American English Sounds
  • Home
  • Vowels
    • VOWEL CHART
    • Front >
      • /iy/ (see, keep)
      • /ɪ/ (sit, pick)
      • /ey/ (take, name)
      • /ɛ/ (pet, tell)
      • /æ/ (sat, past)
    • Central >
      • /ɜr/ (church, nurse)
      • /ər/ (mother, surprise)
      • /ʌ/ (cup, must)
      • /ə/ (about, undo)
      • /ɑ/ (stop, job)
    • Back >
      • /ʊ/ (good, put)
      • /uw/ (food, soon)
      • /ɔ/ (bought, lost)
      • /ow/ (low, coat)
    • Diphthongs >
      • /ɑɪ/ (light, pie)
      • /ɑʊ/ (cow, loud)
      • /ɔɪ/ (boy, voice)
  • Consonants
    • CONSONANT CHART
    • Lips (Bilabial) >
      • /p/ (peace, price)
      • /b/ (buy, brain)
      • /m/ (map, time)
      • /w/ (wait, win)
    • Lips-Teeth (Labio-dental) >
      • /f/ (fix, friend)
      • /v/ (vase, love)
    • Tongue-Teeth (Dental) >
      • /θ/ (thank, bath)
      • /ð/ (this, breathe)
    • Tongue-Gum Ridge (Alveolar) >
      • /t/ (take, stand)
      • /d/ (day, drive)
      • /s/ (sit, race)
      • /z/ (zoo, these)
      • /l/ (less, sleep)
      • /n/ (nice, man)
    • Tongue-Palate (Palatal) >
      • /ʃ/ (push, show)
      • /ʒ/ (measure, vision)
      • /tʃ/ (choose, match)
      • /dʒ/ (juice, edge)
      • /r/ (rose, borrow)
      • /y/ (yes, young)
    • Tongue-Soft Palate (Velar) >
      • /k/ (kiss, cat)
      • /g/ (gas, green)
      • /ŋ/ (hang, long)
    • Throat (Glottal) >
      • /h/ (help, hand)
  • Resources
    • Pronunciation Vocabulary
    • For Students
    • For Instructors

/ə/

LISTEN

listen_to_schwa.mp3
File Size: 270 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/ə/.../ə/.../ə/.../ə/...

about...undo...hated...
certain...

WHAT IS IT?

Pronunciation:
The vowel /ə/ (called "Schwa") is a central, mid, lax vowel. It is a reduced vowel, which means it is shorter and quicker than other vowels and only appears in unstressed syllables. This vowel is found in most unstressed syllables in English.
  • Your lips should be relaxed and slightly open, not rounded or spread.
  • Let your tongue rest in the center of your mouth, without touching any part of your mouth.
  • Breathe out, and let your vocal cords vibrate. Pronounce the vowel quickly and softly.

Spelling:
  • "a" - about, majority
  • "o"- official, lion
  • "u" - undo, medium
  • "e" - different, wanted
  • "i" - family, reality
  • "io" - mission, condition 
  • "ai" - certain, mountain
  • "ia" - special, essential

Grammar Tip:
In addition to unstressed syllables within words,  /ə/ is often used in a certain set of words called "function words" (or "structure words"). These are words that carry grammatical meaning within a sentence. They are often spoken quickly with reduced vowels in conversational English.
  • Articles: a, an, the
  • Prepositions: of, to, for, at
  • Conjunctions: or, and
  • Pronouns: him, her, them, you, some
  • Auxiliary verbs: do, can, have

Listen to these sentences. The underlined words are function words. Notice how the function words are pronounced with /ə/ instead of a full vowel,
function_words_with_schwa.mp3
File Size: 210 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

  • Have you told him the news?
  • I can come to the party with him.
  • Jeff and I took them some cake.

COMPARE

Compare /ə/ with /ʌ/:
compare_schwa-uh_1.mp3
File Size: 81 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/ə/.../ʌ/.../ə/.../ʌ/.../ə/.../ʌ/...

These are both central, mid, lax vowels. However, ​​/ə/ is a reduced vowel and /ʌ/ is a full vowel. This means that /ə/ is shorter and softer than /ʌ/.

Practice hearing the difference between ​​/ə/ and /ʌ/ by taking the quiz below.


Compare Word Forms:
​A 
stressed syllable in a word may become unstressed 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 /ə/ when the suffix is added.
compare_schwa_word_forms_1.mp3
File Size: 127 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

  • office --> official
  • major --> majority
  • biology --> biological

​Practice listening to words with /ə/ and with a full vowel by taking the quiz below.

