pin sit link put could bread send summer plastic pad what
woman West enough sun rabbit Australia
should solve box
Spelling & Sound <ed>
TASTER - /ʃɪpt/ /drægd/ /lɪftɪd/
a) EXERCISE L3.8
/t/ /d/ /ɪd/
stopped finished raked played fined prized wanted wasted pleaded

faced clocked shopped fostered fried murdered hinted printed plotted
liked rocked strayed bored lasted interested
IPA - Long & Short Vowels
a) EXERCISE
tu: pɪg +:t fɔ: hænd bɜ:d bel sʌn klɒk kɑ: bʊk
b) EXERCISE
1. A) ɒ ʌ ɑ: B) e æ 2. A) ɔ: B) i: 3. A) ɜ: B) æ ɜ:
4. A) ʊ i: B) ɒ ʊ 5. A) u: B) u: ɜ:

101
ANSWER KEY
Structure - Weak Vowel Joining
c) EXERCISE L3.17
1. ə ju 2. həv ən 3. də ju əs tə 4. tu ə 5. ɪts ɪn ə əv 6. dɪd ju ðə

7. ʃi ɪm tu 8. ə wi tə ðə fə 9. əv ju 10. ɪt wəz ən
Intonation - Yes/No Questions
TASTER - 1. Serious 2. Friendly 3. Surprised
d) EXERCISE L3.22
1. ↗ 2. ↘ 3. ↘↗ 4. ↘↗ 5. ↘↗ 6. ↗ 7. ↘↗ 8. ↘ 9. ↘↗ 10. ↘
e) EXERCISE L3.23
Use sound file to check answers.
d) EXERCISE L3.24
1. seen (↘↗) 2. effort (↘↗) 3. cold (↘) 4. Is (↘↗)
5. help (↘↗) 6. welcoming (↘↗)
CHAPTER 4
Consonant Sounds - Nasals
TASTER L4.0 - “I havenʼt got any money on me!” He cannot say the nasal sounds /n/ or
! ! /m/
Vowel Sounds - Diphthong
b) EXERCISE L4.8
eɪ ɔɪ aɪ əʊ aʊ ɪə eə
b bay boy buy bow bow beer bear
g gay guy go gear
dʒ Jay joy Joe jeer
r ray rye row row rear rare
hear/here hair/hare
h here high/hi how
t toy tie/Thai toe/tow tear tear
s say soy sigh sew/so sear

102
ANSWER KEY
Spelling & Sound <s>
TASTER - /stɒps/ /pleɪz/ /fɪnɪʃɪz/
a) EXERCISE L4.10
/s/ /z/ /ɪz/
stops thinks marks things Joeʼs employerʼs finishes watches Lizʼs

servants Iraqʼs whatʼs Englands howʼs taxis bossʼs Greeceʼs whoseʼe
carts ants lions plays busʼs horses
IPA - Countries & Capitals
a) EXERCISE
ˈwɔ:sɔ: ___10___ helˈsɪŋki ___11___ ˈæŋkərə ___9___
beɪˈdʒɪŋ ___7___ ˈedɪmbʌrə ___13___ ˈwɒʃɪŋtən ___15___
məˈdrɪd ___14___ ˈbrʌsəlz ___12___ ˌnaɪˈrəʊbi ___3___
sʌ.ul ___8___ kəˈbʊl ___5___ ˈtrɪpəli ___17___
dʒəˈhænəzˌbɜ:g ___2___ nju: ˈdelɪ ___6___ ˈri.æd ___4___
brəˈzɪlɪə ___18___ ˈæθənz ___16___ ˈli:mə ___1___
c) EXERCISE
frɑ:ns weɪlz ˈrʌʃə dʒəˈpæn ˈfɪnlənd
Structure - Joining
c) EXERCISE L4.17
1. It's now ͜ !or never. 8. There's ͜ a bar ͜ on the first floor

