Re: 슈와 Schwa

[philip05]

200+ Schwa Words And Phrases To Upgrade Your English Accent

by Alex Heery

Why is the schwa sound so essential for English learners who want to sound fluent?

Perhaps it’s the way it drastically improves your sentence flow, making your conversations sound natural and effortless. Or maybe it’s how it improves your listening skill, and ultimately your overall comprehension.

You know what? It’s both those things.

Correctly pronouncing the schwa sound in English is an underutilized skill that significantly impacts your overall fluency. Practicing it regularly is the best way to make correct pronunciation a habit so that you can sound fluent sooner.

This list of schwa words and phrases will teach you the schwa in all its forms and help you master its pronunciation.

What Is the Schwa Sound In English?

The schwa in English – pronounced shwaa – is a reduced vowel sound used to emphasize the stressed vowel in words for clearer context.

In short, the schwa allows unstressed syllables to be said quicker, so the most important syllables are more noticeable. You essentially make the context of the sentence easier to understand.

The schwa sounds like a lazy ‘uh’ sound and requires very little effort to pronounce.

Any vowel can become a schwa, but only when it isn’t the stressed syllable. Because the schwa is never stressed!

So you don’t pronounce the vowel /O/ in “improvement” with the schwa, for example, but you do with /A/ in “important.”

We also use the schwa in function words, which have little or no meaning on their own but play an important role in grammar.

These are all function words: 

• Articles (a, an, the)
• Prepositions (in, of, with, before, etc.)
• Conjunctions (and, but)
• Auxiliary verbs (be, do, have, will, shall, would, should, etc.)

Say this sentence out loud a few times, reducing the stress on the function words:

“We can probably get it before them but we should hurry and be careful with it.”

There are more sounds to master than just schwa. Our Creativa course Mastering North American Pronunciation features professional-quality videos, exercises, and real-world examples to give you more of the details of pronunciation that other courses miss.

Click here to see a free video and try the course today with a 100% risk-free, 30-day money-back guarantee. 

Schwa Words and Phrases by Vowel/A/

Account	This account has been inactive for over six months, so we’re going to close it.
Actually	I’m actually from a small town in Northern Ireland.
Agreement	We’ve reached a new agreement in regards to the monthly spending limits.
Although	Although I’m new here, I’ve made so many new friends.
Available	We don’t have that particular model available, but we can email you when we do.
Balloons	I need to buy some balloons for my little brother’s birthday next week because he’s obsessed with them.
Capital	He wasn’t able to invest in the project because he didn’t have enough capital.
Central	Head down the main road for 10 minutes, and you’ll see the central station.
Especially	I’m especially bad at math. I can never seem to pass my algebra exams!
Financial	She’s been working in the financial sector for a few years now.
Important	It’s important that you have experience with sales. It’s non-negotiable.
International	I’ve been studying international business for three years now.
Manager	My cousin is the manager so she can give us a deal.
Natural	I only drink natural wine. The standard stuff gives me a headache!
Particular	The company is looking for somebody with a particular interest in content marketing.
Pleasant	We had a pleasant stay at the hotel the other day.
Political	Our family dinners always turn so political; I’m over it!
Popular	I remember that guy. He was the most popular guy at school, but now he’s a mystery.
Significant	There has been a significant decline in bee populations around the world.
Usually	I’m usually reading at the park on the weekends.

/E/

Achievement	Becoming fluent in another language is one of my biggest achievements.
Center	I used to work at the clinical center on the other side of town.
Department	John got transferred to another department a few weeks ago.
Different	I always cook the same thing, so I’m going to try something different tonight.
Evidence	The police were unable to find any evidence at the crime scene.
Example	It’s essential to set an example for younger people.
Foreign	She’s been working in foreign affairs for about five years.
Government	Government is one of the outstanding achievements of modern civilization.
However	However you choose to do it is perfectly fine with me.
Interpersonal	The job demands leadership & interpersonal skills.
Management	Only a few candidates received proper training in management.
Minister	The prime minister of a Commonwealth country typically serves a four-year term.
Movement	I heard a lot of movement in the attic last night. Maybe we have rats.
Present	I need to present my research to the professor next week, and I’m pretty nervous. Note: stress on the first /E/ makes present (preh-znt), like “gift.” The schwa moves to the second /E/.
President	The president resigned after the scandal of 2017.
Recent	We had to close the store because of a recent security issue.
Remember	Remember to pick up your brother from school today.
Society	We need to come together as a society and solve climate change.
Specific	The employer was looking for very specific experience among the candidates.
System	We’ve developed a new system that’ll reduce costs and increase production.

/I/

Administration	I used to work in administration before my promotion.
Attention	If you don’t pay attention, you’ll never learn.
Authority	She’s the authority on Middle Eastern cooking.
Council	I applied for a job at the local council last year, but I didn’t get it.
Distribution	We need to improve packaging and distribution if we expect to turn a profit.
Duplicate	I need to make a duplicate of all the data on my hard drive.
Intricate	I love to read novels that have intricate plots.
National	Tomorrow is national IPA day. Cheers!
Necessarily	Just because you write something down doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll remember it.
Official	Let’s shake on it to make it official.
Parliament	I used to dream about having a job in parliament.
Production	The car went out of production in 1995.
Question	It wasn’t a question, rather a statement.
Religion	I don’t believe in any particular religion.
Responsibility	I think that part of becoming an adult is taking responsibility for your problems.
Retention	Because of water retention, my stomach looks bloated.
Security	We need to change the security cameras because they’re not working correctly.
Sufficient	There is sufficient data to prove that extraterrestrial life exists.
University	I encouraged her to enroll in a university.

