Where's my shoes?

[Winwin2011]

Here's a dialogue in a moive called "Lost in translation"

Man: Where's my shoes?
Woman: They're over here.

Which of the following sentences is more natural?

1.Where's my shoes?
2. Where're my shoes?

If it is more natural to say "Where's my shoes?" Can we say " It's over here"?


Thanks for your help.

 

[BobSmith]

[not a teacher]

Disregarding grammar, I say:

Where's my shoes? - common, natural
They're over here. - common, natural
Where is my shoes? - uncommon, unnatural
Where are my shoes? - common, natural
It's over here. - uncommon, unnatural

 

[Ouisch]

Actually, the more common contraction in AmE is "Where're my shoes?" meaning "Where are my shoes?". "Where's my shoes?" is definitely slang/technically incorrect English, and even so, the usual response would be "they're over here" or "they're under the bed, where you left them".

 

[BobSmith]

I'd bet dollars to donuts that "Where's my plural?" is way more common than "Where're my ... ".

 

[5jj]

I'd bet dollars to donuts that "Where's my plural?" is way more common than "Where're my ... ".

COCA citations:

Where is my [plural noun]? - 2
Where are my [plural noun]? - 104
Where's my [plural noun]? - 15
Where're my [plural noun]? - 0

 

[bhaisahab]

COCA citations:

Where is my [plural noun]? - 2
Where are my [plural noun]? - 104
Where's my [plural noun]? - 15
Where're my [plural noun]? - 0

"Mary! Where's me bl**dy shoes? " "'ow should I know? Where you put 'em I expect". This sort of dialogue is still possible in colloquial English. (Not, under any circumstances, to be used by learners of English).

 

[billmcd]

I'd bet dollars to donuts that "Where's my plural?" is way more common than "Where're my ... ".

Your dollars and my donuts, or your donuts and my dollars? :-D I'm going to go with "where're" (75%) vs. "where's" (25%), COCA notwithstanding.

 

[Winwin2011]

COCA citations:

Where is my [plural noun]? - 2
Where are my [plural noun]? - 104
Where's my [plural noun]? - 15
Where're my [plural noun]? - 0

Dear 5jj,

I just went to the COCA website Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)

However, I didn't know how to find the above citations. I think it's very useful if I knew how to compare.

Thanks a lot!

 

[5jj]

Type "where are my [*nn2*]" (without quotation marks) in the SEARCH box. You'll find the list of abbreviations if you click on the POS LIST.

 

[Winwin2011]

Type "where are my [*nn2*]" (without quotation marks) in the SEARCH box. You'll find the list of abbreviations if you click on the POS LIST.

Hi 5jj,

Your are one the most respected teachers here.Cool! I could find it. What does [*nn2*] mean? When I typed "where is my [*nn2*] , it showed a total of '2. When I typed "where is my without [*nn2*] , it showed a total of '208'.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) The United States is a large country, but here in California, I doubt that many people would ever try to pronounce

"Where're my shoes"? (Please try to pronounce that contraction and see how awkward -- difficult -- it is to pronounce it.) It

is OK in writing, but maybe many people would consider it a weird-looking word. In writing, just go ahead and use "Where

are." We use contractions in speech because we speak fast, but in writing, there is no reason to use contractions (unless you

are writing dialogue in a novel). I know NO THING about Twitter, but I hear you are limited to 140 characters. So I guess

"where're" would save you some space.

(2) This non-teacher respectfully suggests that you say:

(a) Where are my shoes? (correct English)

(b) Where's my shoes? (regular conversational English.)


Compare:

There are five books on the table. (Excellent)
There's five books on the table. (OK in speech)
There're five books on the table. (Very awkward in speech.) (OK in writing -- but unnecessary unless you need to save space.)

 

[5jj]

What does [*nn2*] mean?

When you click on POS LIST, a drop-down menu appears. Scroll down, and you find 'noun.PL' (= plural form of nouns) if you click on that, the code for it (['*nn2*]) will appear in your search box after 'where is my'. You have now started a search for 'where is my' followed by the plural form of any noun in the language.

It will take you some time before you get used to the system, but it seems to be very effective. I am only at the pre-intermediate stage myself. ;-)

 

[billmcd]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) The United States is a large country, but here in California, I doubt that many people would ever try to pronounce

"Where're my shoes"? (Please try to pronounce that contraction and see how awkward -- difficult -- it is to pronounce it.) It is OK in writing, but maybe many people would consider it a weird-looking word. In writing, just go ahead and use "Where are." We use contractions in speech because we speak fast, but in writing, there is no reason to use contractions (unless you are writing dialogue in a novel). I know NO THING about Twitter, but I hear you are limited to 140 characters. So I guess "where're" would save you some space.

(2) This non-teacher respectfully suggests that you say:

(a) Where are my shoes? (correct English)

(b) Where's my shoes? (regular conversational English.)


Compare:

There are five books on the table. (Excellent)
There's five books on the table. (OK in speech)
There're five books on the table. (Very awkward in speech.) (OK in writing -- but unnecessary unless you need to save space.)

In English, and as I suspect in all languages, native speakers compress/collapse many words and expressions, and to the second-language learner it is difficult to understand what is being expressed. "Where're" is a good example of this practice. I agree that it would be a real tongue twister to pronounce the contracted form as written, but when I and many AmE speakers pronounce what is written as "where're", it comes out unintentionally as "Where my shoes?", especially when spoken quickly, even though we are thinking "where're" or "where are".

 

[SoothingDave]

I agree that it isn't that difficult to say "where're" and it seems like a normal utterance to me.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's probably marginally easier in BrE than AmE, because in BrE we don't have such a conspicuously voiced "r" sound. If I say "Where're my shoes?" aloud, what I hear is almost indistinguishable from "Wearer my shoes?" That is what I would hear whether I was attempting to say "Where're ..." or "Where are ..."

 

[5jj]

If I say "Where're my shoes?" aloud, what I hear is almost indistinguishable from "Wearer my shoes?" That is what I would hear whether I was attempting to say "Where're ..." or "Where are ..."

Or even "Wear a (/ə/) my shoes?"

 

[emsr2d2]

Or even "Wear a (/ə/) my shoes?"

You're right. That's even closer.

 

[5jj]

For me, in normal conversation (assuming I'd ever say the second and third) these three would sound identical, and would rhyme exactly with the fourth if I were speaking informally:

Where are my shoes?
Wear a my shoes.
Wearer my shoes.
Pair of my shoes.

 

[billmcd]

It's probably marginally easier in BrE than AmE, because in BrE we don't have such a conspicuously voiced "r" sound. If I say "Where're my shoes?" aloud, what I hear is almost indistinguishable from "Wearer my shoes?" That is what I would hear whether I was attempting to say "Where're ..." or "Where are ..."

Yes ("wearer"), that's even closer to the example ("where") I used.

 

[Tdol]

Dear 5jj,

I just went to the COCA website Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)

However, I didn't know how to find the above citations. I think it's very useful if I knew how to compare.

Thanks a lot!

If you want to compare AmE and BrE, there's a British Corpus with the same interface here:
British National Corpus (BYU-BNC)