2. It was so ͜ interesting! 9. Is ͜ it ͜ a car ͜ over there?
3. You'll pay ͜ a lot for ͜ a new bike. 10. I might refer ͜ another student to
4. It's ͜ a toy ͜ in ͜ a box. you.
5. Change gear ͜ in a moment. 11. I like tea ͜ in the ͜ afternoon.
6. Where ͜ are you going? 12. He flew ͜ into that joke!
7. He tore ͜ into the meat.
d) EXERCISE L4.18
I saw an eagle. (r) He isnʼt there. (j) How awful. (w)

High above the trees (j) Why arenʼt you here? (j) Poor effort. (r)
Go away. (w) Come to India next year. (w) A pair of shoes. (r)
Wild boar are dangerous. (r) I prefer orange. (r) War and peace. (r)
Itʼs really interesting. (j) Her arm is in a sling. (r) She understood you. (j)
True or false. (w) Near or far. (r) I dare anyone to go. (r) Law and order. (r)

103
ANSWER KEY
Blue or green. (w) The only problem. (j) Iʼll wear it tonight. (r)
Be a good boy. (j) Grow up. (w) Employ another writer. (j)
Intonation - Question Tags.
TASTER - Itʼs a bit cold, ↘isnʼt it? Speaker knows it is cold.

! Itʼs a bit cold, ↗isnʼt it? Speaker is uncertain of the answer.
! Itʼs a bit cold, ↗is it? Speaker possibly being sarcastic.
b) EXERCISE L4.22
1. ↗ 2. ↘ 3. ↗ 4. ↗ 5. ↘ 6. ↗ 7. ↘ 8. ↗ 9. ↗ 10. ↗
d) EXERCISE L4.23 - Use recording to check.
e) EXERCISE L4.24
A Beautiful day, ↘isn’t it? speaker knows answer

B Not bad.
A It hasn’t been this warm for months, ↘has it? speaker knows answer
B No. Let’s go out then, ↗shall we? suggestion
A We could do. Where do you want to go?

imperative
B I don’t know. Pass me the paper, ↗will you? I think ‘News at 1’ is on.

reply tag speaker needs an answer
A ↗Is it? But you aren’t going to watch telly, ↗are you?
B Well......

positive / positive
A The first sight of the sun in months and you’d stay in, ↗would you?
B Alright, alright. I’ll get my coat.
CHAPTER 5
Consonants - Silent <h>
b) EXERCISE L5.6
1. Has he honoured the payment?

2. I’ve had enough of her new hairstyle.
3. Honestly, has she finished her homework?
4. Harry asked if he could have shepherd’s pie tonight.
5. It’s hours since he last had anything to eat.
6. Both his computer and his bike were taken by thieves.

104
ANSWER KEY
Diphthongs Ending /ʊ/
f) EXERCISE L5.15 - Use recording for answers.
g) EXERCISE L5.16
Snow Plough.
You can’t get raʊnd the snəәʊ,
Can’t gəәʊ əәʊvəә the snəәʊ.
dəәʊnt you nəәʊ?
At this məәʊməәnt I’m əәləәʊn,
wɪðaʊt a saʊnd,
Away from həәʊm,
What do I really need naʊ?
A snəәʊ plaʊ.
Spelling & Sound - Have
a) EXERCISE
sentence pronunciation
Have you seen the time? həv
Do we have to go? hæf
you should have told me earlier əv
I’ll have a shower and then we’ll go hæv
IPA - Transcribing Words
TASTER - quite, x-ray, yellow, corn.
b) EXERCISE
1. kri:s 2. ˈfeɪʃəәl 3. ˈkwɔ:təә 4. ˈeksreɪ 5. leɪs 6. kwɪt 7. ɪgˈzæm
8. jəәʊk 9. kæb 10. kwaɪt 11. ɪksˈtend 12. yel 13. feɪs 14. kwɪk
15. ɪgzɪst 16. kraɪ
Structure - Contractions
TASTER L5.19
- The recording contains contractions, the written conversation does not.
- ‘you’ve’, ‘don’t’, ‘don’t’, ‘might’ve’, ‘you’re’, ‘he’s’.

105
ANSWER KEY
b) EXERCISE L5.22
A Are you going away this year?

B We are thinking of going to Poland.
A Why have you chosen to go there?
B Cracow is a beautiful place, and my husband has cousins there
A I cannot see the road properly.

