In the chapter on word stress you learned that pronouns are not stressed. When we reduce the pronouns, the first letter is often silent. For example, the letter h is often silent for the words he, him, his, her, and hers when these pronouns are not the first words of a sentence. Also, the th sound is often silent for the word them. This is particularly true in casual speech, but it frequently occurs in formal speech as well. Study the example below.
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sounds like: |
1. I love her |
“I lover” |
2. I knew her |
“I newer” |
3. stuff he knows |
“stuffy nose” |
4. did he |
“didee” |
5. has he |
“hazee” |
Note: Always pronounce the first consonant of a pronoun when the pronoun is in the beginning of a sentence or a phrase.
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