asked if they were hearing correctly “What you doing?” instead of “What are you doing?”

他們聽到的“What you doing?”是否是正確的，而不是 “What are you doing?”

That is not grammatically correct, and a native speaker would not say “What you doing?”

這就文法而言是錯的，而且以英語做為母語的人不會說“What you doing?”

However, a native speaker may reduce the word ‘are’ so much that a non-native speaker

然而，以英語為母語的人士可能太常省略"are"這個字，以至於對非英語母語使用者來說，

would have problems hearing it. The word ‘are’ can be reduced simply to the schwa/R sound,

會有"are"字聽力的問題。"are"容易被弱化成中央元音"r"，

er, er, er. So in this sentence, What are you doing?, you may very well hear whater,

"er, er, er"。所以在這句"What are you doing?"裡，你可能會聽到"whater",

whater, whater you doing? Whater you doing? With the er very low in pitch and very fast.

whater, whater you doing? Whater you doing?，伴隨著一個音調很低而且念得很快的"er"。

What are you doing? What are, what are, it sounds like the word ‘butter’. Butter,

What are you doing? What are, what are,聽起來跟奶油(butter)很像。

what are, what are you doing? Now that you know what you’re listening for, see if you

what are, what are you doing? 現在你知道該注意什麼了，試試看

can hear it in this sentence: What are you doing, what are you doing, what are you doing?

註解

The word ‘are’ is often shortened in writing as well, as a contraction with ‘you’,

書寫時也常把"are"跟其他字縮寫在一起，像是"you"，

‘we’, or ‘they’. They’re, for example. But it doesn’t have to be written as a contraction

"we" 或 "they"。比如They’re。 但沒必要為了發這個短短的"er"，

for it to be pronounced with this short ‘er’ sound. Let’s look at a few more sentences

而縮寫。來多看一些"are"

where the word ‘are’ can be reduced. My cousins are coming tomorrow. My cousins are,

都被弱化的句子。我的表親/堂親明天要來拜訪。My cousins "ㄜ",

my cousins are, My cousins are coming tomorrow. My cousins are coming tomorrow. The cookies

註解

are good. The cookies are, are, the cookies are good. Where are the girls? Now here the

註解

word before ends in the schwa/R sound, er, where er the girls? I would explain it as

註解

a re-emphasizing of the er sound: Where er the girls? But in fast speech, it actually

再次強調"er"的發音: Where "er" the girls? 但念快一點，就真的會

all blends together. Where are the girls? Where are the girls? So it sounds like the

全混在一起。Where " " the girls? Where " " the girls? 所以聽起來像是

word are is being dropped. Where are the girls? And someone else asked about the word ‘are’

漏掉了"are"。Where " " the girls? 還有其他人除了問"are"之外，

and the word ‘were’ – about them sounding the same when they’re both reduced. The

也問了"were"，如果兩個字都在弱化的情況下，聽起來幾乎相同。

word ‘were’ will always have that W sound at the beginning, so there is a difference

註解

in the pronunciation of these words. Let’s look at an example sentence. The kids are

註解

there. The kids er, er, er, just the R sound, the kids are there. The kids were there. The

註解

kids ww, ww, were, were, the kids were there. The second one has that W sound in it. The

註解

kids are there, the kids were there. The kids are there, the kids were there. Can you hear

註解

the difference? Now that you know this concept of the reduced word ‘are’, try it out

你能聽出哪裡不同嗎? 現在你學會弱化"are"的概念, 你說話的時候試試看。

in your speech. And listen for it when you’re listening to native speakers. That’s it,

然後你在聽以英語為母語的人士說話時，可以多留意。就這樣。

and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

註解