B It might have been a good idea to bring a torch.
A There is one in the car, but it is too late to go back now.
B You are probably right.
A John and Jane are coming over tonight.

B You could have told me a bit earlier.
A I did not know until this afternoon. Anyway, they will be here at 7.
B At seven? That is in half an hour. What are we going to eat?
Intonation - Tone Units
b) EXERCISE L5.25
1. ↘↗ hungry 2. ↘↗ you 3. ↘ doing 4. ↘ know 5. ↘↗ pronunciation

6. ↗ why 7. ↘↗ left 8. ↘ would 9. ↘ here 10. ↘↗ hoped
c) EXERCISE L5.26
A) 3, 1, 2 B) 2, 3, 1 C) 1, 3, 2 D) 2, 1, 3
CHAPTER 4
Consonant Sounds - Approximants
g) EXERCISE L6.7
It was a cold winter’s Tuesday in West London. The sky looked

quite yellow, and the trees were swaying in the wind. It looked
like it might snow, but Rob wasn’t really worried about the
weather. His only concern was writing the report which was to
be released from the Ministry of Defence the following day.
‘Britain In Crisis’ was the title, and Rob was going to brief the
Prime Minister on the exact details in a few hours.

106
ANSWER KEY
Joining - Diphthongs Ending /ɪ/
f) EXERCISE L6.14 - Use recording to check answers.
Spelling & Sound - /t/ and /?/
1. t 2. tʃ or ʔ 3. t 4. t t 5. tʃ 6. t 7. t ʔ 8. t t ʔ 9. ʔ ʔ t
10. t 11. ʔ t t 12. ʔ
IPA - The Alphabet
a) EXERCISE
/eɪ/ ʲ /i:/ ʲ /e/ /aɪ/ ʲ /əʊ/ ʷ /u:/ ʷ /ɑ:/ ʳ
a b f i o Q r
h c l y u
j d m w
k e n
g s
p x
t z
v
b) EXERCISE
1. magdelaine 2. summerfield 3. hiccough 4. reentered 5. lillingstone
c) EXERCISE
magdelaine = | em eɪ dʒi: di: ͜ ʲ i: ͜ ʲ el eɪ ͜ ʲ aɪ ͜ ʲ en i: |

summerfield = | es ju: ͜ ʷ em em i: ͜ ʲ ɑ: ͜ ʳ ef aɪ ͜ ʲ i: ͜ ʲ el di: |
hiccough = | eɪtʃ aɪ si: si: ͜ ʲ əәʊ ju: dʒi: ͜ ʲ eɪtʃ |
reentered = | ɑ: ͜ ʳ i: ͜ ʲ i: ͜ ʲ en ti: ͜ ʲ i: ͜ ʲ ɑ: ͜ ʳ i: d |
lillingstone = | el aɪ ͜ ʲ el el aɪ ͜ ʲ en dʒi: ͜ ʲ es ti: ͜ ʲ əәʊ ͜ ʷ en i: |
Structure - Prominence & Stress
TASTER L6.20 - Person B does not stress ‘coffee’ or ‘sugar’ because both of these
words have already been used in the conversation. They are not new information.
a) EXERCISE L6.21
1. A vodka/tonic B gin/me 2. A milk B allergic
3. A Joe B From 4. A putting/apple/tart B pear

107
ANSWER KEY
c) EXERCISE L6.23 - Use recording for answers.
d) EXERCISE L6.24
1. drive 2. Coltrane 3. tart 4. Golf 5. never 6. stand
Intonation - The Fall-Rise
TASTER L6.25
I’d like to go to ↘Iceland. = Fact
I’d ↘↗like to go to Iceland. = Implication, we expect the speaker will not go.
c) EXERCISE L6.29 - Use the recroding for answers.
d) EXERCISE L6.30 - Use the recording for answers.
e) EXERCISE L6.31 -
A | Are we going ↘↗out tonight? | Yes/No Question

B | Well I’d ↘↗like to | Implicational Fall-rise

| but I have to finish this ↘essay. | New Information
A | How much longer do you ↘need? | New Information Question

