Page 589 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

15
566 1
2
3
In standard southern British English, r is not normally pronounced before a consonant or at the end of a word.
hard /ha:d/ first /fa:st/ order j'o:da/
car !kee! four !fo:! more !mo:!
But r is pronounced at the end of a word if a vowel follows immediately.
four islands /'fo:r 'aIlandz! more eggs j'mo:r 'egz/
Note the pronunciation of iron, and of words ending in -ered and -reo iron /alan/ (ArnE j'arranl) wondered j'wAndad/
centre j'senta(r)/ bothered j'bnOad/
theatre j'9Iata(r)/
We often add /r/ after words ending in the sound /a/ even when this is not written with r, if another vowel follows immediately.
India and Africa /,mdlar and 'ffifrIka/
In most varieties of American English, and in many regional British accents, r is pronounced whenever it is written.
still. yet and already: time meanings
Still, yet and already can all be used to talk about things which are going on, or expected, around the present. Briefly:
- still is used to say that something is continuing and has not stopped
- yet is used to talk about something that is expected
- already is used to say that something has happened early, or earlier than it
might have happened.
still
Still is used to say that something has, perhaps surprisingly, not finished. She's stiU asleep. Is it still raining?
I've been thinking for hours, but I still can't decide.
You're not stUl seeing that Jackson boy, are you?
Still usually goes with the verb, in 'mid-position' (see 24). yet
Not yet is used to say that something which is expected has not happened (but we think that it will).
Is Sally here?- Not yet.
The postman hasn't come yet.
In questions, we use yet to ask whether something expected has happened.
Is supper ready yet? Has the postman come yet?
Yet usually goes at the end of a clause, but it can go immediately after not in a
formal style.
doesn't j'dAz(a)nt/ Edinburgh j'edmbra/ Europe /,joarap/ foreign j'fDran/
silent r
two /tu:/
woman j'wornan/ women j'wrrnm/
still, yet and already: time 566
page 557
~