Episode 2: Small Talk
Post-Listening
- Warm-up Questions & Vocabulary
- Present Simple: Other Verbs
- Listening Practice
- Word Stress: Two Syllable Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Prepositions
- Rhythm: Sentence Stress
- Stop Consonants /t/ and /d/
- Intonation: Questions
- Fragments
- Reductions: I hear you, need to, What’s up?, How are you?
- Inference: Hesitation
- Review
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Reductions
“I hear you, need to, What’s up?, How are you?”
Which is the more common way to say this sentence, 1 or 2?
I hear you.
The second one.
That’s because the statement is reduced. A reduction happens when a sound is not said in a word or between words or when words are said less clearly.
When you agree with what someone just said, especially if you’ve had a similar experience, you can say I hear you. In this case, I hear you is often reduced since it’s a fast way of saying “I understand how you’re feeling.”
– I hear you can sound like I ear ya.
– need to can sound like needa.
Casual greetings can also be reduced.
– What’s up? can sound like Whassup or Wassup?
– How are you? can sound like Howarya?