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Key speech-initiators
Basic speech-initiators
We’re now going to take up a most important
item of practice.
One reason why people lack fluency in English-speech
is this: Their tongue and other organs of speech find it difficult
to start saying idea units. Let me explain: If you
want to say anything, you have to start your utterances.
That is, you have to start speaking. The initial words
in almost all idea units are simple words like ‘I’, ‘have’,
‘are’, etc. These simple words combine together in various
ways, and these word combinations are the initial parts of
most idea units. These combinations look simple, and it’s
easy to start writing them. But note one thing: These
combinations are not easy to say freely. Our tongues
and other speech organs do not just yield to these initial
word combinations easily. That’s why people find it difficult
to start their idea units.
You see, a stretch of speech is a chain made
up of several idea units. At the beginning of each idea unit,
the speech-organs show reluctance to say the initial word
combinations, and the flow of speech breaks up. The only way
to overcome this difficulty is this: Get your organs of speech
to become familiar with the initial word combinations. And
the only way to do this is to practise — by uttering these
initial word combinations ALOUD several times. All the common
combinations are given below. These combinations start or
initiate speech units, and so we can call them speech initiators.
Don’t shrug your shoulders and think that
this practice is too elementary. No. This practice is not
an elementary or non-essential practice. This is an essential
practice. Of course, meaningwise, the word groups given below
are all elementary. They’re all simple and straightforward
and are made up of the most basic words in English — words
that you learn when you first begin to learn English at school.
But remember this: The aim in getting you to do the following
drill is not to teach you the meaning of words. No.
The aim is to train your organs of speech in uttering these
word groups easily.
Mind you, though these word groups are all
elementary, speakers who are not fluent normally stumble over
them — no matter how highly educated they are. Yes, non-fluent
speakers trip up when they utter these word groups, lose their
balance of speech-delivery and falter. That’s why the drill
you’re going to do with the speech initiators is extremely
important. Once you start the practice, you’ll realize how
stiff your organs of speech had been — while uttering these
word groups. And once you complete the practice, you’ll realize
how supple they’ve started becoming. So let’s go for it. Pick
up each word combination and say it several times — ALOUD.
Group 1:
• I have. • I haven’t. • I had. • I hadn’t.
• I have a. • I haven’t a. • I had a. • I hadn’t a. • I
have got a. • I haven’t got a. • I have to. • I had to.
• I have got to. • I have been. • I haven’t been. • I had
been. • I hadn’t been. • I have been the. • I haven’t been
the. • I had been the. • I hadn’t been the. • I have been
able to. • I haven’t been able to. • I had been able to.
• I hadn’t been able to.
Group 2:
• I don’t. • I didn’t. • I don’t have to.
• I didn’t have to. • I don’t have an. • I didn’t have an.
Note: Repeat the exercise with the word
groups in Group I and Group II by substituting for the word
‘I’ — (i) first ‘We’, (ii) then ‘They’, and
(iii) then ‘You’. That is, utter the word group in
these two groups first by using ‘We’ in place of
‘I’, then by using ‘They’ in place of ‘I’, and then
by using ‘You’ in place of ‘I’.
Group 3:
• He has. • He hasn’t. • He had. • He hadn’t.
• He has a. • He hasn’t a. • He had a. • He hadn’t a. •
He has got a. • He hasn’t got a. • He has to. • He has got
to. • He had to. • He has been. • He hasn’t been. • He had
been. • He hadn’t been. • He has been the. • He hasn’t been
the. • He had been the. • He hadn’t been the. • He has been
able to. • He hasn’t been able to. • He had been able to.
• He hadn’t been able to.
Group 4:
• He is. • He isn’t. • He is an. • He isn’t
an. • He was. • He wasn’t. • He was a. • He wasn’t a. •
He was the. • He wasn’t the. • He is to. • He isn’t to.
• He was to. • He wasn’t to. • He is able to. • He isn’t
able to. • He was able to. • He wasn’t able to. • He is
going to. • He isn’t going to. • He was going to. • He wasn’t
going to. • He is going to be a. • He isn’t going to be
the. • He is going to be. • He isn’t going to be.
Group 5:
• He doesn’t. • He didn’t. • He doesn’t
have to. • He didn’t have to. • He doesn’t have a. • He
didn’t have the.
Note: Repeat the exercise with the word
groups in Groups III, IV & V by substituting for the
word ‘He’ — (i) first ‘She’, and (ii) then
‘It’.
Group 6:
• I am. • I am not. • I am a. • I am not
a. • I was. • I wasn’t. • I was an. • I wasn’t the. • I
am to. • I am not to. • I was to. • I was not to. • I am
able to. • I am not able to. • I was able to. • I wasn’t
able to. • I am going to. • I am not going to. • I was going
to. • I wasn’t going to. • I am going to be an. • I am not
going to be a. • I am going to be. • I am not going to be.
Group 7:
• We are. • We aren’t. • We are the. •
We are not the. • We were. • We weren’t. • We were the.
• We were not the. • We are to. • We are not to. • We were
to. • We were not to. • We are able to. • We are not able
to. • We were able to. • We weren’t able to. • We are going
to. • We are not going to. • We were going to. • We weren’t
going to. • We are going to be the. • We aren’t going to
be the. • We are going to be. • We aren’t going to be.
Note: Repeat the exercise first
by substituting the word ‘They’ for the word ‘We’. That
is, say ‘They are’, ‘They aren’t’, ‘They are the’ etc. several
times. Thereafter, repeat the exercise by substituting
‘You’ for ‘We’.
