How to Speak FAST English with Reductions
Vanessa: Hi.
I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Are you ready to speak English fast?
Let’s do it.
Sometimes, it seems like native English speakers
are speaking ridiculously fast.
Usually, they are speaking fast.
In fact, the University of Lyon in France
did a study about these 10 languages.
They tested the speed of each language.
Can you guess which one was the fastest language?
English?
Nope.
Japanese.
What was the second fastest language?
English?
Nope.
Spanish.
Then French, then Italian and number five
was English.
Today, I’m going to help you to speak fast
English.
A couple of months ago, I made a video about
how to speak fast English.
You can check it out up here.
One of the concepts that we talked about was
reductions.
Today, we’re going to dig deeper into this
concept.
I hope that by the end of this lesson, you’re
going to be able to use these reductions and
speak quickly.
What is a reduction?
A reduction is when you take one, two or three
words, cut out some sounds and then combine
them to create a faster word.
By the end of this lesson, I hope you’ll be
able to use the top four reductions in English
plus one bonus one.
Are you ready?
Let’s get started.
I want to introduce each reduction with a
question.
For our first reduction, my question is, after
you watch this lesson, what are your plans?
For me, I could say after this lesson, I am
going to take a walk.
When we talk about the future in English,
we have two options.
We can use will.
I will take a walk or I am going to take a
walk.
Is that the fastest way to say this sentence?
I am going to take a walk?
No.
First, let’s make a contraction out of the
first two words.
I am becomes I’m.
I’m and then the next two words is our first
reduction.
We can say, I’m gonna take a walk.
What happened to the word ‘to’ here?
I’m gonna take a walk.
The word ‘to,’ simply changed into A.
I’m gonna take a walk.
Make sure that when you use this reduction,
you do not say, I’m gonna ‘to’ take a
walk.
Because we’ve already used the ‘to’ when
we changed it into A.
I’m gonna take a walk.
Now, I have a couple of sentences that I’d
like you to say out loud with me.
Can you repeat these out loud with me?
I’m gonna take a walk.
He’s gonna make a presentation.
They’re gonna bake a cake.
Let’s make those sentences negative.
I’m not gonna take a walk.
He’s not gonna give a presentation.
They’re not gonna bake a cake.
For reduction number two, I have a question.
Where is your dream location to visit?
There are a lot of wonderful places in the
world but for me, I’m gonna say that I want
to visit Norway.
Is this the fastest way to say this sentence?
I want to visit Norway?
No.
Let’s make a lovely reduction and say, I wanna
visit Norway.
What happened to the word ‘to’ here?
Does this look familiar?
The word ‘to’ changed to a.
I wanna visit Norway.
The same as before, make sure that you do
not say, I wanna ‘to’ visit Norway.
Nope.
We’ve already changed the ‘to’ into A.
You can simply say, I wanna visit Norway.
You probably know that in English, we need
the subject and the verb to agree.
That means we can say, I want, she wants.
There needs to be an S at the end.
Can we use this reduction when we change the
subject?
Can we say she wanna visit Norway?
No.
Because of that s, we need to include it.
She wants to visit Norway.
We need to add that s.
Now, I have a few sentences that I want you
to say out loud with me.
Are you ready?
I wanna visit Norway.
They wanna come over today.
If you’d like to know some other ways to use
the word come, check out my video up here
so that you can use that naturally.
Let’s make these sentences negative.
I don’t wanna visit Norway.
I don’t know who would say that because that’s
crazy.
Who doesn’t wanna visit Norway?
Let’s say that negatively.
I don’t wanna visit Norway.
They don’t wanna come over to my house.
For reduction number three, I have a question.
What do you need to do to improve your English
skills?
What do you need to do?
There’s a lot of things you could do.
If you wanna improve your English skills,
you might say, I have to study everyday.
Is this the fastest way to say this sentence?
I have to study everyday.
No.
Let’s make a reduction with the words have
and to.
I hafta study everyday.
You might notice that when I wrote this out,
the V changes to an F.
This is just because that’s what it sounds
like.
When we use these reductions, they’re always
in spoken English or in really informal writing
like a text message.
The way that you write it isn’t so important.
This isn’t formal papers or formal exams.
I wrote that F just to remind you that it
does sound like an F. I hafta study English
everyday.
What happened to that little word ‘to’?
Can you guess?
I bet you can.
You are an expert in this now.
The word to becomes A.
I hafta study English everyday.
What about if we change the subject?
I hafta study.
She hasta study.
The word she needs to agree with the verb
has, she has, he has.
Can we make this reduction?
She hasta study?
Yeah.
That’s great.
That’s no problem.
You can say I hafta study.
She hasta study.
We hafta study.
Now, I have a few sentences that I’d like
you to say with me.
I hafta study English everyday.
You hafta take the test.
She hasta call her mom.
Let’s make them negative.
I don’t hafta study everyday.
You don’t hafta take the test.
She doesn’t hafta call her mom.
What’s happening here with the verb conjugation?
Do you see that the word have is conjugated
the same way for each of these?
That’s because we have the word do.
The verb do has been added to these sentences.
That means that we conjugate the first verb.
I don’t, you don’t, she doesn’t.
This makes it beautifully grammatically correct.
For reduction number four, I have a question.
Before you cook a meal, what do you need to
do?
Before you cook a meal, what do you need to
do?
Well, before I cook a meal, I have got to
go to the grocery store.
I have got to buy some groceries.
Groceries are food that you get at the store.
Is this the fastest way to say this sentence?
I have got to buy some groceries?
No.
Let’s say, I gotta buy some groceries.
I gotta buy some groceries.
The full verb phrase I have got to is extremely
strong in English.
We rarely use this because it’s so strong.
