The sound /ər/ high, central, lax vowel
It is a reduced vowel, which means it is shorter and quicker than other vowels and only appears in unstressed syllables, or some function words. (See /ə/).
Spelling:
- "er" - mother, perform
- "ar" - grammar, forward
- "ir" - direction, confirmation
- "or" - comfort, forget
- "ur" - surprise, natural
- "ure" - culture, temperature
LISTEN
/ər/.../ər/.../ər/.../ər/...
mother...surprise...prettier...standard
mother...surprise...prettier...standard
Grammar Tip:
The sound /ər/ is used in the suffixes "-er", "-ar," and "-or." These suffixes are used in words to mean "a person who does something." Often, the suffix is added to a verb to change it to a noun.
- bake --> baker
- act --> actor
- lie --> liar
- calculate --> calculator
The suffix "-er" can also be added to adjectives. When "-er' is added to an adjective, it means "more...(than)."
- fast --> faster
- thin --> thinner
- pretty --> prettier
- friendly --> friendlier
COMPARE
Compare /ər/ with ɜr/:
/ər/.../ɜr/.../ər/.../ɜr/.../ər/.../ɜr/...
These are both high, central, lax vowels. However, /ər/ is a reduced vowel and /ɜr/ is a full vowel. This means that /ər/ is shorter and softer than /ɜr/.
These are both high, central, lax vowels. However, /ər/ is a reduced vowel and /ɜr/ is a full vowel. This means that /ər/ is shorter and softer than /ɜr/.
Compare Word Forms:
A stressed syllable in a word may become unstressed (or vice versa) when a suffix is added to the word, which changes the word stress. Listen to these examples. Notice how the underlined full vowel becomes the reduced vowel /ər/ when the suffix is added.
- conserve --> conservation
- urbanize --> urbanization
- infer --> inference
PRACTICE
Listen and repeat these words:
1. teacher
2. faster
3. surprise
4. forget
5. percent
6. understand
7. wonderful
8. prettier
9. direction
10. interview
2. faster
3. surprise
4. forget
5. percent
6. understand
7. wonderful
8. prettier
9. direction
10. interview
11. survival
12. performance
13. personality
14. conversation
15. natural
16. temperature
17. order
18. furthermore
19. inferior
20. error
12. performance
13. personality
14. conversation
15. natural
16. temperature
17. order
18. furthermore
19. inferior
20. error
Now, practice /ər/ in sentences. Say the words first, then the sentences. (Remember that in a sentence, some function words will also have /ər/).
1. smarter - sister - harder
I'm smarter than my sister, but she works harder.
2. understand - teacher's - directions
Did you understand the teacher's directions?
3. interrupt - her - conversation
Please don't interrupt her conversation.
4. interview - manager - yesterday
I had an interview with the manager yesterday.
5. pursued - order - professor
My friend pursued a graduate degree in order to to become a professor.
6. were - surprised - performance
My parents were surprised by my performance.
I'm smarter than my sister, but she works harder.
2. understand - teacher's - directions
Did you understand the teacher's directions?
3. interrupt - her - conversation
Please don't interrupt her conversation.
4. interview - manager - yesterday
I had an interview with the manager yesterday.
5. pursued - order - professor
My friend pursued a graduate degree in order to to become a professor.
6. were - surprised - performance
My parents were surprised by my performance.
To practice with different varieties of English, choose another native English speaker by clicking one of the links below:
Consonants /d/ and /g/
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