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Hello and welcome to this episode of six-minute vocabulary. I'm Finn.

And I'm Faye-Fae, hi.

Today we're going to be talking about contractions like I've, meaning I have, or isn't, meaning is not.

We're going to talk about what these contractions mean and how to pronounce them.

That's right. And learning to use contractions like I've or isn't when you're speaking

will make your English sound much more fluent and natural.

And that's got to be good news. As usual, we'll have lots of examples.

There'll be a short quiz.

And finally, we'll give you a top tip To help you with your vocabulary studies

So let's start with an example

Listen to Bill talking about his wife and his brother

While you're listening Try try to answer this question.

Has Bill's brother ever visited the US?

My wife and I live in London.

We've been married for about five years.

I've always lived in London, but she's lived in Germany and the US and lots of different places.

I've never been to the US, but my brother's been there many times because his wife is from New York.

So Faye Faye asked you, has Bill's brother ever visited the US?

And the answer is yes. Bill's brother has been to the US many times because his wife is American. She's from New York.

Did you get the answer right? Of course he did. Okay, now here is another question. How long have Bill and his wife been married? Listen again and check.

My wife and I live in London. We've been married? Listen again and check.

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