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    The /r/ sound: r as in red

    • Consonant
    • Voiced
    • High priority for IELTS

    Hear it

    in red

    Lips
    Pushed forward, rounded
    Tongue
    Tip curls up, touching nothing
    Voice
    On: feel your throat buzz
    Air
    Flows freely through the mouth

    The sound on its own: recording by Erutuon, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Credits

    How to make /r/

    1. 1

      Curl your tongue tip up and slightly back; it must NOT touch anything.

    2. 2

      Round your lips slightly and voice the sound.

    3. 3

      In British English, only say r before a vowel: 'red' yes, 'car' no.

    British and American
    American English is rhotic: pronounce every written r ('car' = /kɑr/, 'work' = /wɝk/). Choose one system and stay consistent.

    /l/ vs /r/: light vs right

    Every pair

    For /l/ the tongue tip firmly TOUCHES the ridge behind your teeth; for /r/ it curls up and touches NOTHING while the lips round slightly. Touch vs no-touch is the whole difference.

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    Which word do you hear?

    How /r/ is spelled

    • r
    • rr
    • wr

    The usual mistake

    Trilling or tapping it (Spanish, Arabic, Russian habit), confusing it with /l/, or pronouncing written r everywhere in a British model ('car', 'work' have no r sound in RP).

    Hardest for speakers of

    Words to practise

    Say it and get scored

    Read red, sorry, around, problem, really aloud. Free, no account.

    Check my /r/

    Questions

    How do you pronounce the /r/ sound?
    Curl your tongue tip up and slightly back; it must NOT touch anything. Round your lips slightly and voice the sound. In British English, only say r before a vowel: 'red' yes, 'car' no.
    What is the most common mistake with /r/?
    Trilling or tapping it (Spanish, Arabic, Russian habit), confusing it with /l/, or pronouncing written r everywhere in a British model ('car', 'work' have no r sound in RP).
    Which spellings make the /r/ sound?
    Common spellings include “r”, “rr”, “wr”, as in red /red/, sorry /ˈsɒri/, around /əˈraʊnd/.
    Is /r/ different in American English?
    American English is rhotic: pronounce every written r ('car' = /kɑr/, 'work' = /wɝk/). Choose one system and stay consistent. IELTS accepts both; pick one model and stay consistent.
    Does /r/ matter for IELTS?
    Yes. This is a high-priority sound. Errors here frequently change one word into another, which examiners hear as reduced clarity (the exact Band 6 wording is “mispronunciation … reduces clarity at times”).