Master the /r/ Sound in English | Learn Perfect English Pronunciation

The /r/ sound is one of the most difficult sounds in English to pronounce. This video will show you HOW TO pronounce it and also WHEN to pronounce it.
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[@FlashRod]

I'm an American, i don't know why i like watching these videos so much

[@mohammadhameed6459]

It really hard for non native speaker live me to pronounce R

[@namankumar9478]

Non-rhotic English is more cool because it is convenient as well as cool sound.

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Agreed!

[@namankumar9478]

@@EatSleepDreamEnglish You are the best native English teacher Tom.

[@ajpkingdom6104]

Yes

[@pascalrarapo3269]

It is true and it makes things easier

[@mysaviourjesus4134]

Naman Kumar I agree!

[@raquelliana4794]

Hello, I'm Brazilian and I live in Portugal, I was in London last year and I loved the British accent! In the first video I watched, I got a better understanding of what you said! thank you for helping us❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@Evque]

Jeez, finally I got the answer why all these British chefs say "vanilla rextract" instead of extract!! 🤣 Although that's what I've always thought - to smoothe the pronunciation!

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

👌🏽perfect example

[@rebeccasimantov5476]

In Australian english we also use a linking r between two words beginning with a vowel For example: Fiona is waiting...we would say Fiona riz waiting

[@atsuko1422]

This video is a lifesaver for me whose first language is Japanese that doesn't exist this sound. Thank you, Tom!

[@stephankohenberg3947]

이 발음만 없는 게 아닐텐데...

[@songbird989]

Thanks Tom, for doing this video! It's very important for people to know the difference between the British R and the American R. We in the US use the "hard" R . For example, caR and paRk.

[@JacquelineMoleski]

Yeah. I'm in the US, plus I live in the Northern Midwest, so not only do I pronounce my Rs but it's clipped (so "Rockford" sounds like "ROCK-ferd"). I do notice the difference with the British R, though, and I appreciate hearing some of the rules be (especially the intruding R). I notice it most it words like "saw" (in British English it's frequently "Sarw" or a name like Nyssa or Anna is Nyssar or Annar). To my Midwestern ear that's weird. The third "R" that you get in the UK but never in the US is the Scottish rolled R. Can you talk more about that? (Sylvester McCoy on Doctor Who, and when speaking in person, REALLY rolls his Rs.) The only time you might hear that sound in the US is words taken from Spanish.

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

I agree, it's a really interesting distinction between the two types of English.

[@rene-pedersen-music]

"I Saw it" "The movie?" "Yeah I Saw it" "Saw the horror movie?" "Yes I Saw it" "Did you see all of them?" "Yeah I Saw all of them" "Saw 3D as well?" "Yes I saw Saw 3D as well ffs!..."

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Hehehe very funny : )

[@alicerossi_ap]

Of course yes! I love videos on intrusions and linking sounds. It's one of the most difficult aspects of English pronunciation for me, in particular the intruding R ..... in fact the test didn' t go so well 🙁 Many thanks Tom, your lessons become more and more interesting and advanced: you're really managing to take my/our English to the next level 🌟 (a Good Teacher, as you are, already knows inside himself/herself what students need and how to help them). See you next time 🙋

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Ahhh Alice you always say such lovely things to me : ) I'm really glad you liked the lesson and found it useful : ) Keep practising the intruding /r/ you'll get it I'm sure.

[@alicerossi_ap]

@@EatSleepDreamEnglish Sure, I'll keep practising the intruding R: I managed to "tame" my natural vibrating R when I try to speak in English, so I don't give up! Anyway thank you very much for your unconditional trust 🙂 P.S.: I have the habit (or defect?) of instinctively saying what I think ... and they are not always nice things 😀 but you deserve only words of appreciation (and I'm not the only one to say it).

[@psychuniverse9209]

Hi, I'm from Philippines. Thanks for this wonderful example of R used in pronunciation.

[@alessandrasaltamartini7179]

Wow!!! The R consonant in modern RP!...so fascinating and so complicated! But really when you get to pronounce it correctly, it gives so much satisfaction! Tom you're bulking up mate!!! Thanks, Cheers

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Hehehe thanks for noticing ; ) Glad you enjoyed the lesson Alessandra : )

[@Mads_Hatter]

I’m American but a few years ago I was unable to say r, as I was learning it people asked if I was British (perhaps I was somehow doing it this way) but not going to lie here, how you describe the British r sounds way more obtainable and easier than the hard work getting the American r

[@pattygalarce8019]

Thanks Tom. Precious lessons

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

So glad you liked it Patty : )

[@tatyanabulygina5177]

Thanks a lot for your overwhelmingly helpful videos!

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Great! Glad you enjoyed it Tatyana : )

[@sahatatsiripongwutikorn6633]

My teacher used to represent this clip for the class, I believe it's useful for many English learners, Thank you.

[@efelti_langlover]

Thanks Tom, nice video! I just recognized it, it's actually a similar phenomenon like liaisons in French: a consonant that is not pronounced generally in case it is at / for the end of the word, but it's pronounced if it's followed by another word started with vowel sound. --- aiR vs aiR ambulance, fouR vs fouR apples

[@Richard-zm6pt]

Some of my Asian students have trouble distinguishing English 'r' from 'l'. I always teach 'r' as a "kissing" sound, and 'l' as a "smiling" sound. When we make the 'r' sound, we purse our lips as if kissing, and when we make the 'l' sound, we spread our lips as in a smile. While tongue placement is also important, it's surprising how much the position of the lips makes the sounds distinct even when tongue placement isn't quite right.

[@ReiTuG]

Great video!!!

[@bdominguez1977]

Is it actually taught this way in school in the UK? Do they give different lessons in the West Country in order to preserve their accent?

[@katharinasofiepapst4763]

Wow, that was really helpfull. + it's short. I like this video a lot. 👍

[@muhammadadib3387]

Thanks for teaching the R sound. As an Asian, I used to sound it by vibrating the R, and the British's R makes me exhausted hahaha. Need more practice to make it perfect. Thanks again.

[@joanna2437]

yesssssssss! this is so easy now! Rrreally 😉 thank you for this video, Tom :)

[@runrun5642]

Hello, Tom Am Ramy from Egypt Your vids so useful Thanks lady I got a snooker club So we say "nice " and "extraordinary" and hope to know right pronounciation for both and difference between American and British accent Thanks again

[@pascalrarapo3269]

I didn’t know about the word "or"(America or Britain).You are a legend.Keep on this way.

[@danielgallagher8064]

Absolutely perfect!

[@debaranjannayak7895]

Very helpful.

[@Dazzling_Shadow]

This Video is Really Helpful.. Thank You :)

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Yay! Glad you liked it : )

[@Dazzling_Shadow]

@@EatSleepDreamEnglish :D

[@nganguyenpbc]

Thank you Teacher.

[@ronenr1405]

Great, Tom! Thank you 🙏🏽

[@user-bj5ol5zs5g]

Thanks a lot !

[@joness27]

Very interesting video. Thanx Tom 👍😍

[@khadraouisabrina5685]

Amazing 😁

[@quoileternite]

Beautiful.

[@duzty122]

As a Canadian I have a question. In primary schools do you teach children that "r" as in "Car" or "Far" is a silent letter?

[@pronunciationwithrituraj4899]

Really i impressed your pronunciation your english is really amazing i am from assam

[@honeybee3579]

Because he is English 😂

[@mumekone]

best 5 minutes videos!

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Ahh thanks so much mate : )

[@mumekone]

love this short form

[@sinyandanso9552]

Good

[@JohnRandomness105]

I think I may have a rather generous sense of what an R sound is. My ears heard R even where you said it wasn't pronounced. Of course, being USAian, I pronounce Rs where you don't. As far as I'm concerned, the entire vowel sound in "girl" "fur" "her" and so forth is an R sound. Sometimes, just for fun, I will r-r-r-r-role or tr-r-r-r-rill my Rs. The first is back near my throat, the second is midway at the top of my mouth (with help from my throat). I'm not sure if that's role or a trill. I tried a front trill/roll but wound up getting something like a rolled TH sound with an L-coloring. Speaking of "write" -- are you aware of the two different "long I" sounds? The context appears to be the sound that follows it: one sounds at the end of a word, or preceding a voiced consonant. The other is before an unvoiced consonant -- ride, high, eye, sign, lime, rise -- right, rice, rife, Reich as many of us pronounce it. If the term "short I" hadn't already been usurped, I would call the latter version a "short I".

[@rsns311257]

What about the rolled r so common in the past - at BBC, theatre, and even the Queen?

[@hoffen8215]

My boyfriend is British , I'll practice it tonight , thanks anywai !

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Excellent! Good luck

[@robertmelgarejo4176]

I knew all about the R sounds and pronunciation but never ever heard about the intruding R sound case!! 😰

[@godzila4000]

Excelent

[@compulsiverambler1352]

I'm English but am only now in my 30s learning to pronounce R properly, my whole life I've used my top teeth against my lower lip instead of using my tongue. My name begins with R so it's extra embarrassing. I can do it when I concentrate on it but in normal conversation I revert to muscle memory. Is it too late to fix a speech defect at my age?

