VOA慢速英语2020--Say ‘Yes, I am’ not ‘Yes I’m’

Today, we answer a question from our reader Miguel. He writes:

Question:

Why is it wrong to answer a question like this: "Yes, I'm" or "Yes, it's" or "Yes, he's" ?

Thank you. – from Miguel

Answer:

Dear Miguel,

Thank you for your question. Your examples use short answers that include what grammar experts call "weak" forms. When a speaker uses a contraction¹, or shortened² word, the sound of the vowel³ almost disappears. An example is the word "I'm." In this contraction, the /ae/ sound in "am" is harder to hear. This happens because the speaker uses less force to say the vowel sound. There are two rules that apply to these forms. These rules help explain why you cannot answer "Yes, I'm."

Full forms

The first rule has to do with an answer that leaves out part of a thought. Here is an example.

Is that your dog?

Yes, it is.

After "it is," we understand that the words needed to make a complete thought are "my dog." The speaker does not need to say "my dog" because the listener understands what they are talking about. But the speaker cannot reduce this answer to "Yes, it's." So the rule is that when something is left out at the end of a statement, you cannot end the statement with a weak form.

But this is not true when the short answer is "No." In that case, the negative word "not" follows directly after the verb. So the weak form is not at the end of the statement. Here is an example:

Are you ready?

No, I'm not.

There is still something missing⁴ at the end of the statement – the word "ready." But the statement does not end with the weak form "I'm."

Stress

The second rule has to do with stress, the loudness or force a speaker uses on different sounds in a sentence. Listen to the stress pattern here:

Will we all GO?

I think we WILL.

The speaker says the words "go" and "will" with more force or stress. If a word is stressed, English does not permit reduced or weak forms. So you cannot say *"I think we'll."

However, a speaker can stress the negative form, "I think we won't."

I hope this helps you understand, Miguel. Thank you for the question.

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Words in This Story

vowel – n. a sound made with the mouth open, like a, e, i, o or u.

negative – n. a word or statement that means "no" or that expresses a denial⁵ or refusal⁶

pattern – n. the regular and repeated way in which something happens or is done

1 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

2 shortened   

v.弄短，缩短( shorten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shortened the skirt by an inch. 她把裙子缩短了一英寸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vacations have lengthened and the work week has shortened. 假期延长，工作周就缩短了。 来自辞典例句

3 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

4 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

5 denial   

n.否认；拒绝，拒绝给予

参考例句：

• The newspaper printed a denial of the untrue story.报社刊登了否认不实消息的声明。
• Her denial of my advice hurts me.她拒绝我的忠告伤害了我。

6 refusal   

n.拒绝

参考例句：

• He persisted in his refusal to pay the money.他坚持拒绝付钱。
• Our offer was met with a firm refusal.我们的报价被坚决拒绝。