Rules for reading vowels in combination with the letter R. Rules for reading the letter r English words ending in r

If the letter R is after vowels, then they will be read differently than in an open or closed syllable. For example, the letter combination AR will be read as a long sound [ɑː]: park - park, car - car, star - star (Fig. 2), party - party, farm - farm, arm [ɑːm] - hand.

Pay attention to the reading of the letter combination AR in these sentences:

We are at a party. - We're at a party.

His garden is dark. - His garden is dark.

Longitude is very important in English. If we drag and briefly pronounce Russian words, only the intonation will change. And in English words, their meaning depends on the brevity and longitude of the sound.

In the third type of reading, after the vowels, there is the letter R, which affects the length of the sound, that is, all these sounds are read as long.

Compare, paying attention to short sounds in the left column and long sounds in the right column:

Fix the difference in pronunciation by practicing reading these pairs of words.

All other English vowels in combination with R are read the same way: they give a long sound [əː] (Fig. 4). Rice. 4. Combination of vowels and R

Please note that there is no such sound in Russian. It is a bit like the sound in the word "honey". Practice reading words with this sound:

purple ["pɜːpl] - purple, nurse - nurse, fur - fur, her - her, bird - bird, girl - girl, first - first.

Now pay attention to reading these words in sentences:

The fur is purple. - Fur - purple (Fig. 5).

The girl has got a bird. - The girl has a bird.

Consider reading some combinations of vowels before the letter R.

If R is preceded by the letter combination AI, then together AIR will be pronounced as: air - air, hair - hair, chair [ʧeə] - chair, fair - light. His hair is fair. - His hair is blond (fig. 6).

My teddy bear is on the chair. - My teddy bear is on the chair.

Rice. 6. Blond hair ()

If the R is preceded by the letter combination EA, then together EAR will also be pronounced as: bear - bear, pear - pear. However, not all English words read EAR as . In some words, it reads like [ɪə]: ear [ɪə] - ear, near - near, hear - hear, tear - tear. The letter combination EER - [ɪə] will also be read: deer - deer (Fig. 7), engineer [ˌenʤɪ "nɪə] - engineer.

There are words in English that read the same but are spelled differently. Plus, they have different meanings. Compare:

Pay attention to these words in the sentences:

Meet me, please. - Meet me, please.

Dogs like meat. - Dogs love meat.

The flour is white. - Flour is white.

The flower is white. - Flower - white (Fig. 8).

Their teddy bear is there. - Their teddy bear is there.

When we come across such words, we need to be especially careful not to make mistakes.

We already know that the combination of letters OO is read as a short [u], as in the word - a book, or as a long one, as in the word spoon - a spoon. However, OO before R will be read as a long sound [ɔː]: floor - floor, door - door.

The ball is on the floor. - The ball is on the floor.

You already know that there are stressed and unstressed syllables in English. Vowels are read differently in them. In the stressed position, all vowels are read clearly, and in the unstressed position they turn into obscure, blurry sounds. The same thing happens when reading combinations of letters in unstressed syllables.

In a stressed syllable, the letter combination OR is read as a long [ɔː]: horse - horse, fork - fork, corn - corn. In an unstressed syllable, the letter combination OR will be read as a sound [ə]: doctor ["dɔktə] - doctor (Fig. 9), sailor ["seɪlə] - sailor, actor ["æktə] - actor. Look at these words in sentences:

Jane is a doctor. - Jane is a doctor.

Mike is a sailor. - Mike is a sailor.

Tom is an actor. - Tom is an actor.

The letter combination ER in an unstressed position will also be read as a short [ə]: teacher ["tiːʧə] - teacher, dancer ["dɑːnsə] - dancer, singer ["sɪŋə] - singer.

Look at these words in sentences:

Sue is a teacher. - Sue is a teacher.

Bob is a dancer. - Bob is a dancer.

John is a singer. - John is a singer.

Bibliography

1. Afanasyeva O. V., Mikheeva I. V. English language. Grade 2 - M: Bustard, 2014.
2. Biboletova M.Z., Denisenko O.A., Trubaneva N.N. English language. Grade 2 - Title, 2008.
3. Bykova N.I., Dooley D., Pospelova M.D. and other English language. Grade 2 - Enlightenment, 2013.

Homework

1. Learn how to read all the words from the video lesson correctly.
2. For each correctly learned reading of vowels in combination with R, find two English example words.
3. Learn the words from the video lesson and the new words you find.

1. Internet portal Freen.ru ().
2. Internet portal English100.ru ().
3. Internet portal Freen.ru ().

Have you ever had problems pronunciation in English? How do you usually deal with difficult sounds? As a rule, people unconsciously try to cheat and simplify their work - to pronounce a similar Russian sound. However, native speakers may not understand at all what we are trying to tell them, because for them it will be new unfamiliar words. Do you want your English to be understood not only by compatriots? Then study our review of the most common "Russian" mistakes in English pronunciation and use the tips on how to get rid of them.

