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  • Hi.

  • Welcome back to www.engvid.com.

  • I'm Adam, and in today's video I'm going to help you sound a little bit more like a native

  • English speaker and also to be able to understand native English speakers when they speak.

  • What I'm talking about more specifically is how to pronounce the preposition "of".

  • Now, I said: "off", although we almost never say "off".

  • The "f" hardly ever sounds like "f".

  • It sounds like a "v" when it's pronounced, but even more often we just drop it altogether

  • and just have an "a" sound or even just like a small apostrophe sound, like almost no sound

  • at all between the "of" and the word that comes after it.

  • Okay?

  • So most of the time it sounds like: "a" or "ov" with a "v" sound, not an "f" sound.

  • Now, they're very similar in the mouth where the lips and the tongue are, but we'll practice that.

  • So, what really depends on how to use it is what follows the "f", what the next word starts with.

  • Right?

  • If it's followed by a hard consonant, like a "t", or a "p", or a "d", or a "k" or whatever,

  • then we generally don't drop too much, but we leave the "of" or we have the "a".

  • So: "A lot of people" we say in native speed: "a lot 'people", "a lot 'people".

  • So you can either hear the "a" sound: "a lot a" or "a lot 'people", like you drop into

  • the "p", "'people", "a lot 'people". Okay?

  • Sometimes we can also just add the "v", so you can pronounce the "a" very hard...

  • Or, sorry, with "time", "a lotatime", "a lot 'time" could be, again, the apostrophe, almost

  • no sound or the "a" sound, 'or we could just use the "of": "a lot ov time", "a lot of time".

  • Okay?

  • Notice, also, that the last consonant goes into the vowel.

  • "A lotatime", "a lotatime", "tatime".

  • "A lot ov", "a lot ov time", "a lotovtime".

  • Okay?

  • So this is with the hard consonants.

  • Now, when it's followed by a "th", so when we...

  • For example, when we have "them", most native speakers will just drop the "th" altogether

  • and just say "em". Okay?

  • So: "so ma them", "so ma 'em".

  • So: "so ma them", "so ma vem" because the...

  • We drop the "th" and we take the "v" of the "of".

  • "Some of them", "so ma vem", "so ma vem", "so ma vem", "some of them".

  • If you want to keep the "th", drop the "v".

  • If you want to use the "v", drop the "th".

  • But generally we don't have them together.

  • "So ma them", "so ma vem".

  • Okay?

  • But when you have a word like "these", in "these" we don't generally drop the "th".

  • This is common with "them", not common with other words.

  • So, "so ma these" or "so mov these".

  • You have the "v" or you have the "a", but you keep the "th" in "these".

  • With "them" you can drop the "th"; with "these" you keep the "th".

  • "Some of these", "so ma these".

  • Okay?

  • Now: "one of the best", so here, again, we have the "th".

  • "One ov the best", notice if say "of" with a "v" not an "f".

  • We never pronounce the "f" or hardly ever pronounce the "f".

  • Okay.

  • "One of the best", "wa na the best", drop the "f", drop the "v" and keep the "a".

  • "Wa na", "one of", "wa na the best", and keep "the best".

  • Or if you want to use the "v", you keep the "wa", "nov", make it like blend into the next word.

  • The "n" goes into the "o", an ellipses it's called.

  • "Wa nov the best".

  • So you have the option "v" or "a".

  • Now, this is especially important when you're listening to native English speakers speak

  • at regular speed.

  • Native speakers don't even think about the "f", it's automatically dropped.

  • Sometimes they'll use the "v", sometimes they'll just use the "a".

  • Be prepared to listen to both.

  • Okay?

  • Let's look at a few more examples.

  • Okay, so now we're going to look at some other situations.

  • For example, when "of" is followed by an "h".

  • Now, again, for native speakers the "h" is a very weak sound so we...

  • Quite often we just drop it.

  • We just blend it into whatever came before and after. Right?