Group 8:
• I can. • I can’t. • I could. • I couldn’t.
• I can’t have. • I could have. • I couldn’t have. • I can
be. • I can’t be. • I can be the. • I can’t be the. • I
can’t have been. • I could have been. • I couldn’t have
been. • I can’t have been the. • I couldn’t have been the.
Group 9:
• I may. • I may not. • I might. • I might
not. • I may have. • I may not have. • I may be. • I may
not be. • I may have been. • I may not have been. • I may
be the. • I may not be the. • I may have been the. • I may
not have been the. • I may have been able to. • I may not
have been able to.
Group 10:
• I must. • I mustn’t. • I must have. •
I mustn’t have. • I must be. • I mustn’t be. • I must have
been. • I mustn’t have been. • I must be the. • I mustn’t
be the. • I must have been the. • I mustn’t have been the.
• I must have been able to. • I mustn’t have been able to.
Group 11:
• I needn’t. • I needn’t have. • I needn’t
be. • I needn’t have been. • I needn’t be the. • I needn’t
have been the. • I needn’t have been able to.
Group 12:
•
I ought to. • I oughtn’t to. • I ought to have. • I oughtn’t
to have. • I ought to be. • I oughtn’t to be. • I ought
to have been. • I oughtn’t to have been. • I ought to be
the. • I oughtn’t to be the. • I ought to have been the.
• I oughtn’t to have been the. • I ought to be able to.
• I oughtn’t to be able to.
Group 13:
• I should. • I shouldn’t. • I should have.
• I shouldn’t have. • I should be. • I shouldn’t be. • I
should have been. • I shouldn’t have been. • I should be
the. • I shouldn’t be the. • I should have been the. • I
shouldn’t have been the. • I should be able to. • I shouldn’t
be able to.
Group 14:
• I used to. • I didn’t use to. • I never
used to.
Group 15:
• I had better. • I had better not.
Note: Repeat the exercise with the word
groups in Groups 8 to 15 by substituting for the word ‘I’
— (i) first ‘He’ (ii) then ‘She’ (iii) then
‘It’ (iv) then ‘We’ (v) then ‘They’, and (vi)
then ‘You’.
Group 16:
• I shall. • I shan’t. • I’ll. • I won’t.
• I would. • I wouldn’t. • I shall have. • I shan’t have.
• I’ll have. • I won’t have. • I’d have. • I wouldn’t have.
• I shall be. • I shan’t be. • I’ll be. • I won’t be. •
I’d be. • I wouldn’t be. • I shall be the. • I’ll be the.
• I won’t be the. • I’d be the. • I wouldn’t be the. • I’ll
have been. • I won’t have been. • I’d have been. • I wouldn’t
have been. • I’ll be able to. • I won’t be able to. • I’d
be able to. • I wouldn’t be able to.
Group 17:
• I should like to. • I shouldn’t like
to. • I’d like to. • I wouldn’t like to. • I’d have liked
to. • I wouldn’t have liked to.
Note: Repeat the exercise with the word
groups in Groups 16 & 17 by using ‘We’ in place of ‘I’.
Group 18:
• He will. • He won’t. • He would. • He
wouldn’t. • He’ll have. • He won’t have. • He’d have. •
He wouldn’t have. • He’ll be. • He won’t be. • He’d be.
• He wouldn’t be. • He’ll have been. • He won’t have been.
• He’d have been. • He wouldn’t have been. • He’ll be able
to. • He wouldn’t be able to. • He’d be able to. • He wouldn’t
be able to.
Group 19:
• He’d like to. • He wouldn’t like to.
• He’d have liked to.
Note: Repeat the exercise with the word
groups in Groups 18 & 19 by substituting for ‘He’ —
(i) first the word ‘She’, (ii) then ‘It’,
(iii) then ‘They’, and (iv) then ‘You’.
Group 20:
• There is. • There is a. • There is no.
• There are. • There are no. • There was. • There was a.
• There was no. • There were. • There were no. • There isn’t.
• There aren’t. • There wasn’t. • There weren’t. • There
has been. • There hasn’t been. • There have been. • There
haven’t been. • There had been. • There hadn’t been. • There
has been no. • There have been no. • There had been no.
• There’ll be. • There won’t be. • There’d be. • There wouldn’t
be. • There’ll be no. • There’d be no. • There can be. •
There can’t be. • There could be. • There couldn’t be. •
There can be no. • There could be no. • There may be. •
There may not be. • There might be. • There might not be.
• There may be no. • There might be no. • There must be.
• There mustn’t be. • There must be no. • There ought to
be. • There oughtn’t to be. • There ought to be no. • There
can’t have been. • There could have been. • There couldn’t
have been. • There could have been no. • There may have
been. • There may not have been. • There might have been.
• There might not have been. • There may have been no. •
There might have been no. • There must have been. • There
mustn’t have been. • There must have been no. • There ought
to have been. • There oughtn’t to have been. • There ought
to have been no. • There is going to be. • There isn’t going
to be. • There are going to be. • There aren’t going to
be. • There was going to be. • There wasn’t going to be.
• There were going to be. • There weren’t going to be. •
There is going to be no. • There are going to be no. • There
was going to be no. • There were going to be no. • There
seems. • There appears. • There remains.
Note: Don’t worry about when to
use each of these initiators or where. At present,
pay attention only to uttering each word group ALOUD —several
times.
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