# Spoken English Glossary

Canonical vocabulary for this workspace. Definitions are one or two sentences, they use the terms already defined here, and every lesson, reference sheet and learning record must follow them. A term is added only once the learner can use it correctly — this file is a record of compressed knowledge, not a dictionary to read. Last updated after lesson 004.

## Grammar

**past simple**:
The verb form for an action finished at a stated time: *finished, pushed, went*.
_Avoid_: past tense (too broad — it also covers the past participle)

**present perfect**:
*have* or *has* + past participle, for an action that is finished when no time is stated, or whose result matters now: *I've finished the page*.
_Avoid_: "have done form", present tense

**past participle**:
The third form of a verb, the one that follows *have*: *finish → finished*, *push → pushed*, *go → gone*.
_Avoid_: V3

**auxiliary verb**:
A helper verb that carries the grammar while the main verb carries the meaning: *have* in *I've finished*, *do* in *Do you want it?*, *will* in *I'll send it*.
_Avoid_: helping word

**contraction**:
Two words spoken and written as one: *I've, he's, we've, haven't, what's*.
_Avoid_: short form

**base form**:
The verb as it appears in a dictionary: *finish, push, take*. It is the form that follows *didn't* and *to*.
_Avoid_: root word

**article**:
A short word placed before a noun: *a* or *an* (the indefinite article) or *the* (the definite article). Which one you choose tells the listener whether they already know which thing you mean.
_Avoid_: "a/an/the words"

**indefinite article**:
*a* or *an* — used with a singular countable noun when the listener does not know which one yet, or when the thing is one of a group: *I'll send you a mock-up*.
_Avoid_: a-word

**definite article**:
*the* — used when both of you know exactly which one, because there is only one, because there is only one in that context, or because it has already been mentioned: *the mock-up is ready*.
_Avoid_: the-word

**countable noun**:
A noun you can count, so it takes *a / an* in the singular: *a page, a ticket, a category*. Uncountable nouns do not: *feedback, content, work*.
_Avoid_: count noun (the two mean the same; use this one)

## Pronunciation

**syllable**:
One beat of a word, built around one vowel sound: *BLOCK-er* has two, *SCOPE* has one.
_Avoid_: part of the word

**word stress**:
The one syllable in a word that is said longer and louder: *BLOCKer*, *dePLOY*, *MILEstone*.
_Avoid_: accent (that word is reserved for a whole variety of speech)

**minimal pair**:
Two words that differ in exactly one sound: *video / widow*, *very / well*. Used to train one sound at a time.
_Avoid_: sound pair

**content word**:
A word that carries meaning — noun, main verb, adjective, adverb, question word, number. Content words get the stress: *I'll **send** the **invoice***.
_Avoid_: key word, important word

**function word**:
A word that carries grammar rather than meaning — article, preposition, pronoun, auxiliary verb, conjunction. Function words get squeezed: *I'll send the invoice t'the **client***.
_Avoid_: small word, filler

**sentence stress**:
The pattern of which words in a sentence are hit and which are rushed. English stresses content words and squeezes function words.
_Avoid_: emphasis

**weak form**:
The squeezed pronunciation of a function word: *for* → fer /fə/, *to* → tuh /tə/, *and* → un /ən/.
_Avoid_: lazy pronunciation

**schwa**:
The most common vowel sound in English, /ə/ — a short, lazy "uh". It is the sound most weak forms collapse into.
_Avoid_: neutral vowel (too technical to be useful)

**linking**:
Joining the end of one word to the start of the next with no gap, so a sentence sounds like one stream: *call it* → "callit", *I'll call you at eight* → "call-you-w-at-eight".
_Avoid_: connected speech (that is the umbrella term)

**flap T**:
The American pronunciation of *t* between two vowels as a fast tap, close to Hindi ड़: *better* → "bedder", *thirty* → "thirdy".
_Avoid_: soft T

**aspiration**:
The puff of air that comes with p, t or k at the start of a stressed syllable, and does not come after /s/: *page, price, ticket, code* have it; *scope, stop, staging* do not.
_Avoid_: hard sound

**allophone**:
A variant of a sound that does not change a word's meaning in that language. Aspiration is allophonic in English but contrastive in Hindi, which is why English *page* can come out as "bage".
_Avoid_: accent variant

## Usage notes
- In this workspace, **accent** always means how a whole variety sounds (Indian English, American English). It never means *word stress*.
- **Native-like** means the features that make speech land the first time — rhythm, weak forms, linking — not being mistaken for a native speaker.
- Every word here is in the printable index at `reference/native-rhythm-and-grammar-terms.html`, which shows the lesson each term arrived in.