http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aModal+verbs+tag%3aVowels+tag%3aPronunciationSearch results for 'tag:Modal verbs tag:Vowels tag:Pronunciation' matching tags 'Modal verbs', 'Vowels', and 'Pronunciation'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3273.32735)http://www.englishforums.com/English/StrongWeakSoundsVerbs/hnbg/post.htm#38171Tue, 20 Jul 2004 00:21:06 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:38171novaleeSome words not only verbs that are used a lot in speaking have one weak sound and one strong sound Weak forms are used in connected speech that is when you are having a normal everyday conversation or when they are in the middle of a sentence For example the weak form of the verb have is hev or ev e being the unstressed sound called swcha usually written as an inverted e which you can hardly hear This form is mostly used when the verb have is functioning as an auxiliary verb as in They have been doing the hovering or in sequences such as should have could have would have Strong forms are normally used when we say a word isolated from speech with an emphasis on the vowel These forms are used by native speakers of English when talking to a foreigner for example or in questions The strong form of have would be haev the ae symbol is the standard short a sound Modal verbs usually have these two forms But negative forms of these verbs only have a strong pronunciation for example aren t can t or won t Words that also have strong and weak pronunciation are he his she her is are some a an the of for and or to There are many more examples In any pronunciation dictionary you can find the weak and strong forms of a particular word if it has both forms that is Hope it helps