Unit 1 h /h/ at the beginning of words Unlike Italian, in English we usually pronounce the letter h at the beginning of words. There are a few exceptions, for example, hour, honest and honour. 1 T3.17 Listen to the sentences. Then listen 1 /h/ Annie and Ben are hugging. 2 /h/ How old are you? 3 /h/ Have you got a pet? 4 /h/ He s on holiday at the moment. 5 /-/ She s got an honest face. 2 T3.18 Listen to each sentence and write the correct sound: /h/ or /-/. 1 I hope everything s OK. 2 This TV show lasts an hour. 3 Meg helps people. 4 I m telling you the truth, honestly. 5 Are you happy? 6 It s an honour to meet you. Unit 2 Past Simple -ed endings /ɪd/ /t/ /d/ In English we pronounce -ed or -d of the Past simple form of regular verbs in three ways depending on the sound which comes before it: /ɪd/ only when a verb ends in /t/ or/d/ /t/ after unvoiced (or silent) sounds at the end of a verb, for example, after /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/ /d/ after voiced sounds at the end of a verb (most other verbs), for example, after /b/, /ɡ/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /r/, /v/, /w/ 1 T3.19 Listen to the words. Then listen again 1 /ɪd/ recorded wanted painted 2 /t/ finished watched checked 3 /d/ enjoyed argued lived 2 T3.20 Listen and repeat the sounds. Then /ɪd/ /t/ /d/ helped stayed excluded respected cooked arrived shared evicted shouted visited cleaned listened walked asked shocked English plus Pre-Intermediate Pronunciation Units 1 2
Unit 3 Sentence stress In English not all the words in a sentence are stressed. We stress words which give us the most important information, usually nouns, verbs and adjectives. Words like articles or prepositions and sometimes the verb be and some auxiliary verbs are not usually stressed. In these unstressed words we often pronounce the vowel with the schwa sound /ə/. 1 T3.21 Listen to the sentences. Then listen 1 Barcelona is a great football team. 2 People are friendlier here. /f@/ 3 I ve got a new camera for my holiday. /D@/ /@v/ 4 What s the capital of Spain? /D@n/ 5 English is easier than Physics. 2 T3.22 Listen to each sentence and choose the unstressed word. 1 I had an amazing time at the party. an amazing time party 2 I d like a bottle of water. like bottle of water 3 We re giving the largest room to you. giving largest room to 4 Smoking is a terrible habit. Smoking a terrible habit Unit 4 Strong and weak forms: have, and has, In English we use the strong forms of have and has in negative sentences and short answers. In positive sentences and questions, we stress the main verb in the sentence and we pronounce have and has with the schwa sound /ə/. 1 T3.23 Listen to the sentences. Then listen 1 They have created a web page. 2 Have you read the email from Kerry? 3 Has Jill changed her computer? 4 Yes, she has. 2 T3.24 Listen to each sentence and choose the correct alternative. 1 Have you ever shopped online? 2 Yes, John has. 3 David has spent all his money on computer games. 4 They have redesigned the web page. 5 Has anybody seen my MP3 player? 6 Yes, I have. 5 London is the biggest city in Britain. London the biggest Britain 6 The city is more polluted than the country. city polluted than country English plus Pre-Intermediate Pronunciation Units 3 4
Unit 5 just /dʒ/ and yet /j/ 1 T3.25 Listen to the sentences. Then listen 1 /dʒ/ I ve just had some good news. 2 /dʒ/ He s wearing a dark jacket. 3 /j/ I haven t finished yet. 4 /j/ My brother is at university. 2 T3.26 Listen and repeat the sounds. Then /dʒ/ /j/ join job jump yellow yesterday your joke useful genius year June usually Unit 6 have, and have to /hæf tə/ We can pronounce have with a strong or weak form (see Unit 4), but the final sound is always /v/. We pronounce have to as one word, so the final /v/ sound becomes /f/, and we pronounce pronounce to with the schwa sound /ə/. 1 T3.27 Listen to the sentences. Then listen 1 I have no idea where they are. 2 Have we got an exam on Friday? 3 Yes, we have. 4 /hæf tə/ We have to wear a uniform at our school. 5 /hæf tə/ You really have to work harder. 2 T3.28 Listen to each sentence and choose the correct sound. 1 I have never cheated in an exam. 2 You have to finish this exercise soon. 3 Do you have to switch your phone off at school? /hæf tə/ 4 I have too many text messages! 5 We have to work hard. 6 The students have finished their exams. English plus Pre-Intermediate Pronunciation Units 5 6
Unit 7 c sounds /k/ /s/ /tʃ/ In English we pronounce the letter c in three ways, depending on the letter which follows it: c + a, o, u or consonant = /k/ c + e or i = /s/ ch + a, e, i, o or u = /tʃ/ Some exceptions to this rule include chemist, chemistry, chemical and school. 1 T3.29 Listen to the words. Then listen again 1 /k/ campaign continue practical 2 /s/ decide centre exercises 3 /tʃ/ changes children choose 1 T3.30 Listen to each sentence and write the correct sound: /k/, /s/ or /tʃ/. 1 They each made an exciting discovery. 2 Each country had a team. 3 That child needs more exercise. 4 They came to protest against the war. 5 This charity works to help children. 6 I d like to participate Unit 8 Strong and weak forms: can, and can t /kɑːnt/ In English we use the strong forms of can and can t only in negative sentences and short answers. In positive sentences and questions we stress the main verb in the sentence, and we pronounce can with the schwa sound /ə/. 1 T3.31 Listen to the sentences. Then listen 1 She can act really well. 2 Can you remember the name of the film? 3 Yes, I can. 4 /kɑːnt/ I can t hear the film very well. 5 /kɑːnt/ No, you can t. 2 T3.32 Listen to each sentence and choose the correct sound. 1 I can play the piano. 2 Can Maria speak French? 3 Yes, she can. 4 My friend can speak Spanish, but I can t. /kɑːnt/ 5 Mikey can sing and dance wonderfully. 6 Can you see the screen from here? Yes, I can. English plus Pre-Intermediate Pronunciation Units 7 8
Unit 9 a sounds: /æ/ /ɑː/ /eɪ/ In English we can pronounce a in different ways. The pronunciation depends on the spelling of the word, and there is some variety in accent as well. Like many of the common words of English, there are a great number of irregularities and exceptions. 1 T3.33 Listen to the words. Then listen again 1 /æ/ gallery abstract pattern 2 /ɑː/ art masterpiece marble 3 /eɪ/ portrait favourite strange 2 T3.34 Listen and repeat the sounds. Then /æ/ /ɑː/ /eɪ/ answer France explain paint table pass passive name exactly catch ask change active imagination start English plus Pre-Intermediate Pronunciation Unit 9