/r/ — the /r/ sound
the /r/ sound
Consonants · Approximants
This sound hasn't been scored yet.
How to make it
Curl the tongue tip back without touching anything, lips slightly rounded.
Watch a native speaker say it
See the mouth and tongue before you record — hearing a sound rarely tells you where the tongue goes.
Rachel's English · English Sounds - R [ɹ] Consonant - How to make the R [ɹ] Consonant Watch on YouTube
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Words with this sound
Tap the speaker to hear a native speaker say it.
are
/ɑːr/
ear
/ɪr/
or
/ɔːr/
arm
/ɑːrm/
art
/ɑːrt/
beer
/bɪr/
car
/kɑɹ/
care
/ker/
chair
/tʃer/
cry
/kraɪ/
door
/doɹ/
earth
/ɜːrθ/
Minimal pairs
Two words that differ by exactly one sound. Listen until you can tell them apart, then say them yourself.
- r
or
/ɔːr/
lall
/ɔːl/
- r
run
/rʌn/
wone
/wʌn/
- r
ear
/ɪr/
zis
/ɪz/
- r
stair
/ster/
pstep
/step/
- r
red
/red/
bbed
/bed/
- r
beer
/bɪr/
tbit
/ˈbɪt/
- r
hair
/her/
dhead
/hed/
- r
chair
/tʃer/
kcheck
/tʃek/
Test yourself on this sound
Read these 8 words in one recording. The AI scores every sound and tells you whether your /r/ came out right.