  • So: "Some of whom", now, if I'm speaking slowly and I'm trying to enunciate every word,

  • I would say: "Some of whom decided that..."

  • But in normal speed, fast English: "so ma voom", "so ma voom".

  • Right?

  • The "a"...

  • The "v" from the "of", there's the "o", there's the "v": "so ma voom", it blends together,

  • and the "h" is there but it's very soft and very weak so you don't really even hear it.

  • "So ma voom", "so ma voom".

  • Like, it's a little bit of an extra step but it's not really there.

  • You can almost drop it.

  • "A lot of help", "a law to vhelp".

  • Now, here you notice I didn't take it out because it's still there a little bit more.

  • Sorry.

  • "A law to vhelp", so I pronounced the "e" a little bit stronger to make up for the weak "h".

  • Okay?

  • And...

  • Sorry, notice also that the "tov", the "t-o-v" blends into each other and then the "v" goes

  • into the next word because of the "h".

  • So it's almost like a vowel sound.

  • "Get rid of him".

  • So somebody's at the door, I don't want to talk to him, just: "Get ri dovim".

  • Like, with "him" we quite often drop the "h".

  • Same as with "them".

  • "Them", you drop the "th".

  • With "him" we drop the "h".

  • So: "Get rid of him", "ri dovim".

  • It sounds like "dovim".

  • "Ri dovim", "get rid of him".

  • Now, the reason we're looking at all this is because when you watch movies or you speak

  • to a native speaker, they will speak like this, not like this.

  • And you need to understand that all they've done is they've basically taken the "of",

  • and just, you know, squished it.

  • They've used it as a bridge between words.

  • Okay?

  • So be able to recognize that.

  • Now, if it's followed by a vowel...

  • Okay, my red's almost done, here.

  • Let's go to blue.

  • Okay?

  • Now, followed by a vowel: "a", "e", "i", "o", "u", whatever.

  • "The rest of our day", "the rest of", I'm still using the "of" even if I'm speaking

  • slowly, "our day".

  • "Res tovar day".

  • Now, the "our", "ow", we just squeeze it to "a" now because we're making it quick, everything

  • blends in to each other.

  • "Res tovar day", "res tovar day".

  • You can almost think of it like a...

  • Like an apostrophe.

  • There's almost no "o" there even, "tovar".

  • "Res tovar day" in natural speed.

  • "100 percent of every donation goes to charity", "percen tovevry", "tovevry".

  • There's the "of", and the "t" from the "percent" blends into the "o", the "v" blends into the

  • "e", and then you have, like, it sounds like one word.

  • "100 percen tovevry", "tovevry", okay?

  • And then we have: "a lot of attention".

  • So we have "o", we have "e", we have "a".

  • "A lot of attention", "a lotava tention" all squeezed together.

  • And the "ov"-...

  • The "of" becomes "av".

  • "A lotava tention", "lotava", "lotava tention".

  • Okay?

  • Now, if you have a word that ends in "f" before the "of", that is pretty much the only time

  • you will hear the "f".

  • "Half of the class".

  • Oh, I guess not.

  • You'll hear this "f", "half of", "ha fov the class".

  • So maybe you never really hear the "f".

  • In some situations you will.

  • "Of course", that's pretty much the only time I can think of that you will hear the "f"

  • in "of".

  • "Of course", okay?

  • "Half of the class", "ha fov the", everything blends together.

  • So, again, the whole point of this is to be able to recognize what you're hearing from

  • native speakers when they're speaking quickly.

  • If you want to sound more like a native speaker, get used to squeezing that or changing it

  • to a "v", sometimes just dropping it off completely.

  • Okay?

  • And if you have any questions about this, of course, come to www.engvid.com.

  • You can ask me any questions.

  • Because this is a pronunciation lesson and you need to hear it more than see it on typed,

  • there's no quiz with this lesson, but please come and ask any questions you have at www.engvid.com.

  • If you like this lesson, please subscribe to my channel on YouTube

  • and I'll see you again real soon.

  • Okay? Bye-bye.

Hi.

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