In this video lesson we are going to learn how and when to pronounce the letter R in English: the general R’, linking ‘R’, and intrusive ‘R’.
In the general ‘R’, notice how British and American English differ. In British English, ‘R’ is silent unless followed by a vowel sound, while Americans always pronounce it.
We are going to practise producing the sound /r/ by curling our tongue without touching the roof of our mouth.
Next, we are going to explore the linking ‘R’, where the sound /r/ appears again between words, like in ‘teacher of English’ as well as many other examples.
Last but not least, we are going to look at intrusive ‘R’, where an extra /r/ sound appears between two vowel sounds, even if there is no letter R in the spelling. Remember, not all English speakers use intrusive ‘R’ when they speak, so it’s more about personal preference rather than a specific local dialect or accent.
Improve your English pronunciation with this easy-to-follow video guide.
Video Transcript: How to pronounce R in English
Today we are going to look at the 3 Rs:
- The general pronunciation of R
- linking R in English
- intrusive R
First up:
The General R
You might have noticed that there is quite a difference between British and American pronunciation whenever you see the letter R in a word.
In British English, the letter R is only pronounced when it is followed by a vowel sound.
In all other cases we don’t usually pronounce R.
This pronunciation is called non-rhotic and you can hear it in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Caribbean.
Though there are some regional exceptions, for example in Ireland, Scotland and also in the North of England.
In American English the letter R is always pronounced.
We call this a rhotic accent.
Let’s look at an example:
The word
‘Carry’
Here, the letter R is followed by the letter Y which is a vowel sound, so all accents of English, whether rhotic or non-rhotic will pronounce the letter R as a /r/ sound.
Carry
And how do we produce the /r/ sound?
Curl your tongue upwards
Curl the tip of your tongue, as well as the sides
BUT: without touching the roof of your mouth
Make sure there is no contact
You want to form a little bowl with your tongue
And then breath out with your vocal cords vibrating
R
R
It is a voiced sound
Make sure your tongue does not touch the top of your mouth!
Otherwise /r/ sounds like /l/!
Chinese speakers watch out for that!
/r/ as in
RUN
RIGHT
ROAD
VERY
WRONG
WRITTEN
In all of these examples the letter R is followed by a vowel sound and so we pronounce it as /r/ in all accents.
Here are some more examples:
RERUN
REREAD
Here, we even have the sound /r/ twice!
RERUN
REREAD
These are good words to say out loud to practise the pronunciation of /r/.
We can also often find /r/ in consonant clusters at the beginning of a word.
For example:
SCREAM
CRY
DREAM
FRIDAY
STREAM
However, here is another example with the letter R:
The word ‘teacher’
Here R is at the end of the word and there is no vowel sound following, so we have a different pronunciation for rhotic and non-rhotic speakers.
In British English – that is non-rhotic pronunciation – we say:
/ti:tʃə/
/ti:tʃə/
The last sound in the word is a short schwa, the central vowel sound.
But in American English, that is with a rhotic accent, it is:
/ti:tʃər/
/ti:tʃər/
We add the sound /r/ to the end
Sometimes this is also called an R-coloured schwa.
That means, the schwa and the R combine a little into a vowel sound that also sounds a bit like a /r/.
The schwa and the /r/ are not separate but combined. If you know the phonemic sound symbols from the IPA, the symbol is:ɚ
Let’s listen to both of them side by side:
BE: /ti:tʃə/
AE: /ti:tʃər/
So this is the general pronunciation of R
Now let’s look at the linking R next!
As I just explained in British English the letter R would be silent in words such as ‘teacher’ because there is no vowel sound following.
However, what happens if we say:
‘teacher of English’
Listen carefully!
‘teacher of …’
Can you hear what happens?
Suddenly, the /r/ sound is there!
‘Teacher of English’
That happens because the word ‘teacher’ is followed by the word ‘of’ – a word starting with a vowel sound and as a result, we pronounce the letter R again as /r/ because our rule was that R is pronounced when followed by a vowel sound.
Other examples are:
We need more apples.
‘More’ is now pronounced with a /r/ because the next sound is the vowel /æ/
‘More apples’
2x
Or in the example:
They’re all here!
‘They’re’ on it’s own does not contain a /r/ sound in British English.
‘They’re’
But when followed by the word ‘all’ which starts with a vowel sound, it turns into:
‘They’re all’ and a /r/ sound appears.
Obviously, these are examples for British English or better non-rhotic English, because in American English with a rhotic accent the R was pronounced all the time anyway!
Next, let’s look at the intrusive R next!
Sometimes we have words ending in a vowel sound and the next word also starts with a vowel sound.
For example in:
Law and order
Law ends in /ɔ:/ a long vowel sound
law
And the next word ‘and’ starts with the vowel sound /æ/ or probably a schwa if we speak fast and use the weak form ‘en’ instead.
Now, let’s listen closely what happens if I say both words together:
‘Law and order’
‘Law and order’
‘Law and order’
Can you hear it?
A /r/ sound has appeared between the word ‘law’ and the next word ‘and’
ALTHOUGH there is no letter R at all!
This is an example of intrusive R and we do this in some accents to link the two vowel sounds together.
However, it only happens if the ending vowel in the first word is a non-high vowel.
I know, ‘non-high vowel’ sounds a bit complicated. What is that?
It basically means the word has to end in:
/ə/ (a schwa)
The diphthong /ɪə/
Or the long vowels /ɑː/ or /ɔː/
Here are some examples of intrusive R:
America and Africa
(schwa + R + /æ/)
America and Africa
A /r/ has been added between America & the word ‘and’
OR
I like the idea of travelling
Idea of
Idea of
(/ie/ + /r/ + /short ɒ/)
I like the idea of travelling
OR
Grandma and granddad
Grandma and …
Grandma and …
(/a:/ + /r/ + /æ/ or schwa)
Grandma and granddad
But remember:
Intrusive R is only used by some English speakers, rhotic as well as non-rhotic, but not by all.
This is not so much depending on region but more on the speaker’s own habit or preference.
And that’s all for today!
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and leave me a comment if you have any questions,
or let me know what other topic you want to learn about next!
See you in the next video!
Billie English 