IELTS Preparation Series 2, Episode 9: Whale Sharks

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Hello. I'm Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation.

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Today, we're going to look at the use of contractions in spoken English. A contraction is like a

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short form in speech.

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I've just used three examples:

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I'm for 'I am',

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we're for 'we are',

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and I've for 'I have'

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English speakers often use contractions, so mastering them will help your speech improve.

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Our story today is about tourists helping scientists study whale sharks off the coast

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of Western Australia.

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Listen to this conversation, and try to identify the contractions.

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So what sort of information are you recording in your log?

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The latitude and longitude, the depth, the time, the sex and any sort of interaction

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that the swimmers have with it. The whale sharks don't actually seem to mind the interaction

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with them and certainly if it wasn't for them being out here we wouldn't have the amount

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of knowledge we do about them.

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The difference is, I suppose, with scientific research, you might have a research team here

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for a week, two weeks, and then they leave. They might come here once every few years.

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But when you've got, well, six or seven whale shark boats here, three or four in Coral Bay,

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running for three or four months then their contribution to research is awesome. They're

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out here every day.

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Did you hear the contractions? The first speaker used three of them.

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Simon said: don't, wasn't and wouldn't.

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Listen again.

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The whale sharks don't actually seem to mind the interaction with them and certainly if

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it wasn't for them being out here we wouldn't have the amount of knowledge we do about them.

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Don't is a contraction of do not.

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Wasn't is a contraction of was not.

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Wouldn't is a contraction of would not.

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These are all examples of a very common style of contraction - a verb and the negative,

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not.

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Now listen to a tour guide, Steve Gibson, talking about the tourists who help study

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the whale sharks. He uses another type of contraction. Can you identify it?

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The difference is, I suppose, with scientific research, you might have a research team here

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for a week, two weeks, and then they leave. They might come here once every few years.

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But when you've got, well, six or seven whale shark boats here, three or four in Coral Bay,

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running for three or four months then their contribution to research is awesome. They're

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out here every day.

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Steve says: 'you've got' and 'they're out'.

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These are contractions of pronouns with the verbs to have and to be.

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You've is a contraction of you have.

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They're is a contraction of they are.

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We can also make contractions with nouns and other words. Let's look at a few.

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My brother's studying.

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Brother's is a contraction of brother is.

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Who's going out tonight?

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Who's is a contraction of who is.

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There's our bus.

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There's is a contraction of there is.

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When writing informally, for example in notes or postcards, it's fine to use contractions,

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because they represent spoken language. However, if you are writing formally, do not use contractions.

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Remember that in formal writing, words that are not in the dictionary should not be used.

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Finally, let's consider the pronunciation of contractions. Some are stressed, and others

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are not.

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But just remember, the rules for stressing words can change according to context.

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Here's a guide.

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Contractions are 'stressed' when they're formed from nouns, main verbs and negatives.

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For example:

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my brother's studying

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if it wasn't for them

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we wouldn't have

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Contractions are 'not' stressed when they're formed from pronouns and auxiliary words.

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For example, Steve says:

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when you've got boats here

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they're out here every day

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Notice that contractions cannot occur at the end of a sentence, except for the contraction

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of a verb and 'not'.

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For example,

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He's sick Yes, I know he is. We cannot say, Yes I know

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he's.

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But we can say:

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I'm hurt. No, you aren't.

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OK. Now we're going to watch the story again. This time, listen for the use of nouns.

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So what sort of information are you recording in your log?

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The latitude and longitude, the depth, the time, the sex and any sort of interaction

5:41

that the swimmers have with it. The whale sharks don't actually seem to mind the interaction

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with them and certainly if it wasn't for them being out here we wouldn't have the amount

5:49

of knowledge we do about them.

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The difference is, I suppose, with scientific research, you might have a research team here

5:55

for a week, two weeks, and then they leave. They might come here once every few years.

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But when you've got, well, six or seven whale shark boats here, three or four in Coral Bay,

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running for three or four months then their contribution to research is awesome. They're

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out here every day.

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All the speakers use a number of nouns.

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In English nouns are either countable or uncountable - that is, we can either count them or we

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can't.

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Let's look at countable nouns.

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Countable nouns are generally things like:

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people - a teacher, a cook, a swimmer

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animals - a dog, a cat, a whale shark

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plants - a lily, a bush, a tree

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objects - a chair, a table, a boat

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units of measurement - a litre, dollar, a cup

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Uncountable nouns are generally more abstract, and include things such as:

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languages - Chinese, Japanese, German

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emotions - happiness, sadness, anger

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ideas - intelligence, luck, knowledge

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substances or materials - like air, oil or rice

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Countable nouns have two forms. They can be 'singular' or 'plural'.

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But uncountable nouns have only one form, and cannot form a plural.

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Let's have a look at that.

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Chair can be singular or plural, chairs. It is a specific, concrete thing, so it is a

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countable noun.

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We can say:

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I would like to buy three chairs.

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However, furniture is an abstract noun. It has only one form, and cannot be made into

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a plural.

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It is an uncountable noun.

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We can say:

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I would like to buy all that furniture.

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Using a word like 'all' indicates quantity or amount.

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Listen to how Simon Stevens measures knowledge in this clip.

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The whale sharks don't actually seem to mind the interaction with them and certainly if

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it wasn't for them being out here we wouldn't have the amount of knowledge we do about them.

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He says an amount of knowledge.

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Knowledge is an uncountable noun. It can't be counted. We haven't got a specific number

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we can apply to define a 'quantity of knowledge'. We use 'quantity words' or 'measure words'

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with uncountable nouns, instead of numbers.

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We say:

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an amount of knowledge

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a cup of tea

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a loaf of bread

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a degree of happiness

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a measure of luck, or

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a gust of wind

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OK, so today we've looked at different types of contractions and how they are stressed

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in phrases, and we looked at countable and uncountable nouns.

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If you would like to watch today's story again, look at some study notes or do some exercises,

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you can go to our website anytime. It's at abcasiapacific.com/studyenglish.

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That's all for today. I'll see you next time on Study English. Bye bye.

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