Weak. Forms
1. 'the'
Weak forms: da (before consonants)
'Shut the door'   'fAt da do: di (before vowels)
'Wait for the end*   'wert fa di 'end
2. 'a', 'an'
Weak forms: a   (before consonants)
'Read a book'   'ri:d a 'buk an (before vowels)
'Eat an apple'   'i:t en 'sepj
i. 'and'
Weak form: an (sometimes 0 after t, d, S, z, J) 'Come and see'   'kAm an 'si: 'Fish and chips'   'fif n 'tfips
t. 'but'
Weak form: bat 'It's good but expensive'   its 'gud bat iks'pensiv
i. 'that' (This word only has a weak form when used in a relative clause; when used with a demonstrative sense it is always pronounced in its strong form.)
Weak form: daX 'The price is the thing that annoys me' da 'prais iz da 'Girj dat a'noiz mi
>. 'than'
Weak form: dan 'Better than ever' 'beta dan 'eva
'his' (when it occurs before a noun)
Weak form: iz (hiz at the beginning of a sentence)
'Take his name'   'teik iz 'neim (Another sense of 'his', as in 'it was his', or 'his was late', always has the strong form.)
i. 'her' (When used with possessive sense, preceding a noun; as an object pronoun, this can also occur at the end of a sentence.) Weak forms: 9   (before consonants)
'Take her home'   'teik a 'haum ar (before vowels) 'Take her out'   'teik ar 'aut
K 'your'
Weak forms: ja (before consonants)
'Take your time'   'teik ja 'taim jar (before vowels)
'On your own'   'on jar 'aun i. 'she', 'he', 'we', 'you'
This group of pronouns has weak forms pronounced with weaker vowels than the i: and u: of their strong forms. I will use the symbols i and U (in preference to I and u) to represent them. There is little difference in the pronunciation in different places in the sentence, except in the case of 'he'. Weak forms: 'she' fi
'Why did she read it?'   'wai did /i 'ri:d it
'Who is she?'   'hu: 'iz fi 'he'   i (the weak form is usually pronounced without h except at the beginning of a sentence)
'Which did he choose?'   'witj did i 'tju:z
'He was late, wasn't he?'   b\ waz 'leit 'WDZnt i
'we' wi
'How can we get there?'   'hau ken wi get tea 'We need that, don't we?'   wi 'ni:d dast 'daunt wi 'you' ju 'What do you think?'   'WDt da ju '8ir)k 'You like it, do you?'   ju 'talk rt 'du: ju
11. 'him'
Weak form: im
'Leave him alone'   'li:v im a'laun 'I've seen him'   aiv 'si:n im
12. 'her'
Weak form: a  (ha when sentence-initial)
'Ask her to come'   'a:sk a ta 'kAm 'I've met her'   aiv 'met a
13. 'them'
Weak form: 6am
'Leave them here'   'li:v Sam 'hia 'Eat them'   'i:t dam
14. 'us'
Weak form: as
'Write us a letter'   'rait as a 'leta 'They invited all of us'   dei m'varttd 'd:I av as
The next group of words (some prepositions and other function words) occur in their strong forms when they are final in a sentence; examples of this are given. (19 is a partial exception.)
15. 'at*
Weak form: at
i'll see you at lunch'   ail 'si: ju at 'lAnf
In final position: aet
'What's he shooting at?'   'WDtS i '/u:tin. aet
16. 'for'
Weak form: fa (before consonants)
'Tea for two'   'ti: fa 'tu: far (before vowels)
'Thanks for asking'   'Baerjks far 'a:skirj In final position: fo:
'What's that for?'   'WDtS 'daet fo:
17. 'from'
Weak form: fram
'I'm home from work'  aim 'haum fram 'W3:k
In final position: from
'Here's where it came from' 'hiaz wear it 'keim from
18. 'of'
Weak form: av
'Most of all'   'maust av 'o:l In final position: dv
'Someone I've heard of   'sAmwAn aiv 'h3:d dv
19. 'to'
Weak forms: ta (before consonants)
'Try to stop'   'trai ta 'stDp tu (before vowels) 'Time to eat'   'taim tu 'i:t In final position: tu (It is not usual to use the strong form tu:, and the pre-consonantal weak form ta is never used.)
i don't want to'   ai 'daunt 'wont tu
20. 'as'
Weak form: az
'As much as possible'   az 'mAtf az 'pDsibj In final position: aez
'That's what it was sold as' 'daets 'wDt it waz 'sauld aez