Join a Culips speaking class!
Practice real English conversations with our teachers and students from around the world. Build fluency fast through live speaking practice.
See Class SchedulePronouncing the words should’ve, would’ve, must’ve, and could’ve
Hello Culips listeners!
We recently received a great question from one of our listeners in the United States. Luis’s first language is Spanish, and he was wondering about how native English speakers pronounce the words should’ve, would’ve, must’ve, and could’ve, which are contractions of should have, would have, must have, and could have.
It can be difficult to describe pronunciations in writing, so we’ve put together a little recording of Maura explaining and pronouncing these words. Check it out at the end of this post!
Each of these four words (should’ve, would’ve, must’ve, and could’ve) are made up of two syllables, unlike other contractions like can’t, don’t, it’s, and he’s that are only one syllable.
The ‘ve part of the words almost sounds like the word “of” (which actually has a “v” sound, not an “f” sound—English is confusing!) So if you say “should of” you will be pretty close to pronouncing the word “should’ve” like a native English speaker.
I found a website that lets you type in a word and then plays the pronunciation for you. The speaker on the website has a slight British accent, so the pronunciations might be a little bit different than what you would hear in the US or Canada, but his accent isn’t very strong, so it should still be a good way to practice.
You can check that out here: http://www.howjsay.com/
Another good website for pronunciations is Google Translate. On this site, if you change the language you type in to “English,” you can type anything you want and then click the little speaker icon in the bottom right corner of the box and it will read it back to you. Since it’s a computer putting together the words, full sentences don’t always sound very natural the way they fit together, but the individual words are recordings of a human speaker, so each word is pronounced correctly. The speaker has a North American accent.
That website is here: http://translate.google.com/
Now check out how Maura says the words!
Pronouncing Should’ve, Would’ve, Must’ve, and Could’ve
Thanks again to Luis for the excellent question. We love answering listener questions, especially if we can use the answer in an episode or post it here on our blog to help other English learners. So keep ’em coming everyone!
You can ask us questions in a few different ways:
1. Use the question form on our website, at: https://culips.secl.pw/contact-culips/ask-culips/
2. Email us at Contact@culips.com
3. Post your question on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CULIPS-Fun-and-Practical-English-Learning/251023217147
Talk to you again soon!
Jessie
Culips English Learning Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Pronouncing the words should’ve, would’ve, must’ve, and could’ve
Hello Culips listeners! We recently received a great question from one of our listeners in the United States. Luis’s first language is Spanish, and he was wondering about how native English speakers pronounce the words should’ve, would’ve, must’ve, and could’ve, which are contractions of should have, would have, must have, and could have. It can be difficult to describe pronunciations in writing, so we’ve put together a little recording of Maura explaining and pronouncing these words. Check it out at the end of this post! Each of these four words (should've, would've, must've, and could've) are made up of two syllables, unlike other contractions like can't, don't, it's, and he's that are only one syllable. The 've part of the words almost sounds like the word "of" (which actually has a "v" sound, not an "f" sound—English is confusing!) So if you say "should of" you will be pretty close to pronouncing the word "should've" like a native English speaker. I found a website that lets you type in a word and then plays the pronunciation for you. The speaker on the website has a slight British accent, so the pronunciations might be a little bit different than what you would hear in the US or Canada, but his accent isn't very strong, so it should still be a good way to practice. You can check that out here: http://www.howjsay.com/
Another good website for pronunciations is Google Translate. On this site, if you change the language you type in to "English," you can type anything you want and then click the little speaker icon in the bottom right corner of the box and it will read it back to you. Since it's a computer putting together the words, full sentences don't always sound very natural the way they fit together, but the individual words are recordings of a human speaker, so each word is pronounced correctly. The speaker has a North American accent.
That website is here: http://translate.google.com/Now check out how Maura says the words!
Pronouncing Should've, Would've, Must've, and Could've Thanks again to Luis for the excellent question. We love answering listener questions, especially if we can use the answer in an episode or post it here on our blog to help other English learners. So keep ’em coming everyone! You can ask us questions in a few different ways: 1. Use the question form on our website, at: https://culips.secl.pw/contact-culips/ask-culips/ 2. Email us at Contact@culips.com 3. Post your question on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CULIPS-Fun-and-Practical-English-Learning/251023217147 Talk to you again soon! Jessie Culips English Learning PodcastPopular Podcasts
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about our English learning platform.
- They are Canadian and American
- Have master’s degrees and work in professions related to English education (Andrew is a university English professor, Suzanne is a pronunciation coach and voice actor, and Morag is a writer).
- Actively study second languages as adults. Our team understands the ups and downs of studying foreign languages as adults who live busy lives.
