Would + have = “would have” | Part 2

Pronunciation of Contracted Verbs

Would + have = would've

English Pronunciation Lesson

Series on Verb Contractions in English

Part 1: Intro to Verb Contractions and their Pronunciations (have + will)
Part 2: Would + have = “would’ve”
Part 3: Would + not + have = “wouldn’t have”
Part 4: Could + have = “could’ve”
Part 5: May + have = [meyəv]
Part 6: Must + have = “must’ve”

Would | Conditional

The verb “would” is used with “have” and the past participle of a main verb to express a hypothetical, conditional situation in the past, an event that did not actually occur.

To form a past, conditional sentence with “would”:

would + have + past participle of main verb

Example

“I would’ve gone shopping if I didn’t have so much homework to finish.”

Here, had the speaker did not have a lot of homework to do, she would have been at the store shopping.

Now, why did I say “would’ve” instead of “would have”?

The music of English comes from the way native English speakers:

• stress their content words (meaning, they say them:

longer

louder, and

higher in pitch); as well as

• de-stress their function words (meaning they say them

• quicker and

• more relaxed.

Function words in English are those that form the grammar and structure of a sentence and do not carry much content.

These include auxiliary verbs, which accompany a main verb and add some grammatical meaning to the sentence.

Because “have” is an auxiliary verb, we tend to de-stress it and contract it, then attach it to the verb preceding it.

So, to contract “have”, simply:

delete the first consonant sound [h];

de-stress and relax the vowel sound ([æ] –> [ə]); and

connect it to the verb before it.

“Have” → [əv]

would + have = “would’ve” [wʊdəv]

Did you hear how much more relaxed the vowel sound in “have” is?

would + have = “would’ve” [wʊdəv]

Remember that because “have” now begins with a vowel sound, you should connect your speech and pronounce the [d] in “would” at the beginning of “‘ve” [əv] → [dəv].

would + have = “would’ve” [wʊdəv]

Let’s practice.

Listen and Repeat

“I would’ve come sooner, but there was so much traffic!”
“If I had known you were fluent in English, I would’ve practiced more with you!”
“We would’ve liked to have met your mother.”
“I would’ve earned so much more money if I just worked a little harder!”

Series on Verb Contractions in English

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