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60
Words
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1 Recordings
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5 Comments
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I did not mean to offend you.
Where is the nearest police station?
I'm not going to tell you.
Please forgive me, and accept this money as a gift.
I do not wish to hurt you.
Is there a lawyer in the building?
I am bleeding profusely.
I am sorry.
I have been seriously wounded.
Please do not injure me.
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I didn't mean to offend you.
Where's the nearest police station?
I'm not going to tell you.
Please forgive me, and accept this money as a gift.
I don't wish to hurt you.
Is there a lawyer in the building?
I'm bleeding profusely.
I'm sorry.
I've been seriously wounded.
Please don't hurt me.
Thank you very much for this explanation ! However, I'm not sure to fully understand the subtleties about the contractions, can you detail it more ?
What do you mean by "[Means what you expect.]" ?
Contracting certain verbs (is, has, will, shall) is standard, although there are grammatical rules for when it is allowed or not allowed.
I’m sorry. (The key word is ‘sorry’.)
I am sorry. (The lack of contraction makes the stress in pronunciation shift to ‘am’. This is the intonation we use to contradict a denial.)
She’s nice. (Stress on ‘nice’.)
She is nice. (Stress on ‘is’. Somebody said that she was a horrible person.)
It’s a puppy. (Stress on ‘puppy’.)
It is a puppy. (Stress on ‘is’. Someone said I was receiving a book for my birthday, but I thought I would be getting a dog, and I was right.)
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Always make contractions in spoken English. Sometimes there can unexpected changes in emphasis if you don't make the contractions. For example:
I'm sorry. [Means what you expect.]
I am sorry. [I feel truly sorry, even though you don't believe me.]
injury vs. hurt ['hurt' is better in this context. 'injure' tends to be a the medical term.]