Schwa, Word Stress and Connected Speech
53 business phrases and sentences – showing the schwa, the stressed syllables and how the words join.
Schwa, Wortbetonung und verbundene Sprache – an 53 Ausdrücken aus dem Berufsalltag.
- 5 features
- 53 phrases
- British IPA
- Practice mode
- 10-question quiz
How to Read This Page
Say it like
A simple respelling. CAPITALS = the stressed syllable. ə = the schwa (in red). ‿ = words join. (t) = sound often dropped or replaced by a glottal stop.
British IPA
The exact sounds. ˈ = main stress, ˌ = secondary stress. Pronunciation follows British English (RP / General British).
A Weak Forms: Articles and Small Words
Small words like the, a, at, for, to are weak. /ðə/ before a consonant, /ði/ before a vowel – the office, the email.
| Phrase | Say it like | British IPA |
|---|---|---|
| in the office | in thee OF-fis | /ɪn ði ˈɒfɪs/ |
| at the meeting | ət thə MEE-ting | /ət ðə ˈmiːtɪŋ/ |
| for the client | fə thə CLY-ənt | /fə ðə ˈklaɪənt/ |
| to the manager | tə thə MAN-ə-jə | /tə ðə ˈmænɪdʒə/ |
| on the report | on thə ri-PORT | /ɒn ðə rɪˈpɔːt/ |
| send the email | sen(d) thee EE-mail | /ˈsen ði ˈiːmeɪl/ |
| write the note | write thə NOTE | /ˈraɪt ðə ˈnəʊt/ |
| make a call | may‿kə CALL | /ˈmeɪ kə ˈkɔːl/ |
| take a message | tay‿kə MES-sij | /ˈteɪ kə ˈmesɪdʒ/ |
| give a reply | gi‿və ri-PLY | /ˈɡɪ və rɪˈplaɪ/ |
B Consonant–Vowel Linking
The final consonant moves forward to start the next word. In these phrasal verbs the last word carries the stress. Before a consonant, the final t of it is often a glottal stop – shown as (t).
| Phrase | Say it like | British IPA |
|---|---|---|
| send it now | sen‿di(t) NOW | /ˈsen dɪt ˈnaʊ/ |
| check it later | che‿ki(t) LAY-tə | /ˈtʃe kɪt ˈleɪtə/ |
| make it clear | may‿ki(t) CLEAR | /ˈmeɪ kɪt ˈklɪə/ |
| put it here | pu‿ti(t) HERE | /ˈpʊ tɪt ˈhɪə/ |
| write it down | wri‿ti(t) DOWN | /ˈraɪ tɪt ˈdaʊn/ |
| call it in | caw‿li‿TIN | /ˈkɔː lɪ ˈtɪn/ |
| count it all | coun‿ti‿TALL | /ˈkaʊn tɪ ˈtɔːl/ |
| take it over | tay‿ki‿TOH-və | /ˈteɪ kɪ ˈtəʊvə/ |
| leave it on | lee‿vi‿TON | /ˈliː vɪ ˈtɒn/ |
| send it out | sen‿di‿TOUT | /ˈsen dɪ ˈtaʊt/ |
C Joined Consonants: Elision and Assimilation
Past-tense endings meet the next consonant: the /t/ or /d/ often drops out (elision). Other sounds change to match the next sound (assimilation).
