Pronunciation of the "OR" sound in English

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I'm Gill at engVid, and today's lesson is on the pronunciation of a vowel sound, and

what it sounds like is: "or", and this is a British English vowel sound.

If you're listening to American speakers or Canadian speakers, the words will be a little

And also, depending on whether there is an "r" in the spelling, Americans and Canadians

do pronounce those words differently from the ones that don't have an "r", because they

make the "or" sound in their pronunciation; but in the UK, in Britain, we don't make the

"r" sound so much, even if it's in the spelling.

So, we have a lot of words here which all have different spellings, but they're all

pronounced in British English with one vowel sound, which is: "or", "or".

So, it's like the word: "or", and you can see I'm pushing my mouth forward when I'm

saying it: "or", "or", and it's just a round shape; I'm not making any "r" sound with it.

It's just: "or", "or".

So... and a lot of people get distracted, really, by the spellings and try to say the

word according to the way that it's spelt; when, in fact, sometimes that produces the

So, a word like this, for example...

Well, with "ght", of course that makes it even more difficult.

But that's just: "caught", "caught".

You don't have to try to make "au", "co-... coat".

Some people try to say: "coat", but it's not.

Just like that spelling of "caught", it's just the same; no different.

So, that's the case for all of these words, even if they have double "l" in them - it's

"or", like that.

Even if they have a "w" at the end, it's still "or".

So, let's go through the words, and also there may be some words you're not familiar with

and I'll explain the meaning as we go along.

So, let's have a look.

So: "all", "all".

You probably know this word - everything; all.

This one: "awful", "awful".

So, there's a "w" there but we don't say "wa", "awa", "awa", "wa" like that; it's just "or"

- it's an open, circular shape.

"Awful", "awful".

So, people use the word "awful" if something is bad.

If they're eating something and they're not liking the taste, they say: "Oh, this sandwich.

Oh, it's awful.

So, that's "awful".

And "awkward" is similar.

If you feel awkward, you don't feel comfortable.

You feel a bit shy or unhappy.

If you feel awkward...

At a party for example, if you don't know anybody and nobody's talking to you, you sort

of feel awkward.

So, next line: "ball".

So, "ball" - I'm sure you know that word; sports, football.

So, this "bald" is when someone has no hair; they are bald.

And a "bore", this "bore" is when someone isn't very interesting.

You're talking to them.

Maybe you're at that party and then you do find somebody to talk to, but the person you're

talking to is really a bore - what they're talking about isn't very interesting and you're

doing your best to look interested, but it's very difficult.

When a baby is born on a certain date, then that's their birthday.

"When were you born?"

Usually someone will ask: "What year were you born?"

So that's that one.

So, you notice by now I'm making the same shape with my mouth for every word.

So, next line: "call", to call someone.

"Call", shout out to them.

Or just simply the name of somebody: What do you call them?

You call them by their name.

"Core", "c-o-r-e", "core" is the middle of something.

Like, if you have an apple and you eat the apple, but there's a bit left in the middle,

that's the core; that's the inside part - the core.

And then "court" - "court" is either the...

Where the king and queen are - the royal court; or it can be in sport - a tennis court; or

in...

In legal terms, it can be where a legal process is...

It takes place in the law court.

So, this word: "law" and "court" go together, and they have the same vowel sound.

And "caught", the past tense of "catch".

If you catch a ball that someone throws to you: "I have caught the ball."

So, "caught" - the same.

So, if you've heard American pronunciations, probably by now you will have heard different...

A different way of saying these words, but it's your choice whether you want to pronounce

in British English or American English.

It depends where you are, really.

Perhaps if you're in America, you will want to speak with an American accent; if you're

in the UK, you probably want to speak with a British accent, so...

And also, you can change, depending on where you are, if you want to.

If you hear people talking and then you say the same words that they're saying - you probably

will copy the way they are pronouncing it, which is fine.

So, let's continue.

So: "door" - open the door; close the door.

And "dawn" - the dawn is when the sun rises in the morning.

When it first gets light in the morning as the sun rises.

Then "fall" - to fall is to drop onto the floor; to fall.