How to work on mistakes in pronunciation

To begin with, we will give you some tips on how you can prevent the occurrence of errors in pronunciation. This is easier to do than learning to pronounce sounds again.

First of all, we advise you to familiarize yourself with the rules of reading. This is the foundation of the basics with which it is worth starting to learn the language. If for some reason you didn’t learn them or don’t remember well, we strongly advise you to memorize the rules for reading vowels and consonants. This will greatly facilitate your further work on the pronunciation of English sounds.

After that, study the correct position of the lips, tongue, palate, vocal cords when pronouncing each of the sounds of English. The easiest way to do this is in individual lessons with one of ours or using special training videos. For each of the errors described below, we will provide a video that teaches the pronunciation of the “problem sound”.

There are also special textbooks that will help you get rid of problems in pronunciation of English. You can take one of the following benefits:

• “English Pronunciation in Use”
• “Tree or Three? An Elementary Pronunciation Course” by Ann Baker
• “Ship or Sheep? An Intermediate Pronunciation Course” by Ann Baker
• “Elements of Pronunciation”
• “New Headway Pronunciation Course”

In them you will find detailed explanations and practical exercises for getting rid of the Russian accent.

Practice pronunciation with tongue twisters that help you work out sounds that are difficult for you. You will find many wonderful phrases for training in the article "50 most difficult tongue twisters in English". In this article, we will give one tongue twister, voiced by a native speaker, to each of the presented errors in the pronunciation of English.

If you decide to take your pronunciation seriously, we advise you to read our article "". This is a whole guide with many interesting tricks and secrets for those who want to "sound" like a native speaker.

Russian mistakes that we make in English speech most often

1. We muffle voiced consonants at the end of a word

When speaking in Russian, we muffle the voiced consonants at the end of the word, for example: we say “moroz” “moroz”, we say “grip” for mushroom, we say “burden” for a knife, etc. In English, such self-will is not allowed: if you muffle voiced consonant, you can get a completely different word. If the pronunciation is incorrect, it may happen that the adjective "bad" - bad turns into a "bat" - bat.

Solution:

As soon as you start learning English, immediately accustom yourself to pronounce words clearly and distinctly, pronouncing all consonants as required by the rules for reading the language.

Related Videos:

Patter:

How many cookies could a good cook cook if a good cook could cook cookies? A good cook could cook as many cookies as a good cook who could cook cookies.

2. We pronounce the sounds /w/ and /v/ like Russian /v/

Again, the inconsistency with the Russian language is to blame: we have only one version of the pronunciation of the letter “v”. However, it does not correspond to any of the sounds of the English language. So it turns out that we say vet (veterinarian) instead of wet (wet).

Solution:

Learn the correct position of the organs of articulation. You should develop a conditioned reflex: when pronouncing the sound /w/, you need to stretch your lips with a tube, with the sound /v/, you need to bite your lower lip a little with your teeth.

Related Videos:

Patter:

The very wary warrior veered violently where the violets wound very wickedly.

3. We pronounce the sound / r / like Russian / r /

We often forget about the correct position of the organs of speech when pronouncing this sound, so it turns out to be fuzzy and it becomes difficult for a foreigner to understand us. In addition, we often pronounce this sound when it is not necessary to pronounce it at all: at the position of the letter r at the end of a word. And it turns out that we, for example, “croak” when pronouncing the word car (car).

Solution:

Go back to reading rules in English and learn by heart when the letter r is pronounced and when it is not. And also learn how to correctly position the organs of speech during the pronunciation of the letter r: the tip of the tongue is slightly bent back and reaches for the alveoli (the tubercles of y between the front upper teeth and the middle part of the palate), but does not touch them. English /r/, unlike Russian, is pronounced without air vibration. You can find two variants of /r/ pronunciation at the end of a word: it can be pronounced, or it can be omitted, the main thing is that English /r/ is different from Russian.

Related Videos:

Patter:

Ray ran across a rough road with his red rocks, wretched ratchet wrench, and rare rubber roller.

4. We pronounce the sounds /θ/ and /ð/ like Russian /f/ and /з/

We think everyone will agree that the words “zeriz” (there is), “zera” (there are), “fries” (three) and “fenkyu-senkyu” (thank you) have already become a byword. It seems to us that we pronounce similar Russian sounds and there is nothing wrong with that. However, native speakers do not understand us, because the words we speak lose their meaning due to the replacement of sound.

Solution:

If you train yourself to hold your tongue in the correct position when making these sounds, it will make your task much easier. When pronouncing the sounds /θ/ and /ð/, the tongue is between the teeth. When pronouncing the /θ/ sound, linguists recommend placing the tongue between the teeth and pronouncing the Russian letter “t”, and for the /ð/ sound, pronounce the Russian “d”, while you should feel a slight vibration of the air in your throat. Don't worry if it's difficult at first. Speak slowly, but try to pronounce each word clearly.

