In standard British English, there are cases where the /r/ is barely pronounced, or is pronounced very softly. To master this subtlety, follow this explanation along with the accompanying audio.
How to pronounce the /r/ sound
Let’s start by revising four earlier pronunciation points from previous articles before we get down to practising today’s sound: the /r/ sound.
Do you remember our very first sound, the /h/, for instance? We learnt how to make it soft, like when you breathe on a mirror to wipe it clean: /h/.
Example:
- Henry, hi!
- Helen! How are you? Have a seat. I’m so happy you’re here!
Next are: /sp/ and /st/. The thing to remember here is not to say an /e/ before them.
Example: Spain, sports, spring, street, student, star and not /e/Spain, /e/sport, /e/spring, /e/street and so on.
How about this one: /ɪdʒ/? It’s there in words like message, village, cottage, advantage, language, image, package.
And finally the /ɪ/ and /i:/? Ship and sheep, hit and heat, live and leave, mill and meal sound different. The /ɪ/ in ship sounds flatter and shorter than the /i:/ in sheep, which is brighter and longer.
Now that we’ve done our revision, let’s see how we pronounce the /r/ sound in English.
Section one: Spotting the problem
Turco y truco, Rodrigo y Rosario, un rollo, o un carro que corre. Spanish has got crispy rolling /r/ sounds, but in English, the /r/ is not usually rolled this way. Listen: ring, write, carry, free, rabbit, instead of ring, free or rabbit.
There are cases in standard British English where the /r/ is practically omitted: for example, in Peter, power, flower, star, perfect, perfume. Spanish students often say flower, star, or perfect.
When the /r/ is pronounced together with /t/, many native speakers say the two consonants almost like /tʃr/: true, actress, tree, triangle, interesting, but never tree, triangle or interesting.
Listen to the sound alone: /r/. Does it sound like a dog’s bark? Or maybe just a poor imitation? Never mind. The point is, softening your /r/ sounds is another step towards eliminating your foreign accent.
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Section two: Correcting the problem
The dog’s bark idea is a good one to keep in mind when practising this sound with words. So, first experiment with the /r/ only. Your neighbours may think you’ve got a dog in your house, but that’s a reasonable sacrifice to make for getting your /r/ sound right.
Section three: Practice
Now listen to me saying some words first, then repeat them after the beep. Make sure you don't roll the /r/. If you are still doing so, practise the non-rolling /r/ sound on its own, and then continue with the words.
ring | right | cross | shower | perhaps | travel |
relax | write | grow | younger | shepherd | translate |
Now let’s continue with some common collocations with /r/ in them.
crispy cereals | private property | French fries |
raw materials | greengrocer | Prime Minister |
Section four: Memorize
As always, we will end our lesson by learning some sentences by heart. This way they are there for you any time you want to remember the sound.
1) Ruth, are you ready? We’re in a hurry!
I’m drying my hair, I didn’t hear you, sorry!
2) Morning! What’s for breakfast? I’m really hungry.
3) Real rock and roll is louder!
And finally, a nonsense tongue-twister:
Rare furry red herrings spring really rapidly.
Try to use authentic texts and a monolingual English dictionary to find more real-life word combinations to practise with. Keep praticing!
More articles with audio to practice your pronunciation:
