Mastering the American Accent » Stressed and Reduced Vowels

Stressed and Reduced Vowels

Listen to the following word pairs and notice the changes in the vowel sounds, depending on whether the syllable is stressed or reduced. The first word of each pair has only one syllable, so the vowel must be fully pronounced. The second word has two syllables, with the second syllable reduced. Even though the ending of the second word is spelled exactly the same as the first word, the vowel is pronounced differently because it’s part of the reduced syllable.

full vowelreduced vowel
one syllableunstressed second syllable
1./æ/ man/ɘ/ salesman
2./oʊ/ pose/ɘ/ purpose
3./ɛɪ/ race/ɘ/ terrace
4./ɛɪ/ late/ɘ/ chocolate
5./ɔ/ cord/ɘ/ record
6./ɛɪ/ rage/ɘ/ courage
7./æ/ fast/ɘ/ breakfast
8./æ/ land/ɘ/ England

Now listen to vowel changes of words that have a reduced first syllable.

full vowelreduced vowel
stressed unstressed first syllable
1./ɑ/ con/ɘ/ control
2./æ/ ad/ɘ/ advice
3./æ/ lag/ɘ/ lagoon
4./ɑ/ pod/ɘ/ podiatrist
5./ɔ/ ball/ɘ/ balloon
6./ɛ/ red/ɘ/ reduce
7./ɔ/ off/ɘ/ offend
8./æ/ mat/ɘ/ material
9./ɔ/ or/ɘ/ ordain
10./æ/ mad/ɘ/ Madrid

Favorite Books

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 6: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

Read more

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 5: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

Read more

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 4: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

Read more

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 3: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

Read more

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 2: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

Read more

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 1: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

Read more

If you already speak some English and now would like to speak more like a native, “Speak English Like an American” will help you. One of the keys to speaking like a native is the ability to use and understand casual expressions, or idioms. American English is full of idioms. Speak English Like an American will help you understand and use idioms better. It contains over 300 of today's most common idioms.

Read more
Table of Contents