You might use this for life or death situations.
You have got to wear a seat belt.
You have got to look both ways when you cross
the street.
For daily life, for buying groceries, we don’t
need to use that strong expression.
We can reduce this to say, I gotta buy groceries.
It makes it much less strong but it still
shows something that you need to do.
What in the world is happening with these
verbs?
I have got to buy some groceries.
I gotta buy some groceries.
Let’s review some of the things that we’ve
talked about.
Often, the word ‘to’ becomes A. I gotta
so we have the word to changing to that a
sound.
What’s happening with ‘have’?
It’s gone.
Completely gone but here, it is implied.
The word implied means that we know it’s there.
We need it to be grammatically correct but
we don’t say it.
This is something that’s implied or understood.
When something’s implied, for example, maybe
you tell your boyfriend, I want you to tell
me I love you more often.
He says, “Oh, well, I spent time with you.
I helped cook meals with you.
Of course, I love you.
I’m doing these things with you.
My love is implied.
My love is understood.
I don’t need to say it because you already
know it.”
Maybe that’s not okay with you.
You still want him to say it but that’s the
idea of implied.
It’s understood.
You know it’s there but you don’t necessarily
see it or hear it.
You can naturally say, I gotta buy groceries.
What about if you change the subject?
We’ve talked about the subject and the verb
agreeing.
Could you say he gotta wake up early?
No.
Because we have the full verb phrase he has
got to wake up early, we need to include that
S.
This is similar to what we talked about with
wants.
Here, we need to say, he’s gotta wake up early.
When we use gotta, the ‘have’ part or
the ‘has’ is not implied.
It’s added.
He’s gotta wake up early.
You could still use gotta but you need that
S. He’s gotta wake up early.
Let’s say a few sentences together so that
you can practice gotta.
I gotta buy some groceries.
What’s happening with this pronunciation?
In the middle of the word, there are two Ts.
These Ts are going to change to a D sound
in American English.
This is a typical concept in American English.
That when you have a T and a vowel on both
sides, the T’s going to sound like a D. I
gotta buy some groceries.
This is the same for the word water, sweater,
better.
If you’d like to know some other concepts
about how to use an American accent, you can
click on this video up here.
We go into depth into five specific things
that you can do to sound more like an American
English speaker.
Let’s say that sentence together.
I gotta buy some groceries.
You gotta chew with your mouth closed.
It’s considered polite.
He’s gotta wake up early.
He’s gotta.
Let’s see if we can make these sentences negative.
Can you say I don’t gotta buy some groceries?
Some people say this but it’s not considered
proper English so I don’t recommend using
this.
Instead, when you wanna use gotta in the negative
form, we need to use the word need.
I don’t need to buy some groceries.
You don’t need to chew with your mouth closed
maybe because there’s no one else in the room
so they don’t care.
He doesn’t need to wake up early.
Let’s go on to one final bonus reduction.
My question for you is, what are you doing
right now?
What are you doing right now as you’re watching
this lesson?
You might say, I’m trying to improve my pronunciation.
I’m trying to improve my pronunciation.
Is this the fastest way to say this sentence?
No, no, nope.
You can say, I’m tryna improve my pronunciation.
I’m tryna improve my pronunciation.
Let’s review some of those concepts we talked
about to figure out what is happening with
this reduction.
The word ‘to’ is gonna change to a, tryna,
a.
Why is there an N added here?
You might notice that with gonna and wanna,
we’ve added an N and it just sounds and feels
a little bit more natural to link those together.
I’m tryna improve my pronunciation.
You can’t say I’m try a, I’m try a, it doesn’t
feel and sound as smooth.
We need to say I’m tryna improve my pronunciation.
This is definitely for fast English so if
you’re speaking slowly or thinking about what
you’re saying, it’s best to use the full expression.
I’m trying to improve my pronunciation.
In fact, that’s the same for all of these
reductions.
If you need to speak slowly or you’re not
sure what you’re going to say, you’re taking
your time.
Make sure to use the full expression.
You don’t want to say, I’m gonna.
It’s best to say, I’m going to.
It feels more natural if you’re speaking slowly
to not use the reduction.
Because the purpose of these reductions is
to speak fast.
Let’s practice with tryna.
Can you say these sentences with me?
I’m tryna improve my pronunciation.
She’s tryna take a nap.
Do you see how all of those words are linked
together?
Tryna take, tryna take a nap.
She’s tryna take a nap.
They’re tryna find their dog.
They’re tryna find their dog.
When you use these reductions, it’s great
to link the words together quickly.
Let’s make these sentences negative.
I’m not tryna improve my pronunciation.
Okay.
She’s not tryna take a nap.
They’re not tryna find their dog because he’s
right there.
All right.
Did you get some pronunciation practice during
this lesson?
I hope so.
Let’s do a quick review and I’d like you to
say these sentences out loud to practice your
pronunciation and practice these natural reductions.
I’m gonna study English everyday.
I wanna improve my speaking skills.
I hafta practice with Vanessa.
I gotta remember these tips.
I’m tryna use them right now.
That was a fun pronunciation practice.
I hope that you can take these principles
and use them in your daily life when you use
English.
Now, I have a question for you.
Let me know in the comments what is something
that you gotta do tomorrow?
Write a sentence using gotta.
I gotta go to work.
I gotta exercise.
I gotta pick up my mom from the airport.
What’s something that you gotta do?
Thanks so much for learning English with me
and I’ll see you again next Friday for a new
lesson here on you my YouTube channel.
Bye.
The next step is to download my free e-book,
Five Steps to Becoming a Confident English
Speaker.
You’ll learn what you need to do to speak
confidently and fluently.
Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel
for more free lessons.
Thanks so much.
Bye.