B | I’d say about two ↘ hours. | New Information
A | Two ↘↗hours! | Repeat Information
| I can’t wait ↘↗that long. | Implicational Fall-rise

B | I’ll do the best I ↘can! | New Information
CHAPTER 7
Spelling & Sound - ‘Are’
a) EXERCISE L7.16
1. əә 2. əәr 3. əә 4. ɑ:nt 5. ɑ: 6. əә 7. ɑ:nt 8. ɑ: 9. əә
IPA - Syllabic Consonants
a) EXERCISE
2. ˈprɒbəbl ̩/ ˈprɒbəbᵊl 3. ˈlɪtl ̩/ ˈlɪtᵊl 4. ˈfɪdl ̩/ ˈfɪdᵊl 5. ˈmedl ̩/ medᵊl
6. pɑ:sl ̩/ ˈpɑ:sᵊl 7. ˈflætn ̩/ ˈflætᵊn 8. ˈɒfn ̩/ ˈɒfᵊn 9. sʌdn ̩/ sʌdᵊn
10. ɪnˈfleɪʃn ̩/ ɪnˈfleɪʃᵊn 11. pæʃn ̩/ pæʃᵊn 12. sevn ̩/ sevᵊn

108
ANSWER KEY
Structure - Compounds
TASTER L7.17
‘E-mail!’ she replied, ‘What on earth is an e-mail?’.

I calmly started to explain, but this gave me a headache, so I
stopped and made our usual mid-morning filter coffee. We sat at the
kitchen table and I had another go.‘Your e-mail address is “Jane Smith at
hotmail dot com”’ I said.
‘But I live on Baker Street’ she replied. How on earth will it find
me?’. I was about to explain that the internet had replaced the postman,
but I thought better of it.
b) EXERCISE
1. Does anybody have a screwdriver?! ! 2. Shall we go to the supermarket?
3. Are you a bricklayer?! ! ! ! 4. Where are my car keys?!
5. Whatʼs your brother-in-lawʼs surname?!! 6. Do you accept credit cards?
7. Are those plants alright in the greenhouse?! 8. Whereʼs my T-shirt?
9. Can I ask you something.!! ! 10. Will you come to my birthday party?
f) EXERCISE
First Element Stress Double Stress
fire brigade, policeman, Boxing Day, country garden, tuna sandwich,

Regent Street, steering wheel, apple summer solstice, winter olympics,
juice, chocolate cake, train station, Christmas Day, John Humphreys,
newspapers, armchair garden shed, egg salad, apple tart,
Hackney Road
Intonation - Contrast
TASTER L7.26
We didn’t move to Spain because it’s ↘hot. =
The reason we did not move to spain was the fact that Spain is hot.
We didn’t move to Spain because it’s ↘↗hot. =
We moved to Spain, but the reason was not the hot weather.
a) EXERCISE L7.28
1. B/A 2. B/A 3. A/B 4. A/B
c) EXERCISE L7.30
When you arrive at Gatwick airport ↘↗ ☐ take the Southern train ↘↗
☐
to London Victoria ↘ ☐ It will take about half an hour ↘ ☐
☐ If you canʼt afford the train ↘↗
if you take the fast train ↗ ☐
there is a coach ↘ ☐ but it takes an hour and a half ↘ ☐
At Victoria station ↘↗
☐ youʼll see a statue of Queen Mary ☐ ↘
☐ underneath it ☐
My sister will be waiting for you ↘↗ ↘

