The Schwa

Following on from our pronunciation guide, we bring you the most common sound in English: the schwa. The only sound in English with its own name, you will find the schwa in many, many words.

What is it?

The schwa is an unstressed vowel sound. This means that if a vowel is not stressed, it is probably pronounced as a schwa sound. You can listen to the schwa here.

Can you show me an example?

Say the word 'vegetable'  to yourself. And again. This is one of the most mispronounced words in English because learners want to pronounce every vowel. However in 'vegetable' the second 'e' and the 'a' are schwas, the only vowel that is fully pronounced is the first 'e'.

Why is this important?

Remember that, unlike many languages, English doesn't respect its vowel sounds. English speakers are lazy! We reduce, or just leave out, a lot of vowel sounds. This is why the schwa is so important. If you don't respect the schwa, you will mispronounce many words and your English will not sound as natural as it could!