/O/

Community	I’m so glad we moved because I feel a real sense of community living here.
Concerning	His behavior lately is hugely concerning.
Considerable	I’ve spent a considerable amount of time on this project and fear that I won’t finish it on time.
Continuing	There are continuing efforts to control climate change, but they’re not enough so far.
Director	Steven Spielberg is the second wealthiest director in the world.
Environment	If we don’t start taking care of the environment, we won’t be able to live here much longer.
Information	Gather all the necessary information and get back to me.
Memory	She has such an impressive memory. She never misses a single detail!
Obvious	The answer seemed obvious to most, but I just didn’t understand the question.
Opportunity	This job is a fantastic opportunity for me to refine my interpersonal skills.
Opposition	The labor party lost to the opposition by four seats.
Original	This is an original, limited-edition piece from the 80s.
Personal	It’s nothing personal; I just don’t think he’s the right candidate for the job.
Political	She has more political experience than everybody in the room combined.
Provide	Are you able to provide me with an ETA?
Reason	You haven’t given me a reason as to why you were late yet.
Season	It’s mushroom season at the moment. They’re everywhere!
Serious	My last boss was so serious all the time. I never saw him smile!
Tomorrow	Tomorrow is not promised, and today is short.

/U/

Album	I liked their first album more than their second.
Calcium	I feel so weak lately, so perhaps I need to consume more calcium.
Circumstance	I can’t imagine a circumstance in which I would do that.
Cultural	After he released that video, he was accused of cultural appropriation.
Curriculum	The teacher was making students complete work that wasn’t part of the curriculum.
Difficulty	This game’s too easy. Perhaps I need to increase the difficulty.
Maximum	The maximum fine for littering is $10,000.
Medium	I must be gaining weight because I don’t fit in size medium anymore.
Minimum	My last colleague was so lazy and would always put in the minimum effort required.
Particularly	He didn’t look particularly concerned when he found out he lost his job.
Premium	I subscribed to the premium plan last month and will never regret it.
Stadium	We were seated in the upper tier of the stadium, so you probably couldn’t see us.
Substantial	I have a substantial amount of money in an account I can’t access.
Successful	She defied the odds and became successful at a young age.
Sufficient	A two-week course in photography should be sufficient to teach you everything you need to know.
Suggesting	He’s been suggesting things at our meetings for weeks, and the managers never listen.
Supporting	She’s been supporting her husband financially while he looks for a new job.
Supposedly	He supposedly made a lot of money in the crypto market, but I don’t believe him.
Unless	They’re not going to come to dinner unless you invite them!
Upon	She was admitted to his office immediately upon her arrival.

And Y—Which Also Takes the Schwa When it Functions as a Vowel

Syringe	The doctor drew a dose of the vaccine into the syringe.
Analysis	The market analysis revealed some things we didn’t know about our potential customers.
Pyjamas (British spelling)	I’ve never owned a pair of pyjamas because they never fit me properly.
Cylindrical	Perhaps what made Pringles so famous was the cylindrical can.
Oxygen	There is definitely less oxygen at the top of the mountain because I nearly passed out!
Anonymous	Alcoholics Anonymous Founded in 1935 in Ohio and is now a worldwide organization.
Martyr	Killing him would only make him a martyr.
Mysterious	He died under mysterious circumstances, but it was ruled a suicide.

Schwa Words with Vowel Endings—ER

• ever
• user
• Lawyer
• bigger 
• lower
• paper
• cover
• inner
• super
• number
• better
• either
• member
• Mother
• dancer
• runner
• swimmer
• teacher
• daughter
• butcher

—AR

• Burglar
• Dollar
• Circular
• Popular
• sugar
• solar
• lunar
• pillar
• dollar
• linear
• collar
• mortar
• cellar
• nectar
• similar
• popular
• regular
• grammar
• Stellar

—OR

• major
• prior
• motor
• minor
• manor
• labor
• rumor
• humor
• donor
• Senior
• factor
• liquor
• flavor
• mirror
• tremor
• author
• monitor
• sponsor
• traitor
• curator

—OUR

Most words ending in an unstressed -our in British English end in -or in American English. The spelling is uniform everywhere, wherever the vowel is stressed or unreduced (like contour or velour).

Here are some examples of -our ending words that take the schwa with British/Australian pronunciation:

• armour
• endeavour
• flavour
• harbour
• honour
• neighbour
• rumour
• odour
• vapour
• behaviour
• savour
• colour
• savour
• glamour
• Demeanour

—RE

• feature
• picture
• culture
• theatre
• failure
• capture
• mixture
• closure
• lecture
• posture
• nurture
• literature
• disclosure
• structure
• furniture
• departure
• miniature
• enclosure
• composure
• Procedure

Conclusion

You’ve heard the saying; practice makes perfect, and that couldn’t be more true for the schwa sound. You can see from the list above just how many common words we use every day have the schwa.

Your English success lies in the stress![강세] Regularly practicing a few of the phrases above will help develop good pronunciation habits and accelerate your English fluency faster than you expected.

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