Conversation Lesson 9
 
 
 
 
Lesson 9 - Birthdays

Dialogs for everyday use. Short situational dialogs for students of English as a Foreign (EFL) or Second (ESL) Language.
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Birthdays

Patty: How old are you?

Susan: Nine... but I’ll be ten on May sixteenth.

Patty: I’m older than you! I’ll be ten on May fourteenth.

Susan: Are you going to have a birthday party?

Patty: Maybe. I’ll have to ask my mother.
Conversation Notes
  • Nine...
  • A short form equivalent to I’m nine years old.
  • sixteenth
  • Notice that the strongest stress in this word is on the second syllable. (The stress pattern, as well as the final /n/, differentiates sixTEEN from SIXty.) Some speakers insert the between the month and the numeral: May the sixteenth, May the fourteenth.
  • I’ll be ten on May fourteenth
  • The contrastive stress on the first syllable of FOURteenth. Normally, the stronger stress falls on the second syllable of this word: fourTEENTH (like sixTEENTH in the line above). However, to bring out the contrast, the speaker emphasizes the contrasting element, four­.
  • going to
  • The rhythm pattern of English requires that this weak stressed, potentially three­syllable, element be reduced in length. In the process of reduction some of the consonants are lost or modified and the vowels changed to more centralized, lax forms.
  • birthday party
  • Notice that the normal stress for a compound noun falls on the first element of the compound.
  • Maybe
  • Notice that the intonation falls only slightly—indicating doubt, indecision, or lack of completion. Have to. See Lesson 7.
Source: U.S. State Department
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