Gemination /s/

Hi, I’m Tim and this is my pronunciation workshop. Here I’m gonna show you how English is really spoken. It’ll help you become a better listener and a more fluent speaker. Come on, let’s go inside.

Now, do you know my star sign? Of course you don’t, I don’t even know my star sign. I don’t believe in any of that rubbish. But I know someone who does. Say hello to my twin, Tom.

Hi.

Hi Tom.

Oh, hi Tim.

So, Tom, what’s our star sign?

I don’t know what yours is Tim, but I’m a Gemini.

Thanks Tom, you can go now.

You’re welcome. Bye.

You know when I think of Tom, and the fact that I got the brains and the good looks, it makes me feel a bit like this.

Oh, I’ve got an idea. I can use this to help with this week’s topic. Let’s ask the people of London what they think of this photo.

That man looks sad.

He looks sad.

He looks sad.

He looks sad.

He looks sad.

He looks sad.

How many ‘s’ s are there in the words ‘he looks sad’. Two, right. But how many can you hear? Watch again.

That man looks sad.

He looks sad.

He looks sad.

He looks sad.

He looks sad.

He looks sad.

When one word ends in a /s/ sound and the next word begins in /s/, we don’t pronounce both sounds, nor do we pronounce just one sound. Instead they come together to make a slightly longer ‘s’ sound. So, ‘he looks sad’ becomes ‘he lookssad’. This is called ‘twinning’ or gemination. It helps the words to flow smoothly from one to the other in everyday speech. Here are some more examples:

She’s silly.

He’s sitting over there.

Can you come this Saturday?

That’s so unfair!

Right, so you’ve heard some examples, now it’s your turn. Are you ready to start? Listen and repeat.

She’s silly.

He’s sitting over there.

Can you come this Saturday?

That’s so unfair!

So how did you get on? Great. Remember, you can always read more about this topic on our website, bbclearningenglish.com. That’s all from the workshop for now. See you next week. Bye bye.

Oh, Tim, I’ve got it! If I’m Gemini and you’re my twin, then you must be Virgo!

He really is stupid.