For English grammar lovers...

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erk
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For English grammar lovers...

Post by erk »

Ok. I want to ask the native speakers of British(BBC English and all regional pronunciations)/American/Australian/any other English if there is any difference in the pronunciation of "won't" and "want"
I don't see any difference, so I know if someone said "I won't do it" or "I want do it" :D only from context...
"An egoist is a someone without good taste. He is interested more in himself than in me" - Ambrose Bierce

Stefan Koopmanschap
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Post by Stefan Koopmanschap »

won't is pronounced more as woant, and want more as want

AlieXai
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For English grammar lovers...

Post by AlieXai »

American english, Southeastern dialect.

Won't, pronounced with a long "O" (oh, or wh-[ua334d]oa[/ua334d]) sound.
Want, prounced with a short "A" (ah) sound.

> "I want do it"

Typically, we say "I want [ia334d][ba334d]to[/ba334d][/ia334d] do it". In which case, even if they were pronounced similarly, the two could be distinguished...

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mitsubishi
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Post by mitsubishi »

There is a difference, but trying to write it down is hard, I'll try though.

I suppose "won't" is sort of pronounced 'woant', or w-own-t.
Whereas "want" is 'wont' or one-t.

That probably makes it less clear :roll: In any case 'The Pit' will be along shortly to tell you that "won't" isn't a real word and you must use "will not"
A weekend wasted is never a wasted weekend.

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mitsubishi
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Post by mitsubishi »

hehe 2 posts while I'm writing, proves moving your PC into the same room as the TV is bad productivity wise.
A weekend wasted is never a wasted weekend.

AlieXai
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Post by AlieXai »

> That probably makes it less clear In any case 'The Pit' will be along
> shortly to tell you that "won't" isn't a real word and you must use "will
> not"

"Won't" is indeed a real word that dates back to the 1600s.

erk
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For English grammar lovers...

Post by erk »

[quote81e82="AlieXai"]
> "I want do it"

Typically, we say "I want [i81e82][b81e82]to[/b81e82][/i81e82] do it". In which case, even if they were pronounced similarly, the two could be distinguished...
[/quote81e82]

You right :oops: ...once again I've realized how bad is my English

And thx to all of you for explainig me this thing. I will try to pronounce it correctly...
"An egoist is a someone without good taste. He is interested more in himself than in me" - Ambrose Bierce

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mitsubishi
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Post by mitsubishi »

[quote23379="AlieXai"]
> That probably makes it less clear In any case 'The Pit' will be along
> shortly to tell you that "won't" isn't a real word and you must use "will
> not"

"Won't" is indeed a real word that dates back to the 1600s.
[/quote23379]

No, "won't" is a contraction of "will not". "wont" is a word, meaning accustomed to or associated with. Like "I am wont to visiting phpBB forums after breakfast". Completely different meaning.
A weekend wasted is never a wasted weekend.

AlieXai
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Post by AlieXai »

> No, "won't" is a contraction of "will not".

Contraction or not, it is a (type of) word...

> <snip> Completely different meaning.

I wasn't comparing won't and wont...

<shrugs>

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Post by SamG »

erk, as far as I'm concerned, no need for :oops:

If even half of us English (and variants) speakers could write in German, etc. as well as most of the Europeans here can do English, I'd be very impressed.

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