Lesson 8:
Schwa Sound
(the, about)
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The Schwa sound is a short and weak
vowel sound. You can hardly hear it, actually.
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".
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...