Fast English: Could Have, Should Have and Did You

Some of the hardest sounds for English learners to understand come from past structures like 'could have' and questions with 'did you'. In fast speech, these words blend into new sounds. In this video, you will hear five examples, slowly and then quickly. 'Could have been' becomes 'cudabin', where 'have' reduces to a short 'a' sound. 'Should have done it' becomes 'shuda done'. This is also why some native speakers mistakenly write 'should of', because 'have' sounds like 'of' or 'a'. In questions, 'did you' often becomes 'dja' or 'joo'. So 'How did you do that?' sounds like 'howdja do that?', 'Where did you go?' becomes 'wherjoo go?', and 'Why did you come?' becomes 'whyju come?'. This happens because the d and y sounds join to make a j sound. Recognizing these patterns will make films, series and real conversations much easier to follow. Remember to always write the full forms, even if you hear the short versions. Watch the video, listen carefully to the slow and fast pairs, and repeat them out loud. Then practice shadowing the fast version until your ear catches it automatically.