English letters represent spellings but English speech sounds represent pronunciation of the words. English alphabet has 26 letters and these letters represent 44 sounds. That’s why this mismatch between letters and sounds creates a confusion to have correct pronunciation. It becomes more difficult for a non native speaker who learns English as a second language to understand English pronunciation for the words with silent letters. Once you understand the rules for silent letters in English, you can have better pronunciation. Today I’ll discuss the rules for silent letter ‘r’ in English.
Silent Letter ‘r’
Silent < r > is perhaps the most curious feature in standard British English pronunciation for learners.
English speakers who pronounce every written < r >, including most speakers in America, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, India and Pakistan. These are known as ‘rhotic’ speakers. Those speakers who follow the silent < r > rule are known as ‘non-rhotic’, and these include most accents in England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
If, you want to learn standard British English pronunciation, the rules for silent ‘r’ need to be learnt and practised.
Silent Letter ‘r’ Rules
Here, I’ll explain silent letter ‘r’ rules in English.
1. If letter ‘r’ appears after a vowel sound and there is no other sound after it, it will be silent.
For example:
Mother
Brother
Sister
Car
For
Your
Sir
2. If letter ‘r’ appears after a vowel sound but before a constant sound, it will be silent.
For example:
Bird
Turn
Word
Start
Mark
Performance
Concern
Now read this rule very carefully to remember, when letter ‘r’ is pronounced.
3. If a vowel sound appears just after letter ‘r’, it will be pronounced.
Respect
Round
Revenue
Review
Reverse
From
Trust
Brown
Tantrum
These were three main rules to remember to pronounce letter ‘r’. I have taken few examples for your practice but you can collect more words to practise more.
Watch this video below to practise common words in sentences with silent letter ‘r’.
Tell me words starting with silent R
What about the word rare? which of the above rule does it conform to?
In that case, the first rule will be applied. The word RARE is pronounced as /reÉ™/.Here letter ‘r’ (which appears after the letter a) and letter ‘e’ are silent. In this word rare,letter a has diphthong sound /eÉ™ /.
Impressive Sir thank you
Very informative post. Thank you.
Thanks
Very nice
Thank you!