Home    >    Lesson 8: Multiple Actions    >    Unit 8.2 Why multiple actions?

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Quiz

#1. Why do we sometimes need to use multiple actions to get a good connection?

Because too many consonant sounds gather at the end of the first syllable in a pair.

Because too many consonant sounds gather at the end of the first syllable in a pair.

Because not enough consonant sounds gather at the end of the first syllable in a pair.

Because not enough consonant sounds gather at the end of the first syllable in a pair.

Because too many consonant sounds gather at the beginning of the second syllable in a pair.

Because too many consonant sounds gather at the beginning of the second syllable in a pair.

Because too many vowel sounds gather at the end of the first syllable in a pair.

Because too many vowel sounds gather at the end of the first syllable in a pair.

#2. What causes multiple consonant sounds to gather at the end of the first syllable?

consonant blends and friendly consonant sounds

consonant blends and friendly consonant sounds

consonant blends and the letter ‘w’

consonant blends and the letter ‘w’

there is no particular reason

there is no particular reason

consonant blends and the letter ‘s’

consonant blends and the letter ‘s’

#3. ________ at the end of a syllable prevent us from getting to the ________ or ________ that we need to make a good ________.

Consonants, friendly consonant sound, connection, vowel sound

Consonants, friendly consonant sound, connection, vowel sound

Consonants, vowel sound, friendly consonant sound, connection

Consonants, vowel sound, friendly consonant sound, connection

vowel sound, Consonants, connection, friendly consonant sound

vowel sound, Consonants, connection, friendly consonant sound

Vowels, consonant sound, friendly consonant sound, connection

Vowels, consonant sound, friendly consonant sound, connection

#4. The letter ‘s’ is usually pronounced as z, for example in the following conditions: (Choose up to four.)

Select all that apply:

when 's' is a capital letter

when 's' is a capital letter

when ‘s’ is plural

when ‘s’ is plural

when ‘s’ is in a contraction

when ‘s’ is in a contraction

when 's' meets another consonant sound

when 's' meets another consonant sound

when ‘s’ shows possession

when ‘s’ shows possession

when ‘s’ is s form in present simple

when ‘s’ is s form in present simple

#5. In the phrase ‘must send’ we use ________ actions to get a good connection.

one

one

two

two

three

three

four

four

We delete  t  in the CC connection, then delete the first  s  because it is a duplicate sound: mu send.

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Practice

1. Look at the ‘Common Consonant Blends in English‘ worksheet. Focus on the final consonant blends with ‘ld’ and ‘nd’.
2. Consonant blends like  nd  in ‘friend’, followed by ‘s’, are unhelpful for us because they create a consonant blend: ‘ds’, that we have to remove before the friendly consonant sound  n  can be at the end of the syllable, as we require for a good connection. Write five more words with 3-letter consonant blends, put them into phrases, and practice saying them out loud.
3. Look at slide 8. Memorise the four main reasons for the letter ‘s’ being pronounced as  z  at the end of a syllable: plural, contraction, possessive ‘s’, or s form in present simple.
4. Practice the phrases on slide 9 out loud, going from bad connection to good connection. Record yourself, slow it down and listen back. Check that you make the four necessary actions. How did you do?
5. Write five phrases with VC connections and five with friendly connections. Notice that no actions are necessary. Try to write longer phrases or sentences with only good VC or friendly connections and practice them out loud.
6. Practice the phrases on slide 13 again, moving from bad connection to good connection. How do the actions feel to you? Do you agree that they sound… a) Better in English?, b) More like how a native speaker talks?, c) Strange and unnatural to your ears?
7. Practice the phrases on slide 14, moving from bad connection to good connection. Write down the interim stages of each transition, e.g., ‘last night’ >> ‘las night’ >> ‘la snight’. Practice saying them out loud.
8. Read the information on slide 15. Write 10 phrases with words ending in unvoiced consonant sounds  f,  k,  p,  s,  t, and  tt  meeting consonant sounds (CC connections). Each sound has to move forward without changing. Practice the phrases out loud, then put them into short sentences and say them. Ask a partner or your teacher to check your pronunciation.
9. Learn the information on slide 16 and make sure that you understand it. These are the actions we use to achieve connected speech.

Further Study

• Common Consonant Blends in English