[@hollyeharris]

I like the way it sounds. It’s crazy as heck to see how the words come together. Can you tell me why IDEA is said IDEAR when there’s no R in the word. My best friend used to say this and other words but she’s not British her family had Irish.

[@androidtemp1temporal170]

Yhank you man!

[@lisamichelle8413]

It’s the same in Aussie English .. we don’t pronounce the R unless it’s followed by another vowel .. flora, era, camera, but flower is pronounced flowah 😂

[@Taengz]

Can't make the /r/ sound without my tongue slightly touching the top of my mouth (and going back), no matter how hard I try. Makes me wonder whether this is just a really bad habit or if it's straight up impossible for me. I do have trouble with the /r/ sound, but the most difficult sound to me (after finally getting hang of the /th/ sound) is when there's a "T" before "R" e.g. Detroit, intruder. Very unnatural to me.

[@Stephen12396]

Can you explain the dragged out R sound where it’s a repeating rolling sound in certain words like throw and rude? I believe it could be due to the vowels placement but for example in the film a clockwork orange, the cat lady says to Alex “Get out before I throw you out” and she drags out the R sound in throw Another example is Star Trek lower decks episode 7, an alien with a British accent and he says the word Rude when speaking about a mutiny aboard a science experiment ship, he also drags out the the R sound in rude like a repeating noise for an extra half a second, what is this repeating roll noise called with R sounds in British English??

[@sangitachoukate4757]

I do like your videos , keep going tom😋

[@arshsandhu1758]

❤❤ thank u for this video 🍻

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

You are very welcome

[@hideyagi1019]

Thanks man👍✨! I like u pronunciation .

[@tiny-grimes]

If we link sentence: This letter is for Annie, we will get sound: Fo Rannie?

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Exactly!

[@alamjamilul3977]

Nice

[@a_programmer2754]

HHH finaly, i learnt how to pronounce ''R" in English, THANKS !!

[@azcomeazgo]

Korea: A country in East Asia. Korea: How the British pronounce "career" ;-).

[@JohnRandomness105]

A story I heard once (in the Boston area). It was about a proposed ordinance prohibiting persons "with an accent" from teaching. A teacher kept saying, "Korea" and berating a student (the storyteller) for saying it was the East-Asia country -- the word was actually "career". So how did the teacher pronounce "Korea"? "Career" of course. I understand that that sufficed to defeat the ordinance. Similarly in "The Language Instinct" (by Steven Pinker), someone reacted to basketball player Hoyt being injured with, "Hurt's hoit!"

[@julietserpentin1491]

How the English pronounce it, not the rest of "Britain"

[@lisamichelle8413]

Chinese say Kolear 😂😂

[@lisamichelle8413]

Fried Rice = Flied Lice 😁 That ok, .. sank you 🙏🏻

[@jwb52z9]

What about the word "drawing" pronounced as "draw-ring"? Why is an R pronounced there in some British dialects? It's in the middle of a word and not the end. Maybe it's just me, but the "intruding R" is something I thought was a speech impediment until now.

[@BickyToya]

from America here...Just say the R! i was getting confused on when you do and dont say it 😂

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

We like to keep everyone on their toes ; )

[@x4mni742]

Do some video on Geordie accent.

[@4-naufalhafidzawladana464]

Tom, I love watching football. But I always feel annoyed for not understanding what the commentators are saying. Could the next video discuss about the frequently used phrases in football commentary? I'm sorry for my bad english😁. Always love your video btw😍

[@ahmedelsadany1871]

What about iron R followed by vowel and still not pronounced in British English. Any explanation. Thanks any way.

[@peacekeeper3026]

I've seen many Brits unable to make that r sound in Russian way, surprisingly.

[@beslan1102]

eksetra?? maybe et'set(ə)rə?

[@Idk-jn2ok]

Can you still pronounce it if you have tied tongue

[@maostudio9256]

Lot of people doesnt khnow that tbis is the biggest key The R

[@elliottgreco6474]

Never been able to pronounce it til today. Still unsure how to use it in words like correct

[@ellenhan9368]

could you please do the moive 'lionking ' leasson ??millons thanks from china !!!

[@englishvocabulary6110]

Thanks teacher. But i am confused when we pronouce "a" strong like "sad" and weak like began..

[@Richard-zm6pt]

Very nice! I was thinking about American usage (which does vary from region to region: I live in a non-rhotic region), and I don't use the interstitial 'r' in a sentence like "I saw it," but I don't have a glottal stop either. In the "America or Britain" example, I also don't use the 'r' as a transition as much as I use a glottal stop. I don't know if that's idiosyncratic or typical of American speech. I wish you were American, so I could ask to use your videos in my ESL classes!