109
ANSWER KEY
CHAPTER 8
Consonant Sounds - Affricates
b) EXERCISE L8.2
1.
A Did you watch the match on Tuesday?
B I can’t imagine how Manchester City won!
2.
A Where did you go on holiday last year?
B To Germany in March and then China in June.
3.
A I have a question. Are you a bachelor or are you married?
B I’m a bachelor, why do you ask?
e) EXERCISE L8.3 - Use recording to check answers.
Reduced Vowels
TASTER L8.4 - ‘lose’ contains the longest vowel sound.
b) EXERCISE L8.6
1. I’m going to the shops for a loaf of bread
|. X . . . X |. . X . X |
r f r f
2. Can you buy some more oranges | and pick up a bottle of wine?
|. . X . X X. . | | . X . . X . . X |
r f r r r f
3. Yes. Do we need anything else?
|X| . . X . . . X |
r! ! r! ! !f
4. No. I don’t think so. Oh, maybe a couple of pints of milk.
|X|. X X X | X |X . . X . . X . X |
f f f f f r r r f
5. Fine. See you later then.
| X | X . X. . |
f r r
d) EXERCISE L8.7
2. side f 3. moment r 4. worn f 5. machine f 6. lose f
7. round f 8. father r 9. where/wear f 10. bird f

110
ANSWER KEY
Spelling & Sound - Suffixes
a) PRACTICE L8.9
fanˈtastic ˈbeautiful ˈAfrican Congoˈlese evaluˈation ˈsummarize

ˈmountain mountaiˈneer ˈpartially partiˈality ˈprofitable emploˈyee
statuˈesque pronunciˈation ˈbottomless faˈnatic fundaˈmentalist
b) EXERCISE
Chiˈnese ˈSpanish Coˈlumbian Iˈranian ˈSwedish ˈTurkish
ˈSerbian Taiwaˈnese Ausˈtralian ˈChilean ˈFinnish Malˈtese
IPA - Transcription
TASTER - Intonation and joining are not shown.
1. | aɪd laɪk əә ˈtɪkɪt təә ˈlʌndəәn pli:z |

2. | wəәd ju laɪk əә ˈsɪŋgᵊl | ɔ:r əә rɪˈtɜ:n |
3. | aɪɫ bi ˈkʌmɪŋ bæk ɒn ˈtju:zdeɪ | ɪn ði ˈi:vnɪŋ |
4. | ðæts ˈθɜ:ti ˈpaʊnz ðen sɜ: |
Structure - Shifting Stress
TASTER L8.13
Don’t let the ˈhandle go. Stress is on ‘handle’.
Can you let ˈgo of me? Stress is on ‘go’.
d) EXERCISE L8.20
2. conˈvicted b) ˈconvict
3. fiˈnance c) ˈfinances
4. proˈceed d) ˈproceeds
5. ˈExports e) exˈports
6. ˈrecord f) reˈcording
7. ˈsuspect g) susˈpected
8. ˈtransport h) transˈport
9. ˈupset i) upˈset
10. deˈcreased j) ˈdecrease
Intonation Review
a) EXERCISE Use recording L8.22 to check.
d) EXERCISE L8.23
1. Yes/no friendly 2. New information 3. New information

4. Yes/no friendly 5. New information 6. New information 7. Wh Question
- New Information 8. New Information 9. Implicational fall-rise
10. Yes/no friendly 11. New information 12. Wh question - new information
13. Wh Question - New Information 14. New information
15. Implicational fall-rise 16. Yes/no friendly 17. Implicational fall-rise
18. New information 19. New information 20. New information
21. Yes/no friendly 22. New information

111
End Of Unit Checklist Answers
End Of Unit Checklist 1
Vowel Sound - A voiced sound made by shaping the flow of air in the mouth. There are
three types of vowel sound in English: short, long and diphthong.
Consonant Sound - A sound made by blocking the flow of air in the mouth. There are
different types of consonant sound in English: plosives and fricatives
for example.
Tonic Syllable - The most important syllable in a unit/sentence of speech. The intonation
pattern starts here and ends at the end of the unit/sentence.
Voiced/Voiceless - Voiced sounds use vibration in the voice box whereas voiceless
sounds only use air. Compare /z/ (voiced) with /s/ (voiceless).
Schwa /əә/ - The most common vowel sound in English. It is neutral and appears in
unstressed syllables of words and sentences. The schwas in this sentence
are in bold.
↘ ↘↗ ↗ - The three intonation patterns in English: fall, fall-rise, rise.
Fricative Consonant - Made by aqueezing the air through a tight gap in the mouth. There
are 8 fricatives in English: /f/ /v/ /θ/ /ð/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/
Long Vowel Sound - There are five long vowels in English: /i:/ /u:/ /ɜ:/ /ɔ:/ /ɑ:/
Silent < r > - In spoken English < r > is only pronounce before a vowel sound. It will be
silent before a consonant or if there is no following sound.
Weak Form - Spoken English is made up of strong and weak forms. Weak forms appear
in unstressed syllables and are most commonly /əә/ or /ɪ/. The weak forms in
this sentence are in bold.
New Information Question - A question which begins with a wh- word (or how) and where
the speaker does not know the answer. These use ↘ falling intonation.
Repeat Information Question - A question which begins with a wh- word (or how) and
where the speaker already knows the answer. These use ↗ rising or ↘↗
fall-rising intonation.

