Schwa Sound
ə (the, about)

English Pronunciation, Lesson 08

The Schwa sound (IPA symbol: ə) is a short and weak vowel sound. You can hardly hear it, actually.

Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses

This sound can be found in English words such as: 
a, the, about, around, present, banana, father, system.

It is actually one of the most common sounds in English!

It is so common that it even got itself a name – Schwa.

The word "schwa" comes from the Hebrew word Shewa, which means: 
"a mark indicating lack of a vowel sound".

Watch the following video to learn how to pronounce this sound correctly:



Have you watched it? Good! Let's practice...

Say these words out loud (the Schwa sound is bold):

1) a

2) the

3) about

4) around

5) present

6) father

7) banana

8) carrot

9) atlas

10) illness

11) offend

12) answer

13) letter

14) alone

15) sofa

16) system

17) supply

18) circus


Now say these sentences out loud (the Schwa sound is bold):

1) I have a carrot and a banana.

2) The atlas contains a lot of maps.

3) He talked about his illness.

4) I will answer this letter.

5) Father went around the apartment.

7) The company will supply the telephones.

8) I was sitting alone on the sofa.

9) The performance in the circus was amazing.

10) He suggested a system.

Have you finished them all? Cool! 

Well done! You have completed the Schwa sound lesson.

Let's move on...

Your next lesson: Lesson 09, UR Sound (turn, learn)

List of Lessons

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