Related Videos:

Patter:

The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.

5. Pronounce nasal /ŋ/ like Russian /n/

Usually, at the end of words ending in -ing, people either pronounce the ending "ing" or "in", while forgetting that the sound in this case should be nasal - /ŋ/, and the letter g should be omitted.

Solution:

To make it easier to pronounce the sound, train yourself not to raise the tip of the tongue to the upper teeth, but to leave it at the bottom, the back of the tongue should be raised to the sky. Thus, you will get the same nasal /ŋ/.

Related Videos:

Patter:

The King's ring rung wrong.

6. We pronounce the sound / h / like Russian / x /

In Russian, the sound /х/ is clear and well distinguished, English /h/ is rather a light exhalation, it should not actually be heard. We pronounce it in the Russian manner - clearly and distinctly, and this is one of the most common Russian mistakes in the pronunciation of the English language.

Solution:

Remember the correct position of the organs of articulation: the tongue does not rise anywhere, it remains in place, as during silence, the lips are slightly parted. Sound is produced mainly by the vocal cords, but the latter should not vibrate. The sound /h/ in English is a light exhalation, a weak sound.

Related Videos:

Patter:

Harry Hunt hunts heavy hairy hares. Does Harry Hunt hunt heavy hairy hares? If Harry Hunt hunts heavy hairy hares, Where are the heavy hairy hares Harry Hunt hunts?

7. We pronounce the sound /l/ like Russian /l/

It would seem that the sound /l/ in English is not at all different from our /l/. Alas, only Russian speakers think so. The English, on the other hand, hear this Russian mistake in the pronunciation of sounds well.

The fact is that in English there are two types of sound /l/: light - light or soft /l/, and also dark - dark or hard /l/. Everything is aggravated by the fact that in the dictionary there are no designations in which words /l/ must be pronounced firmly, and in which softly.

Solution:

There is a simple rule: we use a soft sound /l/ before vowels. However, there is a snag here: it should be a little harder than the Russian sound /l/ in the words “salt”, “love”. To get this sound, try lifting the middle part of your tongue towards the roof of your mouth.

In all other cases, we need a solid /l/. And again a challenge to our organs of speech: the sound, although hard, should be a little softer than the Russian /l/ in the words “spoon”, “best”. It sounds complicated, but constant practice and listening to native speakers will help you “feel” the difference in the pronunciation of these sounds.

Related Videos:

Patter:

Lovely little Link left limping.

8. We pronounce the sounds /p/, /t/ like Russian /p/, /t/

These are two more "cunning" sounds that seem to us so similar to Russian /p/ and /t/. In fact, they are somewhat different - more noisy, explosive. Mistakes in the pronunciation of these sounds will not cause misunderstanding of the interlocutor, but for those who want to speak like a native speaker, we advise you to work on these sounds, especially since they are pronounced quite simply.

Solution:

The English sounds /p/ and /t/, as we have already said, are aspirated, but at the same time quite energetically. You exhale as if you want to blow out a candle. At the same time, when pronouncing the sound /t/, the tongue should be on the alveoli (tubercles near the front upper teeth).

Related Videos:

Tongue Twisters:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Two tried and true tridents.

9. We pronounce short and long vowels the same way

In Russian there is no such thing as the length of a vowel sound: they are all pronounced the same in any word. Therefore, when we speak English, it is difficult for us to accustom ourselves to pronounce these same sounds in different ways. However, you must pay attention to them, otherwise the sheep (sheep /ʃiːp/) will turn into a ship (ship /ʃɪp/), which will confuse the English-speaking interlocutor.

Related Videos:

*Look out for videos in the playlist that have the words Short vowels and Long vowels in their titles.

Patter:

She sells sea shells on the seashore. The shells she sells are seashells I am sure.

10. We pronounce the sounds /ɔː/ and /ɜː/ the same way

This is one of the most popular Russian mistakes in English pronunciation. There are no analogues of such sounds in our native language, so quite often work (work /wɜː(r)k/) turns into a walk (walk /wɔːk/), which, you see, may not please your English-speaking interlocutor, especially if he is your boss.

Solution:

Repeat the rules of reading English, and always listen to new words in an online dictionary or check transcription in a regular dictionary. While studying the word, repeat it several times, try to feel the difference in difficult sounds.

Patter:

First, nerds burn worst.

11. We pronounce the sound /i/ like Russian /and/

Even upper-intermediate English learners get this seemingly simple sound wrong. They pronounce English /i/ like Russian /i/, making it too soft. Therefore, words such as sick, trick, hit for native speakers sound strange, unnatural. Of course, they will understand your words, but do you want to sound beautiful?

