Should've

Question

Hi!Some people say it's increasingly common for some to say "should of" instead of "should have".I wonder if I pronounce it the correct way.Could someone listen to the way I say it, please?I'll use the ever present line "You should have done that."Thanks!Your browser does not properly support audio yet.Listen: [ogg] or [mp3]P.S: This application is really great.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

It's definitely not "should of."

But at that speed, it's impossible to distinguish between the contraction and two words, both in terms of sound and in terms of articulation.

I guess I got sucked in by your title "should've." Sorry about that. I know that wasn't you're question.

Come to think of it, if there were a contraction, I'm not sure what the vowel sound would be.

Yours is definitely "eh" rather than "uh".

We'd have to slow it down to determine the presence of the "h".

shouldaive?? (no air burst for the "h")??

CalifJim · Answer

frostwhiteSome people say it's increasingly common for some to say "should of" instead of "should have".
I wonder if I pronounce it the correct way.

"should of" is not correct, but its pronunciation is the same as "should've". The non-contracted form "should have" is pronounced slightly differently. Your audio sample has "should've", not "should have". It is completely acceptable as "should've".

Some novelists, including Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, transcribe the sound of "should've" as "should of", by the way, when writing dialog for their characters, so don't be completely surprised if you see "should of" in print. I recommend that you write it as "should've", however, unless you too have a Nobel Prize!

CJ

Frostwhite · Answer

Hi CJ and A!

I 'm already used to pronouncing 'should have' (maybe not, no one checks my pronunciation) the way I said it in the audio.
I don't know, but I'm having a hard time pronouncing 'should have' separately, especially when they're already in sentences. My speed would really slow down.
Perhaps some more practice would do the trick.

Thanks for the replies!

Avangi · Answer

CalifJim"should of" is not correct, but its pronunciation is the same as "should've". The non-contracted form "should have" is pronounced slightly differently. Your audio sample has "should've", not "should have".

Hi, Jim,

Something doesn't compute here.
If "should of" and "should've" are properly pronounced the same, then the statement "Your audio sample has 'should've' is tantamount to saying "Your audio sample has 'should of'."

I'm admittedly unschooled in phonetic symbolism, but, as I said in my previous post, to my ancient musician's ear, the final vowel in the audio is very clearly "eh," not "uh." The only thing missing from a full blown "should have" is the audible burst of air for the "h." which according to my experiments would require the speaker to slow down considerably. (Perhaps our audio equipment is capable of a scientific analysis.)

Best wishes, - A.

Avangi · Answer

Anyway, I guess my point is that when a person says, "Shouldehv," as on the audio, it can't be "Should have" and it can't be "Should've" (shoulduhv).
Or, at least, the case for its being one is as good as the case for it's being the other.

CalifJim · Answer

AvangiIf "should of" and "should've" are properly pronounced the same, then the statement "Your audio sample has 'should've' is tantamount to saying "Your audio sample has 'should of'."

Yes. True. And to my ear the audio has "should've" = "should of".

AvangiThe only thing missing from a full blown "should have" is the audible burst of air for the "h."

I hear the vowel a little differently from you. Or maybe I'm indifferent to its exact quality. I'd say two things are missing. The "h", as you say. And the lax a vowel of "have".

CJ

Avangi · Answer

CalifJimI hear the vowel a little differently from you.

What can I say? If you hear it as "should of," that's a lot differently than the way I hear it.

Best regards, - A.

Frostwhite · Answer

Hi Cj!

I was given a book when I was still training for a position as a call center agent in our country.
This book had a lot of contractions, shortened sentences and some American pronunciation stuff. It's more on American accent.
Deleted "h" is included in the lessons. This gave me an idea that whenever "h" is preceded by another consonant, "h" is no longer pronounced. ('She likes him' would be 'She likes ehm' -not sure about how I would write it) So I thought 'Should have' could also be pronounced as 'Should uhv'.
I don't sound American, I know, and I won't.

But I'm glad you still understood how I pronounced 'Should have', though I pronounced it as 'Should've' (sorry about that)

Thanks, thanks, thanks!

Avangi · Answer

frostwhite'She likes him' would be 'She likes ehm'. . . . . So I thought 'Should have' could also be pronounced as 'Should uhv'.

Sorry, I'm totally confused. If your wish is to delete the "h," why wouldn't they become "She likes 'im," and "should 'ev"? (standard second grade elementary school short vowels?)

Is there another rule I haven't heard whereby deleting the preceding "h" changes the sound of the vowel?

"She likes uhm/ehm" is very casual for "She likes them."

I give up. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

Frostwhite · Answer

Hi A!

You may have been confused the way I wrote "likes ehm".
Sorry.
I said I wouldn't know how to write it.
But I just wrote it the way I hear it.

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