Vocabulary Spotlight | "Didja"

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Jack discusses one specific reduction of Did you: "Didja."Transcript:00:00:01JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm doing another solo episode today. As we step into the vocabulary spotlight, we are going to talk about something called reductions and.00:00:15JackThis is a a kind of odd.00:00:18JackI don't. I didn't know which category to put this episode in be. I think vocabulary spotlight is probably the best.00:00:28JackWhat we're when we're talking about reductions reductions are words that we kind of smashed together.00:00:36JackBut they're not formal words, OK? And the ones that everybody knows are wanna gonna agada wanna gonna and gotta wanna want to gonna going to gotta got to OK native speakers rarely.00:00:56JackPronounce going to.00:00:59JackAs going to.00:01:01JackWe mostly pronounce it when we're talking as gonna.00:01:09JackI'm going to get up at 8:00.00:01:12JackOK, uh, we rarely say want to. I want to go to an amusement park. No, we say, you know what I want to.00:01:22JackGo to an amusement park.00:01:23JackWanna. But if you look in the dictionary for wanna gonna and gotta.00:01:28JackYou're never going to find it because they're not words. It's not like.00:01:33JackUMA compound word such.00:01:37JackBook store bookstore.00:01:40JackOK, that's a that's a formal word. You can find that in a in a dictionary with the definition bookstore. A store that sells books.00:01:49JackBut if you look in wanna WANNA.00:01:53JackYou'll never find it because it's not in the dictionary. OK, it's not a word. It's a reduction. That's what we call them reductions. So we're not going to talk about, alright? Used gonna there. We're not gonna talk about wanna gonna gotta today I want to talk about.00:02:11JackAnother one that I think can be.00:02:14JackIs very common that a lot of teachers overlook, but students are kind of left confused because.00:02:22JackThey're they don't know what the teacher said, right? So this one is did you did you? So this is the title of today's episode, Didja.00:02:33JackDid you have a good weekend?00:02:35JackDid you have?00:02:36JackA good weekend.00:02:39JackDid you have lunch?00:02:41JackDid you have lunch?00:02:45JackDid you go to the mall?00:02:46JackDid you go to the mall? OK. And what is that? Did you is a reduction of did in you again it's not a compound word. It's not a word. It's just.00:02:58JackA reduction. It's just an easier way to pronounce it, and it's tends to be it's it's informal. You cannot write this in an e-mail. You cannot write. Wanna gonna gotta didja in an e-mail. You have to write it. Did you want to going to? Got to.00:03:18JackHowever, when you're talking, you're gonna hear it a lot.00:03:24JackI think students should understand that there's, and there's kind of some minor rules around this. For example, when D&Y are next to each other, when the a word ends with a D sound.00:03:38JackAnd the next word starts with a Y sound. Native speakers, Native English speakers. Speakers tend to insert a J sound there. Did you did you? Did you? Did you? OK, so it you could you? A reduction could be. Did you? That's fine. That works. Did you have a good weekend? Did.00:03:57JackDidja is a much shorter and more common reduction of did you? Did you have a good weekend? Did you have lunch?00:04:06JackDid you go to the mall?00:04:08JackOK, now if you so when you're talking, feel free to, you know practice this a little bit throw it in there. You know when you hear did you you know now it means did you did you did you did you now sometimes native English speakers will get really crazy with their.00:04:28JackProduction of did you?00:04:30JackAnd they'll even make it short.00:04:34JackAnd I'll give you an example here of I'll use the same examples.00:04:39JackYou have a good weekend.00:04:41JackYou have a good weekend.00:04:43JackOK. Did you have a good weekend? Have a good weekend. So we reduced. Did you all the way down to Joe?00:04:56JackYa did you did ya?00:05:01JackYou have a good weekend.00:05:03JackHey, Bob.00:05:05JackJeff, lunch.00:05:07JackHey Bob, did you have lunch?00:05:11JackOK.00:05:15JackDid you go to the mall this weekend?00:05:17JackDid you go to the mall this weekend?00:05:21JackOK, so you can notice how we can reduce it even more. So what I want you to do this is your your uh homework assignment here for my A-Z listeners out there.00:05:32JackThe next time you have a speaking opportunity and you find yourself using, did you try it? Try it out, throw in a didja.00:05:39JackDid you did JA or JA?00:05:42JackAnd see how the other person that you're talking to reacts to that. I see if they notice it because again, these reductions are so common that.00:05:55JackI think people won't even notice, but your, your, your, your, your English will sound so much more natural and authentic and like a native speaker.00:06:06JackSo this is just I'm giving you guys a little tiny clue, a hint into sounding more like a native speaker, so next time don't say, did you say did you? OK, but remember, this is only when speaking. When writing you must write it out formally. Did you? OK, so this is not acceptable.00:06:29JackMaybe in text messages it's OK, but in emails or any sort of formal business setting you have to write, did you? But when you're talking, feel free to throw in a didja and that's the title for today's episode. I think is didja alright.00:06:47JackDid you have a good time with this episode?00:06:49JackLet me know in the comments A-Z englishbroadcast.com send us an e-mail A-Z [email protected]. You can also join our WhatsApp group and leave a message in there. I will reply to you. You can also join our WeChat Group. I know a lot of our Chinese listeners are.00:07:10JackActive in the WeChat.00:07:12JackAnd I try to jump in there from time to time and talk to our our Chinese listeners as well. So with that said, thanks everybody. I will see you next time. Bye bye.Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/vocabulary-spotlight-didja/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok:@atozenglish1Instagram:@atozenglish22Twitter:@atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ADonate to the show: https://app.redcircle.com/shows/9472af5c-8580-45e1-b0dd-ff211db08a90/donationsRobin and Jack started a new You Tube channel called English Word Master. 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