Consonant Sound / r / as in 'run'- American English Pronunciation

Learn how to pronounce the consonant sound /r/ used in words like "rate," "dry," or "read."
Improve your American accent with two phonetic exercises recorded by a professional speech therapist.
Practice pronunciation of the /r/ consonant sound in everyday words.
Enjoy a surprise bonus as a reward for watching this video till the end!

Quick Links:
• Consonant sound /r/, as in "run:" 00:00
• How to make the consonant sound /r/: 01:05
• Pronunciation exercise 1: 02:22
• Pronunciation tip: 04:25
• Pronunciation exercise 2: 04:43

Related videos:
#AmericanPronunciation #ConsonantSounds #LiquidSounds
►Pray or Play? Rain or Lane? American English Pronunciation:

[THIS VIDEO HAS ENGLISH, SPANISH, JAPANESE, CHINESE, VIETNAMESE, AND PORTUGUESE SUBTITLES]
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TRANSCRIPT

Hello there! This is the "Sounds American" channel.
In this video, we're going to talk about the American consonant sound /r/, as in the word "run."
You can also hear this sound in words like "read," "tree," "from" or "break."
We'll be using a special phonetic symbol - /r/ - for this sound.

The /r/ sound is found in most languages (with a few exceptions.) But the American /r/ is quite different.
Non-native speakers often mispronounce the American /r/ sound. They trill, tap, or even replace it with other sounds such as /l/, /d/, or /t/.

Keep watching to learn how to pronounce the American /r/ and practice it in words.

Ok, you should never trill the American /r/, like this: /r/.
To make the sound correctly, let's start by opening your mouth a little and slightly rounding your lips.
It's very important to focus on the position of your tongue when you're making the /r/.
Raise the front of your tongue toward the alveolar ridge behind your upper front teeth, but don't touch it. By the way, if you don't know what the alveolar ridge is, that's where the pointer is right now.
Next: curl back the tip of your tongue.
Now slightly lower the center of your tongue and raise its back.
Your tongue should be tensed.
Remember, the tip of your tongue should be curled back and it should never touch the alveolar ridge behind your upper front teeth.
Now, let's try saying it: /r/, /r/, /r/.

[Pronunciation Exercise]

Now, let's practice the /r/ sound in some words.
You'll see a word on the screen and hear its pronunciation. Like this.
You'll have a few seconds to pronounce the word. Repeat each word after the speaker, this is the most important part of the exercise.
Let's begin.

• race
• rack
• raft
• rag
• rail
• rain
• rake
• ram
• ran
• rang
• rank
• rap
• rash
• rat
• rate
• raw
• ray
• read
• real
• reap
• red
• rent
• rest

Let's pause here for a second and check on how you are making the /r/ sound.
The tip of your tongue should be curled back and raised towards the alveolar ridge behind your upper front teeth. Remember, you should not touch it.

[Pronunciation Exercise]
Let's continue practicing.
• crab
• crew
• crop
• crow
• cry
• drag
• draw
• drip
• drop
• drum
• dry
• free
• frog
• from
• fry
• grab
• gray
• Greg
• grew
• grip

You're done! Congratulations!

By the way, did you notice that in the words that you've just practiced, the /r/ never followed a vowel?
That's because a vowel sound followed by the /r/ consonant sound becomes an r-colored vowel.
R-colored vowels are a characteristic feature of an American accent. But that's a topic for future videos on our Sounds American channel.

[oriteacher]

As a fellow ESL Teacher, I thank you for producing the best North American English pronunciation videos I've seen. The graphical representation of place and manner of articulation, as well as the slow speed and common example words make the videos easy to understand even for beginner students. Congratulations on a job very well done! 👍

[taherelsayed]

I have no doubt that you're one of the best English pronunciation teachers on YouTube.

[nd]

Wow, slightly raising and tensing the back of the tongue actually made the difference for me, makes it so much easier. I have never thought about that (only the tip of the tongue). Thank you!

[saidfarid]

Hello professor
I really appreciate your job. I have been improving my English through your best method of teaching.
Thank you so much help and advice.
Your follower from Algeria.

[marcoantoniomoralescruz]

A difficult sounds for my students since in Spanish we have both strong and soft /r/ sound. Great video!

[lyda]

I adore it, I can't wait for this app to be released, it seems helpful.

Practise makes perfect!

Thanks for the effort guys!

[JuanGarcia-gcgx]

awesome, finally I found the video that I was looking for well done.

[HendraPolover]

Keep up the good work. Love your videos so much.

[lialope]

Now another subscriber, excellent video. Thanks.

[MrHarry]

One of the few sounds I can already make without even thinking about it, and it actually sounds quite right

[pedroguevara]

It's true, in my language we tend to drum the consonant r, his explanations are very didactic, thanks for the video.

[shokry]

thank you it was very useful to me .. all love from Egypt :)

[andreinatolentinocordero]

Hola me gusta este canal porque en me esta enseñando como pronunciar la palabras correctas del ingles pero me gustaria saber si ustedes tienen una aplicacion como la que tienen en el video para uno poder pronunciar las palabras como indican como ustedes explican

[vince]

Came across that this /r/ in 1:12 is actually the trilled *r* . The American *r* is /ɹ/ or the voiced (post)alveolar liquid *r* . So why was /r/ used in the video? 😅 (I'm afraid I'm getting confused watching other sources 🤓.) Thank you.

[losmejoresvideosdetodo-id]

buen video sigue a si subtiluando los videos al ingles y al español muchas gracias amigo

[DjAngelloFerreira]

Hello, Sounds American! I was left with some doubts.... But I will watch for the other videos. A million thanks for your excellent work. I like it!

[jamesstmanhattan]

What's goodie guys? Is there any chance you would make a vid on how to make the /tsr/ and the /d3r/ after the DR and the TR combinations in American English ?

[Jennie-pqz]

What is the difference between tr and ch, Dr and j, like in words try, chai, drain, Jane. Thank you.

[JSInstructor]

Thank you for your video! My Level 2, ESOL class and I just watched your video on R pronunciation. We have a difficult time with that letter; many English learners do. I'm sure that's why you made the video. Anyway, thanks again!

[secretmarketing]

Do we need to add our voice when making this sound ?from the presentation I saw it vibrates.