Americans use contractions frequently in everyday speech, conversation, formal written language, and all types of communication.  Contractions aren’t slang or for informal use, they’re standard American English.  Using contractions rather than the other language forms is one way to make your speech sound more American.  But sometimes the combinations of sounds in contractions can be difficult to pronounce if you have certain accent patterns, such as consonant cluster deletion or final consonant deletion.  Practice contractions by themselves and in short phrases to get used to using them in your speech, and to pronounce them correctly.

instead of I am, he is, etc.
say I’m, you’re, he’s, she’s, we’re, they’re

instead of I would, he would, etc.
say I’d, you’d, he’d she’d we’d they’d

Instead of I have got, he has got, etc.
say I’ve got, you’ve got, he’s got, she’s got, we’ve got, they’ve got

instead of can not, do not, etc.
say can’t, don’t, won’t, shouldn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t

instead of I have not, he has not, etc.
say I haven’t, you haven’t, he hasn’t, she hasn’t, we haven’t, they haven’t

instead of I am not, he is not, etc
say I’m not, you aren’t, he isn’t, she isn’t, we aren’t, they aren’t

instead of I will, he will, etc,
say I’ll, you’ll, he’ll, she’ll, we’ll, they’ll

Interested in hearing how these contractions sound in the standard American accent?  Try our SMART online practice.

In some cases, the same word can be a noun or a verb.  We pronounce it differently depending on which way we are using it.  A rule that applies to some of these words is that the stress falls on the first syllable when it is a noun, such as in the word produce:  The produce is fresh at that store.  The stress falls on the second syllable with the word is used as a verb:  They produce microchips in Silicon Valley.  Because the stress pattern is different, the vowel will also sometimes change.  We use a vowel schwa (sounds like "uh" as in "cup") to mark an unstressed syllable.  Listen to the example below: 

Notice how in the first sentence, produce sounds like pro-dooce, but in the second sentence, it sounds like pruh-dooce.  We call this vowel clarity - the stressed syllable retains its vowel, whereas the unstressed syllable is reduced to a schwa vowel.  In addition, notice how the first syllable in the noun is much longer than in the verb.  We use a longer vowel on a stressed syllable than an unstressed syllable.  Try some of these phrases, making sure to use a long, clear vowel on the stressed syllable. 

When in doubt, it's a good idea to check the pronunciation using an online dictionary.

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Have you heard the expression, "A simple yes or no will do?"  We say this when someone is giving us more information that we really wanted to know, or delivering a lecture when all we wanted was an answer.  In a recent study, it turns out that the words "yes" and "no" are not as simple as you would guess.  For example. in English, we can answer the question "you haven't fed the cat yet, have you?" with "no, I haven't," or "yes, I haven't."  These patterns are present in other languages, as well.  You can read more about the study here.

One of the challenges of speaking English is making sure to use the "little words" correctly:  articles, prepositions, and other grammatical markers.  There are many other languages that don't use articles (a, an, the), so it can be hard to remember them and to know which one to use.  These words are frequently unstressed in the sentence, which means they are also harder to notice when listening.  But if they are absent, it is very noticeable.

You can learn more about how to use articles correctly here.