Pronunciation and Present Progressive

[Zhani]

Hello! I'm Janet and I have an urgent question - is it a mistake if we write Tomas's playing in the ... or Tomas and Mark're playing ... Thank you in advance and I hope that I'll stay with you longer in the forums :D

[Ralf]

[Zhani]

Thanks a lot Ralf. I'm really aware of register in English written and spoken language but a colleague of mine asked me this question and I couldn't answer her - I have never heard about rules about not writing 's after names ending in -s in the Present Progressive.
Thanks!

[Zhani]

Sorry, are you really sure that it is possible to say Thomas's playing... and how could that be pronounced? One more question - can we say there're three books and....

[Prezbucky]

tahm-uh-suhz or tahm-uh-sihz

"uh" is the American schwa
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[Prezbucky]

and yeah, you could say both... but as Ralf said, if you're writing formally, you wouldn't want to write that way -- you'd want to break up the conjunction, writing each word separately.

there're = there are
Thomas's = Thomas is... und could also be the possessive form of 'Thomas'

But speaking-wise?

Go to town.
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Ralf]

[Prezbucky]

come on, man, let's teach him the strong-R'd American accent (at least non-northeastern American accents)!
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Ralf]

[Ralf]

Hi Tom,

YaknowyagotyarwobblinarsefromtheIrishdontya :)
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[Yankee]

That comment seems a little questionable, Ralf. Are you claiming that the strong pronunciation of R in AmE comes directly from the Irish?

Did you know that, as a percentage of total population, Massachusetts has more people with Irish ancestry than any other state in the US (nearly 25%)? New Hampshire and Rhode Island come in second and third (19% and 18% respectively).

If the pronunciation of R in American English comes directly from the Irish, why is it then that people in Boston generally don't pronounce Rs at the end of a word? Why is there is the same pronunciation tendency in both New Hampshire and Rhode Island? Why is it that in Utah, with under 6 % of the population being of Irish descent, the people speak English with a very strong R?
.
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[Ralf]

[Yankee]

Hi Janet

Contractions are quite common in spoken English. Sometimes you'll even hear three words contracted into one (usually a negative construction). In spoken English you'll regularly hear things such as these:

- Jim's going to college next fall. (Jim's = is)
- Mary and Sue'll be going to college next fall. (Sue'll = Sue will)
- The Smiths've moved to California. (Smiths've = Smiths have)
- What'd he do? (What'd = What did)
- What'll we do if he quits? (What'll = What will)
- John wouldn't've said that if the offer wasn't serious. (wouldn't've = would not have)
- You shouldn't've done that. (shouldn't've = should not have)

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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Lost_Soul]

Hi, Amy
What about these contractions:
"You should of said that" and "You shouldn't of said that" :D

They are my favourite. When I fisrt saw them, I failed to guess what that "of" might mean.

In passing, on several occasions I heard that people like to reduce "have" to "of" even when "have" goes first in the sentence, as in:
"Have you ever heard that" = "Of you ever heard that".
I'm curious if there is any contraction (like "I've") to write that sentence down?

[Yankee]

Hehe. :lol:

Those are examples of incorrectly written representations of spoken contractions, Alex. Writing of instead of 've or have is a common mistake -- especially for children in the early stages of learning how to write.

I'd of --- oops! I mean I'd've thought you knew that. :wink:
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