In this American English pronunciation video,
在这段美式英语发音视频中，
we're going to go over why some words sound different when they're said on their own
我们再来看看为什么有些单词单独读的时候和作为句子的一部分读出来的时候
than they do when they're said as part of a sentence, like 'for', 'fer'.
听起来会不一样，比如“for”，“fer”。
A lot of people think, when they're studying a language and they're new to it,
很多人认为，当他们学习一门语言的时候，他们会对这门语言完全陌生，
that they need to pronounce each word fully and clearly in order to be well-understood.
为了更好地理解，他们需要把每个单词的发音掌握得很准确。
But in English that's actually not the case. English is a stress-timed language.
但在英语中事实并非如此。英语是重音节拍语言。
That means some syllables will be longer, and some will be shorter.
这意味着有些音节会更长，有些会更短。
Many languages, however, are syllable-timed, which means each syllable has the same length.
然而，许多语言是有规则音节节拍的，这意味着每个音节都有相同的长度。
Examples of syllable-timed languages: French, Spanish, Cantonese.
音节节拍语言的例子有好几种，比如法语，西班牙语，粤语。
So, when an American hears a sentence of English, with each syllable having the same length,
所以，当一个美国人听到一个每个音节长度相同的英语句子时，
it takes just a little bit longer to get the meaning.
需要更长的时间来搞明白这句话的意思。
This is because we are used to stressed syllables,
这是因为我们习惯于重读音节，
syllables that will pop out of the line because they're longer and they have more shape.
音节会从单词里解脱出来，因为这些音节读起来更长，具有可塑性。
Our ears, our brains, go straight to those words. Those are the content words.
我们的耳朵和大脑，直接将注意力转向那些词。这些都是实义词。

When all syllables are the same length, then there's no way for the ear to know which words are the most important.
当所有的音节长度相同时，耳朵就无法识别哪个词是最重要的。
So this is why stress is so important in American English. It's a stress-timed language.
这就是为什么重读在美式英语中如此重要。这是一种重音节拍语言。
When you give us nice shape in your stressed syllables, you're giving us the meaning of the sentence.
当你的重读音节读出来的时候让我们感觉美观大方时，你就是在告诉我们这句话在说什么了。
This means that other syllables need to be unstressed — flatter, quicker so that the stressed syllables are what the ear goes to.
这意味着其他音节不需要重读，平读，快读，耳朵要听的是这样重读的音节。
This is why it's so important to reduce function words that can reduce in American English.
这就是为什么在美式英语中尽可能减少虚词使用的重要原因。
When those function words are part of a whole, part of a sentence,
当这些虚词是整个句子的一部分时，
they are pronounced differently. Let's look at some examples.
它们的发音就不一样了。让我们来看看一些例子。
Do you know what I'm saying? A native speaker might not either.
你知道我在说什么吗？以英语为母语的人可能也不会知道。
But, in the context of a sentence, "I'm going to the store,"
但是，在一个句子的上下文中，“我要去商店了”，
a native speaker would know exactly what I was saying.
以英语为母语的人会知道我在说什么。
I'm going to the store. I'm going to the store.
我要去商店了。我要去商店了。
When 'to the' is pronounced (reduced and linked),
当“to”发音时(弱化连读时)，
'going' and 'store' become the obvious words in that sentence. I'm going to the store.
“going”和“store”成了这句话中最引人关注的两个词。我要去商店了。