| Phrase | Say it like | British IPA | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| asked for | as(k)t fə | /ˈɑːst fə/ | /k/ often drops |
| worked with | WORK(T) with | /ˈwɜːk wɪð/ | /t/ disappears |
| signed form | sign(d) FORM | /ˈsaɪn ˈfɔːm/ | /d/ disappears |
| emailed back | EE-mail(d) BACK | /ˈiːmeɪl ˈbæk/ | /d/ disappears |
| called sales | call(d) SALES | /ˈkɔːl ˈseɪlz/ | /d/ disappears |
| checked prices | check(t) PRI-siz | /ˈtʃek ˈpraɪsɪz/ | /t/ disappears |
| asked sales | as(kt) SALES | /ˈɑːs ˈseɪlz/ | /kt/ drops, one long /s/ |
| sent forms | sen(t) FORMS | /ˈsen ˈfɔːmz/ | /t/ disappears |
| made notes | made NOTES | /ˈmeɪd ˈnəʊts/ | /d/ released through the nose |
| worked late | work(t) LATE | /ˈwɜːk ˈleɪt/ | /t/ disappears |
| good point | goob POINT | /ˈɡʊb ˈpɔɪnt/ | /d/ → /b/ before /p/ |
| ten percent | tem pə-SENT | /ˈtem pəˈsent/ | /n/ → /m/ before /p/ |
| that person | thap PER-sən | /ˈðæp ˈpɜːsn/ | /t/ → /p/ before /p/ |
D Reduced of, to, for, and
These four little words almost always reduce: of /əv/, to /tə/, for /fə/, and /n/ or /ən/.
| Phrase | Say it like | British IPA |
|---|---|---|
| a lot of clients | ə LOT əv CLY-ənts | /ə ˈlɒt əv ˈklaɪənts/ |
| a cup of coffee | ə CUP əv COF-fee | /ə ˈkʌp əv ˈkɒfi/ |
| end of day | EN‿dəv DAY | /ˈen dəv ˈdeɪ/ |
| part of the team | PAR‿təv thə TEAM | /ˈpɑː təv ðə ˈtiːm/ |
| for a meeting | fə‿r‿ə MEE-ting | /fər ə ˈmiːtɪŋ/ |
| time to work | TIME tə WORK | /ˈtaɪm tə ˈwɜːk/ |
| need to send | NEE(D) tə SEND | /ˈniː tə ˈsend/ |
| try to call | TRY tə CALL | /ˈtraɪ tə ˈkɔːl/ |
| sales and service | SALES n SER-vis | /ˈseɪlz n ˈsɜːvɪs/ |
| notes and files | NOTES n FILES | /ˈnəʊts n ˈfaɪlz/ |
E Putting It Together: Business Sentences
All the features at once – weak forms, schwa, linking, elision and stress. Say the stressed syllables clearly and let everything else flow.
| Phrase | Say it like | British IPA |
|---|---|---|
| We sent the email. | wi SENT thee EE-mail | /wi ˈsent ði ˈiːmeɪl/ |
| They called the client. | they CALLED thə CLY-ənt | /ðeɪ ˈkɔːld ðə ˈklaɪənt/ |
| We checked the price. | wi CHECKED thə PRICE | /wi ˈtʃekt ðə ˈpraɪs/ |
| I wrote the report. | I WROTE thə ri-PORT | /aɪ ˈrəʊt ðə rɪˈpɔːt/ |
| We took it to sales. | wi TOO‿ki(t) tə SALES | /wi ˈtʊ kɪ tə ˈseɪlz/ |
| They made a call. | they MAY‿də CALL | /ðeɪ ˈmeɪ də ˈkɔːl/ |
| We put it on file. | wi pu‿ti‿ton FILE | /wi ˈpʊ tɪ tɒn ˈfaɪl/ |
| I gave it to the manager. | I GAY‿vi(t) tə thə MAN-ə-jə | /aɪ ˈɡeɪ vɪt tə ðə ˈmænɪdʒə/ |
| They sent it out. | they sen‿ti‿TOUT | /ðeɪ ˈsen tɪ ˈtaʊt/ |
| We passed it on. | wi pahs‿ti‿TON | /wi ˈpɑːs tɪ ˈtɒn/ |
Quiz: Business Connected Speech
Choose the best answer. You’ll see the explanation straight away.
Stress the key business words, let the schwa carry the small ones – and your English sounds confident and natural in any meeting.
Take the free pronunciation test →
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