Native Phrase Lab
WillowbrookFree practice · for my video
The 9 sounds of the letter A.
You watched my video about the letter A. Now let’s practise! First, a short summary. Then three small practices. It takes about 10 minutes.
The video: “Master the 9 Sounds of the Letter 'A'”. Watch it on YouTube ↗
What you learned
The letter A looks simple, but it has many sounds. Here are the 9 sounds from the video, with the words I used.
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1
/æ/
cat, had, exactly, actually
A short sound. Open your mouth.
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2
/eə/
care, share, rare, prepare
Two sounds together: /e/ and then /ə/.
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3
/ɑː/
father, rather, car, bar
A long sound. Open your mouth wide, like at the doctor. We often say it before R.
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4
/ɔː/
call, hall, tall, walk, law, saw
A long sound. We often say it before LL, LK or W.
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5
/eɪ/
pay, way, stay, table, able
Easy! It is the name of the letter A.
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6
/ɪ/
private, climate
A short /ɪ/. Many British people say it like this.
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7
/ə/
about, around, amazing, banana, a man, an apple
The schwa. It is the most common sound in English. The words a and an use it too.
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8
/e/
any, many, Thames
Very rare. Only a few words have it.
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9
/ɒ/
what
Only one common word has it: what.
Bonus: sometimes the A is silent. In basically we say “basic-ly”. You can’t hear the A.
Want to know a sound’s symbol? The symbols between / / are the IPA. They show the real sound.
Practice 1 of 3
Listen and choose the sound
Press ▶ and listen to me. Which sound does the A make? Choose one.
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1 had
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2 share
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3 bar
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4 walk
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5 table
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6 climate
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7 around
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8 many
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9 what
Practice 2 of 3
Which word has a different A sound?
Two words have the same A sound. One word is different. Press ▶ to hear a word. Then tap the different word.
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
Practice 3 of 3
Say it and compare
These are the sentences from the video. Press ▶ and listen to me. Then press Record and say it. Then listen to me and to you. Do you sound the same?
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1 /æ/
Actually that cat had exactly ten apples.
Did you sound like me? -
2 /eə/
Prepare to share. It’s rare to care.
Did you sound like me? -
3 /ɑː/
Father, I’d rather not go to the bar in my car.
Did you sound like me? -
4 /ɔː/
I walked through the hall and I saw the tall man calling the law.
the law = the police (an informal word)
Did you sound like me? -
5 /eɪ/
I’m not able to pay the cable bill.
the cable bill = the money you pay for TV
Did you sound like me? -
6 /ɪ/
My views on the climate are legitimate but private.
legitimate = real and true
Did you sound like me? -
7 /ə/
An amazing banana for around a pound.
Did you sound like me? -
8 All the A sounds
An average father may share all he has.
This one has many A sounds. Say it lots of times!
Did you sound like me?
Your score
0 of 15
Answer the questions above. Your score is here.
Keep going with me
Every week I send one new word, in my voice. It is free and short.
Words to practise next
Hear me say these tricky words, normally and slowly.