{"id":179962,"date":"2021-07-27T14:01:45","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T18:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/pronounce-schwa-sound\/"},"modified":"2024-09-27T04:21:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T08:21:08","slug":"pronounce-schwa-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/english\/pronounce-schwa-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use the Schwa Sound to Skyrocket Your English Fluency"},"content":{"rendered":"

The <\/span>schwa <\/span><\/i>sound is perhaps the laziest sound you can make that has the greatest impact on your English fluency.<\/span><\/p>\n

So what do I mean by \u201claziest\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>schwa <\/span><\/i>sound<\/span> requires hardly any effort to pronounce, and every native English speaker makes the sound entirely unconsciously.<\/span><\/p>\n

Believe it or not, most native English speakers were never taught the schwa sound and don\u2019t even know what it is! They just pronounce it instinctively.<\/span><\/p>\n

The schwa is the most common vowel sound in English and it appears in nearly every word. Native speakers use it unconsciously to smooth out speech and create a nice rhythm, ultimately improving delivery and comprehension.<\/span><\/p>\n

The schwa sound is imperative to fluent English, and if you don\u2019t use it, you\u2019ll sound monotone and awkward, like a robot!<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look at how to pronounce the schwa sound in English.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the Schwa Sound?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As we just saw, the schwa is the most common sound in English, and it appears in practically every word.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take this sentence, for example, with all the schwa sounds bolded:<\/span><\/p>\n

I w<\/span><\/i>a<\/i><\/b>s walking <\/span><\/i>a<\/i><\/b>round my <\/span><\/i>a<\/i><\/b>partm<\/span><\/i>e<\/i><\/b>nt <\/span><\/i>a<\/i><\/b>nd I sudd<\/span><\/i>e<\/i><\/b>nly start<\/span><\/i>e<\/i><\/b>d t<\/span><\/i>o<\/i><\/b> feel <\/span><\/i>u<\/i><\/b>nwell.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

How many schwa sounds did you count?<\/span><\/p>\n

There are eight in that phrase! I wasn\u2019t lying when I said it was extremely common.<\/span><\/p>\n

The schwa sound exists in two forms:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. As an unstressed syllable in a multi-syllable word<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. As a reduced vowel sound in a function word<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    1. As an unstressed syllable in a multi-syllable word<\/b><\/p>\n

    Many multi-syllable words don\u2019t seem to be pronounced as they are spelled in English. That\u2019s because of the schwa – it\u2019s a function of <\/span>syllable stress<\/span><\/i>, not <\/span>spelling<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    English is a <\/span>stress-timed language<\/span><\/i><\/a>, meaning we don\u2019t pronounce every syllable equally, like in Spanish for example. We emphasize the main syllable of each word and \u201creduce\u201d the others to make the sentence quicker to say and easier to understand.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Examples with the stressed syllable underlined:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    a: b<\/span>a<\/span><\/span>lloon<\/span>
    \ne: probl<\/span>e<\/span><\/span>m<\/span>
    \ni: fam<\/span>i<\/span><\/span>ly<\/span>
    \no: bott<\/span>o<\/span><\/span>m<\/span>
    \nu: s<\/span>u<\/span><\/span>pport<\/span>
    \ny: anal<\/span>y<\/span><\/span>sis<\/span>
    \n<\/b><\/p>\n

    2. As a reduced sound in a function word<\/b><\/p>\n

    Firstly, what\u2019s a function word?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Merriam Webster defines a function word as<\/span> \u201cA word (such as a preposition, auxiliary verb, or conjunction) that expresses primarily a grammatical relationship.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    So simply put, a function word <\/span>joins the words of a sentence together to create context!<\/b> Words like with, <\/span>at, on, because, <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>over<\/span><\/i>, are all function words and without them, we wouldn\u2019t make any sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

    You normally only reduce the pronunciation of function words when they\u2019re used in a sentence. If they\u2019re spoken alone, or used as the main context of a short phrase, like \u201c<\/span>he can<\/span><\/i>!\u201d, then they\u2019re emphasized.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The point of reducing the pronunciation of function words is to help them \u201cfall\u201d into the background and give more emphasis to the important words, called <\/span>content <\/span><\/i>words<\/span><\/a>, that give more context.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Here are some common content words by category:<\/span>
    \n<\/span><\/p>\n

    Nouns: <\/i><\/b>John, dog, invoice, weather, meeting, conference, guidance.<\/span><\/i>
    \nVerbs: <\/i><\/b>organize, expand, merge, compete, argue, practice.<\/span><\/i>
    \nAdjectives: <\/i><\/b>happy, new, damaged, special, bright, careless, charming.<\/span><\/i>
    \nAdverbs: <\/i><\/b>quickly, very, completely, randomly, suddenly, accidentally, actually.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    Perhaps you\u2019re wondering why you haven\u2019t heard or seen of the schwa sooner.<\/b><\/p>\n

    Well,<\/span> it doesn\u2019t exist in written English,<\/b> which isn\u2019t surprising as there are 26 letters in the English alphabet but 44 sounds, called <\/span>phonemes<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Any vowel can become the schwa sound, which is why it\u2019s so abundant in spoken English. Which vowel becomes the schwa just depends on whether the syllable is stressed or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Here are some examples showing which vowel is \u201creduced\u201d with schwa:<\/span><\/p>\n