SESSION 10: PRONUNCIATION /p/ /b/

VOCABULARY: Work (duties, conditions and

pay)

I. Pronunciation:
/p/ /b/

pen big
put best
paper boy
point buy
piece baby
stop bring
sleep verb
trip number
Europe problem
Can I put my pen here? When was the baby born?
Stop talking! The baby is sleeping. What a beautiful bird!
It’s a cheap trip around Europe. It’s better to bake your own bread
than buy it.

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Exercise 1: Listen and repeat
Sound 1 Sound 2
/p/ /b/
Pin Bin
It’s a useful pin. It’s a useful bin
Pen Ben
Pen, please! Ben, please!
Pear Bear
Look at the yellow pear. Look at the yellow bear.
Cap Cab
It’s an old cap. It’s an old cab
Pup Pub
What a lively pup! What a lively pub!
Poppy Bobby
Do you like Poppy? Do you like Bobby?

Exercise 2: Practice these words

/b/ is LOUD before a vowel and FAIRLY LOUD before “l” and “r”
Big but been book birds blue black blouse
Better busy cabbie Ruby brother buttons birthday about
Somebody beautiful Barbara butterflies terribly remember

/b/ is often quiet before a consonant or at the end of a word

A cab Bob pub a proverb Bob’s job

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Exercise 3: Listen to the dialogue, find 5 words which /b/ sounds quieter
BOB: Hi, Barbara!
BARBARA: Hi, Bob. It’s my birthday today.
BOB: Oh, yes! … Your birthday! … er… Happy birthday, Barbara!
BARBARA: Thanks, Bob. Somebody gave me this blouse for my birthday.
BOB: What a beautiful blouse! It’s got… mm… er… blue butterflies on it.
BARBARA: And big black buttons.
BOB: Did… er… mm… Ruby buy it for you?
BARBARA: Yes. And my brother gave me a book about birds.
BOB: I didn’t remember your birthday, Barbara. I’m terribly sorry. I’ve been so busy with
my new job. I left my old job. The one in the pub. Guess what? I’m driving a cab.
BARBARA: A cabbie! Congratulations! Don’t worry about the birthday present, Bob. But
remember that proverb: “Better late than never”.

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 Compound Nouns
There are a lot of compound nouns. But today we learn 2 nouns going together as a compound
noun.
For example: book + shelf = bookshelf

Exercise 4: In compound noun, the stress is on the first word. Listen and repeat. Write the
other noun in the picture to form a compound noun.
A shelf a bookshelf
A brush a hairbrush a paintbrush
A card a postcard a birthday card
A ball a football a ping pong ball
A bag a handbag a shopping bag
A man a policeman a postman

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Exercise 5: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/ are STOP SOUNDS. If they come at the END of a word, stop
and do not add another sound.
Match these compound words:

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 Work: duties, conditions and pay
I. What do you do?

II. What do you do in your job? = What does that involve? = What are your responsibilities?

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III. What is your salary? = How much do you earn for the job?

IV. When do you work?

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Practice
Exercise 1: Match the verbs on the left to nouns on the right. Use one each.

Exercise 2: Rewrite these sentences with the same meaning. Use hints on the previous page.

Exercise 3: This is a part of conversation. Can you complete the questions?