[@rebeccasimantov5476]

Just wondering...do you live in the New England region of the US? I know that people from Boston (Bostonians?) speak with a non-rhotic r... What about other areas?

[@rebeccasimantov5476]

Btw I'm from Australia (non-rhotic r also...)

[@Richard-zm6pt]

@@rebeccasimantov5476 Yes. I live on the Cape. I grew up on the North Shore.

[@Richard-zm6pt]

@@rebeccasimantov5476 All along the east coast, there are non-rhotic dialects down to Savannah, Georgia. The South Carolina coast is often, though not always, non-rhotic, and this may be true of North Carolina and coastal Virginia. New Jersey and New York City are non-rhotic as are Rhode Island, eastern Massachusetts, southeastern New Hampshire, and Maine (at least the coast). Of course, a lot of people from these areas do not conform to the local dialects and speak a more or less General American as represented by newscasters, for example.There have been studies that show class distinctions related to pronunciation. In the US rhotic varieties are more prestigious, which is the opposite from Britain, I believe.

[@rebeccasimantov5476]

@@Richard-zm6pt Do you mean Cape Cod Mass. ? Here's something weird: I also grew up on the North Shore...the North Shore of Sydney!!!

[@carlosmachado7026]

Tom, you are so cute with that t-shirt !!!!!!!!!

[@joynaltipucu8378]

amazong😍

[@qaneaveisi1152]

thank you so much well done l think the shape of your chin and mouth has made you able to sound more british and beautiful. ❤

[@AYESHA-vk2uz]

Little bit difficult for me to pronounce R in british 😁 ꦱ꧀ꦭꦸꦫꦸꦃꦢꦸꦤꦾꦧꦼꦱꦼꦫ꧀ꦠ꧀ꦠꦻꦱꦶꦚꦠꦶꦢꦴꦏꦤ꧀ꦕꦸꦏꦸꦥ꧀ꦧꦒꦶꦎꦫꦁꦱꦼꦫꦏꦃ

[@AYESHA-vk2uz]

@@천류_나르셰 that's javanese script from java, one of ethnic group in Indonesia

[@celticforst5913]

Grrat

[@sherri9984]

It's easier than American R

[@somnvm37]

I'd explain easier, pronounce only it if there's vowel after. And add it between words, between vowels. Like India r and. That's all

[@globalgoals2802]

It didn't work for me I sound like I'm saying "weally,"

[@nathaliemartel64]

In the first sentence at the end of the video there's an intruding R between "America" and "or". If we follow the rules, shouldn't there be one between "be" and "a" too? (or would it sound too odd?)

[@ChrisDMReloaded]

the R sounds more like Ah faiah computah Mastah teachah ordah

[@darkseid5615]

I have ONLY one question why not just pronounce the R? It's not so damn diffucult ya know

[@kwonputrii1101]

finally being the first view😭

[@directioner2870]

I have a biiiiiiiiig problem with R 😭😭😭😭😒💔

[@diegobonilla4962]

I am in love with you!

[@peterphiong6724]

I've never ever heard about the "intruding R". Now I know.

[@hi_howyoudoin]

SAME 👄, I've had no idea about that 😐

[@thaiblkman904]

The British pronunciation sounds like you guys say "all"

[@johnlabus7359]

Rule #1: pronounce the r when it's not there.

[@stephankohenberg3947]

four rapples? ok i understand but i saw rit??? there ris no R rin rit!!!!

[@jamesmarauders4175]

When I practised "parrots", I thought it sounded a bit like "pirates".... Anyone else?

[@vxfkkk]

You sound a little bit like TommyInnit ngl

[@e.a.b.1282]

hello, good video but you are too quickly for a stranger.

[@Jeswius]

bloke

[@paulciaccio739]

I kindly ask you not to refer to British English but to RP as "British" word include Scotland and NI. "R" SOUND is pronounced differently compared to London... but both people from Scotland and from NI are British... thank you

[@raquelliana4794]

You are single? 🤫😬

[@husna2803]

It's not gorrrrll! it's girl.

[@killiansirishbeer]

I really struggle with words that start with a 'r' followed by a vowel, especially an 'o' and sometimes an 'e'. For example, 'rowing'. I also find the 'wr' combination to be tricky sometimes 🥲

[@rborup00]

Try pushing the sides of your tongue up against the inside edge of your molars in the back. The tongue tenses and the middle stays down a little and the edges lift upward to press firmly against the inside of the back molar teeth.The problems you described are due to leaving the tongue too low in the mouth.

[@killiansirishbeer]

@@rborup00 Thank you for your explanation! I will try exercising the sounds following your instructions 😄