How to Pronounce ER

A listener emailed me and expressed his frustration with pronouncing the ER in British English.

It certainly can be tough, and I do my best to share my advice in this episode.

No R?

In British English, we generally don’t pronounce the R sound at the end of a word that is spelt “ER”.

We often use a schwa – this is a lazy sound where you don’t use any muscles or change your mouth position – just let air come out.

The symbol we use is: /ə/

Teacher – /ˈtiːtʃə/

Better – /ˈbɛtə/

Peter – /ˈpiːtə/

Here’s a sentence where the schwa sounds are highlighted.