112
Plosive Consonant - Made by completely blocking the air flow in the mouth then suddenly
releasing it like an explosion. There are six plosives in English: /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/.
Short Vowel Sounds - The six strong short vowels of English are /ɪ/ /ʊ/ /e/ /ʌ/ /æ/ /ɒ/.
< ed > endings - An < ed > ending can be pronounced /t/, /d/ or /ɪd/. This depends on the
last sound of the root word.
4 Weak Vowels - /əә/ /ɪ/ /i/ /u/ These are found in unstressed syllables of words and
sentences.
tu/təә, ðəә/ði - The words ‘to’ and ‘the’ change before a vowel.
Yes/No Question Intonation - Yes/no questions can use ↘ falling ↘↗ fall-rising or ↗

rising intonation, this will change the feeling and attitude of the question. The
most common pattern in British English is ↘↗fall-rising.
Nasal Consonants - Made partly through the nose. There are three nasals in English - /n/, /
m/ and /ŋ/
Diphthong Vowels - A combination of two vowel sounds.
< s > endings - An < s > ending can be pronounced /s/, /z/ or /ɪz/. This depends on the
last sound of the root word.
Joining - When the next word begins with a vowel, we join it to the previous word.
/j/ /r/ /w/ joiners - When the next word begins with a vowel and the previous word ends with
a vowel, we join the two words with a /j/, /r/, or /w/. This depends on the first
word.
Question Tags - Standard tags use ↘ falling or ↗ rising intonation. Imperatives,

positive/positive and suggestions all use rising intonation.

113
Glottal Consonants - There are 2 glottal consonant sounds in British English - /h/ & /ʔ/.
/əәʊ/ & /aʊ/ - Two diphthongs ending in /ʊ/. EG ‘no’, ‘now’.
c, q, x, y - Letters in the alphabet that do not appear in the English IPA alphabet.
‘ - Contractions occur when certain auxiliary verbs (be, do, have, would, will) shorten in
speech.
| ↘ˈtəәʊn ju:nɪts | - We speak in tone units, every unit has a tonic syllable and an intonation
pattern.
Approximant Consonant Sound - Vowel like consonants that do not involve any contact of
the tongue or teeth in the mouth.
eɪ aɪ ɔɪ - Three diphthong vowels ending /ɪ/. EG ‘bay’, ‘buy’, ‘boy’.
Prominence - Strong stress placed on words that contain important information in the
conversation. In phonetics, prominence is marked /ˈ/ before the syllable. The
last prominent word in any unit is the ‘Tonic Syllable’.
abcdefg - The alphabet. Many letters are joined when we spell them aloud.
↘↗ - The fall-rise has many uses in British English: implication, repetition, correction,
yes/no questions.

114
/l/ & /ɫ/ - The two < l > sounds. /l/ appears at the beginning of a syllable (eg. lost), /ɫ/
appears at the end (eg. ball).
ɪəә eəә - Two diphthongs ending /əә/. EG ‘beer’, ‘bear’. There is a third diphthong /ʊəә/ which
is not common in neutral accents, EG ‘boar’.
̩l ᵊl - Syllabic consonants - there is no vowel, but there clearly is a syllable.
Compounds - A combination of two words which have a singular meaning. Most are
stressed on the first word (eg. ˈfootball) but others are double stressed (eg.
ˈkitchen ˈsink).
are - Can be pronounced in many different ways. It is normally weak (əә) and joins with /r/ if
the next sound is a vowel.
if....↗ | then....↘ - Contrast intonation, it uses rising intonation on the subordinate clause
and falling intonation on the main clause.
Affricate - A consonant sound made up of a plosive directly followed by a fricative. There

