VOA慢速英语2021--日常用语中的虚词

Function Words in Everyday Speech

Imagine you are using an internet service to watch American films. Perhaps you decide to watch Mixtape, a movie recently made by Netflix.

My gosh! This store is so rad!

You might ask yourself about the words you just heard. Why did the speaker say the word rad – a term that means very good or amazing – in a louder way? Why were some of the words said quietly and more quickly?

In today's report, you will learn about function words in everyday speech. Let's start with a few important terms and ideas.

What are function words?

Function words are words that have a grammatical¹ purpose. Function words include pronouns³, determiners, and conjunctions⁷. These include words such as he, the, those, and the words and or but.

Americans often reduce function words in everyday speech. In other words, they often say functions words more quietly and quickly.

Let's consider an example sentence.

He picked up the book.

The function words are he, a pronoun², and the, an article.

These function words do not really give specific information. If you heard a person only say the words "he... the...," you would have a hard time understanding what they meant.

Now let's consider the other words in the statement – the content words.

Content words are words such as nouns⁵, verbs, and adjectives⁹.

The content words in our example are the phrasal verb picked up and the noun⁴ book.

He picked up the book.

If the statement only had content words, it would not be a complete sentence, but it would still communicate a general idea.

If our example only had content words, it would be this:

....picked up ... book.

The importance of content words explains why Americans often reduce function words in everyday speech. Function words have a grammatical use but are less central to expressing specific meaning.

Listen again to our example and note how the function words are said more quickly and quietly.

He picked up the book.

Back to the film

Think back to the line from the film Mixtape:

My gosh! This store is so rad!

The first sentence has the word gosh, a kind of expression that shows excitement or surprise. This term is said a bit louder.

In the second sentence, note that the content words are spoken a bit louder as well, while the function words are said quietly and quickly.

Store, a noun, and rad, an adjective⁸, are spoken most clearly. The word so is also spoken clearly because it helps to show the speaker's strong feelings.

If we took out some of the function words, the reduced statement would be:

Gosh! ...store...so rad

This is not a complete sentence, but it does communicate the speaker's very general idea.

Note that the verb BE is treated almost like a function word. In other words, the speaker does not stress the verb BE. Instead of saying "This store is so rad," the speaker says something closer to "This store's so rad."

While Americans often stress verbs, the verb BE can be a special exception¹⁰. In other words, Americans often do not stress the verb BE. The reasons behind this are complex. But one possibility is that the verb BE in its present tense form does not add a lot of information.

Closing thoughts

In today's report, we explored how and why function words are often reduced in everyday speech. Speakers often reduce function words because they want to draw the listener's attention to content words – the words that give the most specific meaning.

The next time you listen to Americans speak, pay careful attention to how they reduce function words. With time, you will notice regular, repeated ways in which English speakers express ideas.

And of course, make careful note of when speakers say function words more loudly and clearly. This act is often a clue that the speaker is making a correction or clarification¹¹.

Words in This Story

determiner – n. grammar: a word (such as "a," "the," "some," "any," "my," or "your") that comes before a noun and is used to show which thing is being referred to

conjunction⁶ – n. grammar : a word that joins together sentences, clauses¹², phrases, or words

specific – adj. clearly and exactly presented or stated : precise¹³ or exact

exception – n. a case where a rule does not apply

clue -- n. something that helps a person find something, understand something, or solve a mystery or puzzle

clarification -- n. the act of making (something) clear or clearer

1 grammatical   

adj.语法的，符合语法规则的

参考例句：

• His composition is excellent except for some grammatical mistakes.他的作文写得很好，只有几处语法错误。
• He can barely form a grammatical sentence.他几乎造不出合乎语法的句子。

2 pronoun   

n.代词

参考例句：

• The relative pronoun is often dropped if it is the subject.关系代名词做受词时常被省略。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

3 pronouns   

n.代词( pronoun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Relative pronouns and adverbs introduce attributive clauses. 关系代词和关系副词引导定语从句。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "I", "you"and "he" are all personal pronouns. I，you和he都是人称代词。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。

5 nouns   

n.名词；名词( noun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns. 法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Nouns join to form compounds. 名词和名词结合构成复合词。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 conjunction   

n.联合，连接，接合；连接词

参考例句：

• Two or more sentences may be joined together by a conjunction.两个或两个以上的句子可以用连词连接。
• The conjunction of heavy rains and high winds caused flooding.暴风雨的同时发生引起了洪水泛滥。

7 conjunctions   

n.连词( conjunction的名词复数 )；结合；联合；（恒星、行星等的）合

参考例句：

• "And", "but"and"whereas" are conjunctions. and，but和whereas是连词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Prepositions and conjunctions are particles. 介词和连词是小品词。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

9 adjectives   

n.形容词( adjective的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We can form nouns from adjectives. 我们可以用形容词来构成名词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Attributive adjectives precede the noun. 定语形容词位于名词前。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 exception   

n.例外,除外

参考例句：

• Everyone should keep discipline and you are no exception. 每个人都应该遵守纪律,你也毫无例外。
• There's an exception to every rule. 每项规则均有例外。

11 clarification   

n.（液体的）澄清；净化；澄清法；（意义等的）澄清、说明

参考例句：

• Employers are seeking further clarification of the proposals. 雇主们正在寻求进一步澄清这些提案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The whole issue needs clarification. 整个问题都需要澄清。 来自辞典例句

12 clauses   

从句( clause的名词复数 )； （法律文件等的）条款

参考例句：

• Relative pronouns and adverbs introduce attributive clauses. 关系代词和关系副词引导定语从句。
• Please underline the noun clauses in the passage. 请用线画出短文中的名词性从句。

13 precise   

adj.精确的，恰好的，极清楚的

参考例句：

• At that precise moment, Miss Pulteney came into the office.就在那时，普尔特尼小姐走进了办公室。
• A scientist must be precise in making tests.科学家做试验必须精确。