Weak form and strong form of “to be”

Today we will learn how to use the weak form and strong form of word “to be” in English.

Is
weak form: [s] after ( f p t k θ )
weak form: [z] After vowel and voiced consonants
weak form: [əz]
strong form: [iz]

Am
weak form: [m] after personal pronoun “I”
weak form: [əm] before personal pronoun “I”
strong form: [æm] in final position.

Example: She is not as young as I am >>/ʃi z nɒt əz jʌŋ əz aɪ æm/

Are
weak form: [ə] (before consonant). Example: Here are the plates >> /hɪər ə ðə pleɪts/
weak form: [ər] before vowel. Example: The coast are in there >>/ðə kəʊst ər ɪn ðeə/
strong form: [ɑː] in final position. Example: I know the Smiths are >>/aɪ nəʊ ðə smɪθs ɑː/

Was
weak form: [wəz]. Example: She was there a minutes a go >>/ʃi wəz ðeər ə ˈmɪnɪts ə gəʊ/
strong form: [wɔz] in final position. Example: The last record was >>/ðə lɑːst ˈrɛkɔːd wɒz/

Were
weak form: [wə] before consonant. Example: The papers were late >>/ðə ˈpeɪpəz wə leɪt/
weak form: [wər] before vowel. Example: The questions were easy >>/ðə ˈkwɛsʧənz wər ˈiːzi/
strong form: [wɜː] in final position. Example: They weren’t as cold as we were >>/ðeɪ wɜːnt əz kəʊld əz wi wɜː/