PRACTICE

Listen and repeat these words:
words_with_schwa.mp3
File Size: 591 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. sofa
2. about
3. undo
4. umbrella
5. unlucky
6. potato
7. motion
8. wanted
9. lion
10. method
11. collectio​n
12. uncertain
13. stability
14. magazine
15. industry
16. perio​d
17. avoidance
18. photography
19. additional
20. uncomfortable

Now, practice /ə/ in sentences. Say the words first, then the sentences. (Remember that in a sentence, some function words will also have /ə/.)
sentences_with_schwa.mp3
File Size: 1210 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. family - support - decision - abroad
His family doesn't support his decision to go abroad.

2. important - complete - assignments
It's important for you to complete all your assignments.

3. helpful - collect - supplies
Before you start a project, it's helpful to collect all your supplies.

4. apartment - beautiful - colorful
Your apartment is so beautiful and colorful!

5. uncomfortable - about - personal - problems
I'm uncomfortable talking about personal problems.

6. somebody - applied - position
​Somebody told me that you applied for a new position at work
​​.

To practice with different varieties of English, choose another native English speaker by clicking one of the links below:
  • Male 1 (US Midwest - St Louis) - words, sentences
  • Male 2 (US Midwest - Iowa) - words, sentences
  • Male 3 (US Midwest) - words, sentences
  • Female 1 (US Northeast) - words, sentences
  • Female 2 (US Southeast) - words, sentences

USE IT!

​​Practice the task below. Then, record yourself completing that task. Give your recording to a teacher or an English-speaking friend for feedback.

Prepare:
What topics do you talk about with strangers?

  • Religion
  • Political opinions
  •  The problems of society
  • Personal problems
  • Your salary and finances
  • Your relationships
  • Current news
  • Technology
  • Your education
  • Activities that you enjoy
  • Religion
  • Political opinions
  •  The problems of society
  • Personal problems
  • Your salary and finances
  • Your relationships
  • Current news
  • Technology
  • Your education
  • Activities that you enjoy​

​Record:
Imagine you are giving advice to a shy friend who wants to have better conversations with strangers. Tell them which topics are good for conversation and which topics are bad for conversation. Explain why.

©2018-2021, Christine Wingate

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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  • Home
  • Vowels
    • VOWEL CHART
    • Front >
      • /iy/ (see, keep)
      • /ɪ/ (sit, pick)
      • /ey/ (take, name)
      • /ɛ/ (pet, tell)
      • /æ/ (sat, past)
    • Central >
      • /ɜr/ (church, nurse)
      • /ər/ (mother, surprise)
      • /ʌ/ (cup, must)
      • /ə/ (about, undo)
      • /ɑ/ (stop, job)
    • Back >
      • /ʊ/ (good, put)
      • /uw/ (food, soon)
      • /ɔ/ (bought, lost)
      • /ow/ (low, coat)
    • Diphthongs >
      • /ɑɪ/ (light, pie)
      • /ɑʊ/ (cow, loud)
      • /ɔɪ/ (boy, voice)
  • Consonants
    • CONSONANT CHART
    • Lips (Bilabial) >
      • /p/ (peace, price)
      • /b/ (buy, brain)
      • /m/ (map, time)
      • /w/ (wait, win)
    • Lips-Teeth (Labio-dental) >
      • /f/ (fix, friend)
      • /v/ (vase, love)
    • Tongue-Teeth (Dental) >
      • /θ/ (thank, bath)
      • /ð/ (this, breathe)
    • Tongue-Gum Ridge (Alveolar) >
      • /t/ (take, stand)
      • /d/ (day, drive)
      • /s/ (sit, race)
      • /z/ (zoo, these)
      • /l/ (less, sleep)
      • /n/ (nice, man)
    • Tongue-Palate (Palatal) >
      • /ʃ/ (push, show)
      • /ʒ/ (measure, vision)
      • /tʃ/ (choose, match)
      • /dʒ/ (juice, edge)
      • /r/ (rose, borrow)
      • /y/ (yes, young)
    • Tongue-Soft Palate (Velar) >
      • /k/ (kiss, cat)
      • /g/ (gas, green)
      • /ŋ/ (hang, long)
    • Throat (Glottal) >
      • /h/ (help, hand)
  • Resources
    • Pronunciation Vocabulary
    • For Students
    • For Instructors