Speak Fluent English: Use Contractions

Practice using "he'll" and "they'll" in fluent natural speech. Follow along with the phrases in the video to pronounce these correctly, easily and fluently. 

In everyday speech, native speakers rarely use full forms like "we will" or even fully stressed contractions ("wheel" /wiːl/ or "they'll" /ðeɪl/). Instead, these words reduce down to shorter, relaxed vowel sounds. Follow along with structured repetition drills using common carrier phrases ("I think," "I hope," "I know," "They said," "We think") and learn how to apply these reductions to your own spontaneous speech.

In written language, we use "we will" or "we'll." In spoken language, we almost always use "we'll" unless we are emphasizing "will," as in "no, we WILL." If the word "we'll" is stressed in the sentences, it sounds like "wheel" /wil/. But usually it's not the stressed word, and most speakers use a reduced vowel, making it sound more like "will" /wɪl/.

How you pronounce this contraction (or phrase) can change the meaning of what you're saying, because it will sound stressed if you use too much length and a clear vowel on it.

Want to sound more natural in American English? Practice these exercises and more in our SMART American Accent App!