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Unit 10: The indefinite article - in 90 seconds
Learn the most common sound in English to improve your pronunciation!

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  1. 1 Go beyond intermediate with our new video course
  2. 2 Reported speech in 90 seconds!
  3. 3 If or whether?
  4. 4 5 ways to use 'would'
  5. 5 Let and allow
  6. 6 Passive voice
  7. 7 Unless
  8. 8 Mixed conditionals
  9. 9 The zero article - in 90 seconds
  10. 10 The indefinite article - in 90 seconds
  11. 11 The. That's right - the! Learn all about it in 90 seconds
  12. 12 The continuous passive
  13. 13 Future perfect
  14. 14 Need + verb-ing
  15. 15 Have something done
  16. 16 Wish
  17. 17 Word stress
  18. 18 Different ways of saying 'if'
  19. 19 Passive reporting structures
  20. 20 The subjunctive
  21. 21 When and if
  22. 22 Inversion
  23. 23 Phrasal verbs
  24. 24 The future
  25. 25 Modals in the past
  26. 26 Narrative tenses
  27. 27 Phrasal verb myths
  28. 28 Conditionals review
  29. 29 Used to - review
  30. 30 Linking words of contrast

Session 4

Weak forms are very common and very important in English pronunciation. Getting them right is one of the keys to naturally flowing speech. Helen shows you the most important one to learn.

Sessions in this unit

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Session 4 score

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    Activity 1
  1. Activity 1

Activity 1

Stop saying ...

Pronouncing unstressed words like 'a' and 'an'

There is an English sound which is used more than any other. The trouble is it's a short sound which can be very difficult to hear as it is only present in unstressed syllables.

Pronouncing this sound correctly and in the right place really helps to get a natural flow to spoken English. Helen has more information in the video.

Watch the video and complete the activity

Summary

  • Schwa is a short vowel sound.
  • It is the most common sound in the English language.
  • It is never stressed.
  • The sound schwa is very important to natural English.
  • It appears in many words of more than one syllable.
  • It is the sound of many grammar words like articles and prepositions when they are not stressed.

This is the symbol for schwa. 

schwa updated

 

To do

How good are you at hearing the schwa sound? Try to quiz to find out

How many schwa?

5 Questions

Listen to each sentence and choose how many schwa you can hear.

Congratulations you completed the Quiz
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
x / y

End of Session

That's the end of this session.

Many thanks to the staff and students of the Central School of English for their help with this programme.

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Why not make a reservation for the White Elephant, the BBC Learning English restaurant, where something is making Gordon angrier than usual. What is it that's driving him up the wall?

Session Grammar

View full grammar reference

Session Vocabulary

  • Secrets of schwa

    Schwa is a short vowel sound.
    It is the most common sound in the English language.
    It is never stressed.
    The sound schwa is very important to natural english.
    It appears in many words of more than one syllable.
    It is the sound of many grammar words like articles and prepositions when they are not stressed.

View full vocabulary reference

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