Solution:

English /i/ is a cross between the Russian sounds /i/ and /ы/. To make it easier for you to pronounce it, try stretching your lips slightly in a smile and pronouncing the sound /and/ a little harder than usual.

Related Videos:

Patter:

Little pills will make Jill ill.

12. We pronounce the sound /ɔ/ as /ʌ/, and /əʊ/ as /ɔ/

The English letter "o" often causes difficulties for us. Firstly, in Russian we are used to pronouncing the unstressed letter “o” as the sound /a/, for example: we pronounce the shoe “batinok”, the king we pronounce “karol”, the crow we pronounce “varona”. In English, such liberties are not allowed. English speakers simply won't understand the words "tea-pot", "photograph", etc.

Secondly, we often forget that the letter "o" in some cases forms a diphthong (a vowel sound consisting of two components) /əʊ/. Therefore, native speakers are surprised at the “new” words from our lips: “open” (open), “hom” (home), “bridge” (most).

Solution:

Train yourself to clearly pronounce the /o/ sound. This can be done only with the help of constant training: read texts aloud, speak English and control your speech.

Repeat the reading rules, they describe in detail in which cases the letter “o” forms certain sounds. In most words, in an open syllable, "o" forms a diphthong /əʊ/, although there are exceptions.

Related Videos:

Patter:

Hope for soap on a rope.

13. Pronounce unpronounceable letters

We are used to the fact that in Russian all letters are pronounced (except for soft and hard signs and unpronounceable consonants) that are in the letter. In English, this rule does not work: not all letters need to be pronounced. Otherwise, the knight knight (/naɪt/) will turn into the word “knight” or “knight” incomprehensible to the carrier.

Solution:

Be sure to study the rules for reading English in the article “Silent letters. Unpronounceable letters in the English language. After that, make up a short story using words with unpronounceable letters - you can take the words from the above article. Above the text, make notes: which word is read in what way. Gradually, you will memorize the rules for pronunciation of these words and you will speak correctly automatically.

Related Videos:

As you can see, there are enough problems in the pronunciation of the English language, but it is also possible to get rid of them if you constantly practice sounds. Watch another useful video on the topic and practice the pronunciation of words. Apply the tips suggested in our articles, and everything will work out.

Of course, it is quite difficult to understand how to pronounce certain complex sounds from a video or article. Do you want to get rid of the Russian accent in English with the help of an experienced mentor? We invite you to enroll in our online school at. The teacher (native speaker or Russian speaker) will tell you in detail and show you how to work on certain sounds. Getting rid of English pronunciation problems is easier than it seems.

Several vowels and - sound |r|. It is he who makes the accent so recognizable, and this is even played up in parodies:

In fact, learning to pronounce the sound |r| not so difficult. The main thing is to accustom yourself to correctly articulate the sound in fluent speech. The only way out is a lot of practice. So our plan of action: first, let's take a step-by-step look at how to pronounce the sound |r| correctly, and then we'll practice on words and tongue twisters.

Step-by-step guide: how to pronounce the English sound |r|

If anyone is still having trouble, here's a little life hack: first start with a long sound |zhzhzh| or |ZZZ| and then, without interrupting it, move the tip of the tongue back to the posterior slope of the alveoli, making the passage for air wider than for |g|. Don't let your tongue vibrate. Voila!

Workout: pronunciation of the English letter r

Now let's practice and say a few dozen words with this sound:

raisin /ˈreɪ.zən/

rabbit /ˈræb.ɪt/

ribbon /ˈrɪb.ən/

radio /ˈreɪ.di.əʊ/

rocket /ˈrɒk.ɪt/

ranch /rɑːntʃ/

recess /rɪˈses/

carrot /ˈkær.ət/

zero /ˈzɪə.rəʊ/

Super! Let's complicate the task with tongue twisters.

Tongue twisters: pronunciation of sound |r| in english

• Robert Rowley rolled a round roll around, a round roll Robert Rowley rolled around. If Robert Rowley rolled a round roll around, where is the round roll Robert Rowley rolled around?
• Rose Reed replants red roses, And the red roses ramp around a rail. If Rose Reed didn't replant the red roses, would the red roses ramp around the rail?
• Strawberries, raspberries and red-currents with real cream are really very refreshing.
• A right-handed fellow named Wright in writing “write” always wrote “right” where he meant to write right. If he’d written “write” right, Wright would not have wrought rot writing “rite”.

By tradition, we will complete the article with a musical example. I settled on the song “Run Run Run” by Junge Junge, where the sound we want is repeated throughout the first verse.

Stay with us

Well, we have 12 sounds. Let's focus on sounds next time | n | and | ŋ | . In the meantime, watch the video from our youtube channel, from which you will learn a useful exercise for good pronunciation.