Common English words with the "schwa" sound (IPA ə)

ə

Common English words with this sound

schwa

A CEFR-graded selection of the most common words that include this phoneme, sorted by learner level (A1 first). Both GA and RP shown when they differ. Tap Listen for audio.

Word GA RP Level Listen
a /ə/ A1
about /əˈbaʊt/ A1
above /əˈbʌv/ A1
action /ˈækʃən/ A1
activity /ækˈtɪvəɾi/ /ækˈtɪvəti/ A1
actor /ˈæktɚ/ /ˈæktə/ A1
afraid /əˈfreɪd/ A1
after /ˈæftɚ/ /ˈɑːftə/ A1
afternoon /ˌæftɚˈnun/ /ˌɑːftəˈnuːn/ A1
again /əˈɡɛn/ /əˈɡen/ A1
ago /əˈɡoʊ/ /əˈɡəʊ/ A1
agree /əˈɡri/ /əˈɡriː/ A1
airport /ˈɛrˌpɑrt/ /ˈeəˌpɔːt/ A1
album /ˈælbəm/ A1
alone /əˈloʊn/ /əˈləʊn/ A1
along /əˈlɑŋ/ /əˈlɒŋ/ A1
and /ənd/ A1
animal /ˈænəməl/ A1
another /əˈnʌðɚ/ /əˈnʌðə/ A1
answer /ˈænsɚ/ /ˈɑːnsə/ A1

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