are two of these in English: /tʃ/ and /dʒ/.
Reduced Vowel - A vowel sound will become shorter if followed by a weak form or a
voiceless consonant.
Suffix Stress - A suffix is added to a word to change it’s form. Some suffixes (eg. -ment) do
not change the stress of the word, others (eg. -al) do change the stress of
the word.
| ˈwɒt əә ju ˈdu.ɪnŋ ǁ‖ - A phonemic transcription of the sentence ‘What are you doing?’.
Phonemic transcriptions show sounds and stress, but do not show
details such as mouth position and tone.
ˈexport / exˈport - Shifting stress changes the word from a noun to a verb.
↘ ↘↗ ↗ - The three intonation patterns of spoken English.

An English Accent

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An English Accent

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This book was written and recorded between 12/2009 - 03/2010 at the Pronunciation Studio and

Exo Studios in London.

© 2010 by Joe Hudson.

How to produce the different types of English consonant sound.

How to produce the 19 English vowel sounds.

Spelling & Sound

How to interpret written English in speech.

How to read and write in International Phonetic Alphabet.

How to speak with natural English rhythm and stress.

How to use the three English intonation patterns accurately.

General Study Advice

1 pg 1-12 2 pg 13-24 3 pg 25-36 4 pg 37-48

Consonant Introduction Fricatives Plosives Nasals

Vowel Sounds Introduction Long Vowels Short Vowels Diphthongs

IPA Introduction Crossword Transcription I Countries &

Speech Schwa / / Function Words Weak Vowels Joining

Intonation Introduction Wh- Questions Yes/No Question Tags

5 pg 49-60 6 pg 61-72 7 pg 73-84 8 pg 85-96

Consonant Glottal Sounds Approximants Lateral Affricates

Vowel Sounds Diphthongs Diphthongs Diphthongs Reduced

Spelling & Have <t> Are Suffixes

IPA Transcription II Alphabet Syllabic Transcription

Speech Contractions Prominence & Compounds Shifting Stress

Intonation Tone Units Fall-rise Contrast Review

Answer Key - pg 97-114

Vowel Sounds Introduction

Spelling & Sound Voicing loose / lose

IPA Introduction | pɜ:pəl |

www.anenglishaccent.com © Joe Hudson 2010

Consonant Sounds - Introduction

type of sound sound word-initial word-final

PLOSIVE /p/ park stop

Made by completely blocking the /b/ best lob

/d/ done paid

/k/ cart lake

/g/ guide flag

FRICATIVE /f/ fine knife

Made by pushing the air through a /v/ van leave

/ð/ those bathe

/s/ sort pass

/z/ zone cheese

/ʃ/ ship marsh

AFFRICATE /tʃ/ chart itch

Plosive followed by fricative. /dʒ/ giant page

NASAL /m/ main lime

Made partly through the nose. /n/ no rain

APPROXIMANT /w/ wall -

Imbetween a vowel and a /r/ right -

/l/ /ɫ/ like fall

GLOTTAL /h/ hate -

Produced in the glottis. /ʔ/ - what

www.anenglishaccent.com © Joe Hudson 2010

Consonant Sounds - Mouth Diagram

Diagram Of The Mouth

1.____! ! ! ! 2. ____! ! ! ! 3.__ a__

4.____! ! ! 5.____! ! 6.____! ! ! 7.____!

www.anenglishaccent.com © Joe Hudson 2010

Vowel Sounds - Introduction

3. Sounds 1 - 12 are monothongs: they require one mouth position.

a) PRACTICE L 1.2 - Listen and repeat each word:

Short Vowels Long Vowel Sounds Diphthong Vowels

ɪ thin, i: need, eɪ pave

Long, Short or Diphthong?

1.! ! ! ! 2. ! ! ! ! 3. a

4.! ! ! 5.! ! 6.! ! ! 7.!

1. 2. 3. 4.