I've gotten a few questions recently about the word 'are'.
我最近收到一些关于单词“are”的问题。
Specifically someone recently asked if they were hearing correctly “What you doing?” instead of “What are you doing?”
有人特别指出他们所听到的“What you doing？” 而不是“What are you doing？”是否正确。
That is not grammatically correct, and a native speaker would not say “What you doing?”
这在语法上是错误的。母语者也不会说“What you doing？”
However, a native speaker may reduce the word 'are' so much that a non-native speaker would have problems hearing it.
然后，母语者可能会略读单词“are”以至于非英语母语者会听不出来。
The word 'are' can be reduced simply to the schwa R sound, er (loop three times).
单词“are”可以略读为简单的弱元音R，“er”（循环三次）。
So in this sentence, “What are you doing?” you may very well hear whater [x2], whater you doing? (loop two times) with the “er” very low in pitch and very fast.
所以“What are you doing？” 这句话中，你可能会听到“whater”（循环两次），“whater you doing”（循环两次），其中“er”音调低沉迅速。

What are you doing? What are (loop two times), it sounds like the word 'butter'. Butter, what are, what are you doing?
What are you doing？“what are”（循环两次），听起来就像单词“butter”。Butter，what are，what are you doing？
Now that you know what you're listening for, see if you can hear it in this sentence: What are you doing? (loop three times)
现在你知道你听的是什么了，试试看你能否在这个句子里听出来。What are you doing？（循环三次）
The word 'are' is often shortened in writing as well, as a contraction with 'you', 'we', or 'they'. They're, for example.
单词“are”在书写时也经常和“you”，“we”或者“they”这些词进行缩写，例如“They’re”。
But it doesn't have to be written as a contraction for it to be pronounced with this short 'er' sound.
但并不是因为它发音时变成“er”所以书写时才进行缩写。
Let's look at a few more sentences where the word 'are' can be reduced.
我们再来看一些句子中的“are”略读的例子。
My cousins are coming tomorrow. My cousins are (loop two times), My cousins are coming tomorrow. (loop two times)
My cousins are coming tomorrow. “My cousins are”（循环两次）My cousins are coming tomorrow. （循环两次）
The cookies are good. The cookies are, are, the cookies are good.
饼干好吃。饼干好吃。
Where are the girls? Now here the word before ends in the schwa R sound, er, where er the girls? I would explain it as a re-emphasizing of the er sound: Where er the girls?
Where are the girls？这里的单词以弱音R结尾，er，where er the girls？我把这称为对“er”音的再次强调。Where er the girls？
But in fast speech, it actually all blends together. Where are the girls? (loop two times)
但是在快速语音中，实际上两个单词都是连在一起的。Where are the girls？（循环两次）
So it sounds like the word R is being dropped. Where are the girls?
所以听起来就像是省略了R。Where are the girls？
And someone else asked about the word 'are' and the word 'were' – about them sounding the same when they're both reduced.
还有人问到单词“are”和“were”在略读时发音一样的问题。
The word 'were' will always have that W sound at the beginning, so there is a difference in the pronunciation of these words.
单词“were”开头永远都有w的音，所以这两个单词在发音上是有区别的。
Let's look at an example sentence.
我们来看一些例子。
The kids are there. The kids er, er, er, just the R sound, the kids are there.
The kids are there. The kids er，er，er，只有R的音，the kids are there.
The kids were there. The kids ww, ww, were, were, the kids were there.
孩子们在那里。孩子们在那里。
The second one has that W sound in it. The kids are there, the kids were there. (loop two times) Can you hear the difference?
第二种里面有W的音在。The kids are there，the kids were there. （循环两次）你能听出区别吗？
Now that you know this concept of the reduced word 'are', try it out in your speech.
现在你知道了略读单词“are”的原理，在你讲话中试着运用一下。
And listen for it when you're listening to native speakers.
当你听英语母语者讲话时也注意听一下。
That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.
这次的学习就到这里，非常感谢使用Rachel's English。