And "for" - "f-o-r" I'm sure you know.

"What is that for?", "She...

She...

She baked a cake for my birthday", something like that.

"Four" is the number, and it sounds exactly the same as this one: "for", "four".

"She baked a cake for four people."

You could have that: "for four people".

And "floor" - what we stand on is the floor.

And a "flaw" with a "w" but no sound of a "w": "flaw".

"Floor" and "flaw" sound exactly the same.

A "flaw" is something that's wrong with something; something that's not perfect.

It's an imperfection; something that's not 100% perfect; has a flaw in it.

Okay, continuing: "gall".

"Gall" is something that tastes bitter; it has a bitter taste.

And it can also be used in a metaphorical way.

If you're annoyed by something, it galls you; it sort of gives you a bitter feeling is the

"Gore" is another word for blood, but it's not used in normal, everyday life.

It's used in more talking about horror films, that sort of thing.

"There was a lot of gore in that horror film", that kind of thing.

If something is gory, it has blood on it.

And "gored", the past participle, if someone is gored...

Often it's a bull that does the goring.

Bullfighting in Spain, for example: "Someone was gored by the bull" means the bull charged

with its horns and injured the person, and they were bleeding.

So: "hall" - a part of a building; the hall or a building itself can be a hall.

"Horse" that you ride - horse.

"Haughty", so: "horse", "haughty".

The spelling is different, but the vowel sound is the same.

If someone is haughty, they're a bit rather distant and they seem to look down at you.

They're sort of like this; they think they're superior, so they behave in a haughty way.

And then "jaw" is this part of your face - the part that moves when we speak is the jaw,

So: "jaw", "or", "or", okay.

"Law".

And I once had a student who was either American or she'd spent some time in America, and she

told me that she was studying a subject, and she called it "law", "law".

Which sounded like...

To me, sounded like: "lah".

And I said: "Oo, I've not heard of that.

And so then she spelt it for me: "l-a-w".

You're studying law."

But she pronounced it "lah".

So maybe I'm exaggerating the difference, but that's one...

That's an example of how the American and the British pronunciations are different,

and sometimes even a British person won't understand what an American person is saying

because they pronounce the vowels differently.

So, there we are.

So: "law" and "lawyer".

The "lawyer" is the person who is the professional person who works in the law.

And "lawn" is in a garden, you have a nice piece of grass, green grass growing which

you can sit on in the summer, and that's the lawn; it's the grass in your garden and people

keep it nice and tidy, and cut; cut the grass so that it doesn't grow too high.

And it's a nice lawn.

"More" - to have more of something.

"Mortal" is the opposite of "immortal".

Human beings are all mortal; meaning: We don't live forever; we're mortal.

So, this word is often used in maybe in mythology, like Greek and Roman mythology.

You have the gods and the goddesses who are immortal, and the human beings whose lives

they often play with who are the mortals; who die.

The gods and goddesses don't die.

So, "mortal", and "morning" - the morning.

Then we have "naughty".

"Naughty" is...

Often you say to a child: "Stop being naughty" if a child is misbehaving, doing naughty things.

Maybe running around, breaking things, making a mess, kicking people, anything like that,

you'd say: "Don't do that.

That's naughty.

So that's that word: "naughty".

North, south, east, west.

"Normal" - I'm sure you know that word.

If something is just ordinary - normal.

And then this place: "Norfolk" is a place in the UK; an area of the UK called Norfolk.

And then we have "or" - the word itself.

"Oar", which is when you're rowing a boat, you use an oar or two oars.

"Paw" is the little hand or the foot of an animal - a paw, like a cat or a dog has a

paw or any other animal like that.

This "pore" is in the skin.

The skin has pores; little holes.

"Pause" - to stop for a short time; to pause or have a pause.

So, some people try to pronounce this: "pose", "pose", but that's not right.

"Port" is a drink, like wine, only stronger - port.

And "pour" - you pour from the bottle.

So, pour the port from the bottle.

"Quorum" is when you're having a meeting.

Sometimes you have to have a certain number of people to be able to make decisions officially,

so it's called a quorum.

Do we have a quorum?

If you have to have a minimum of five people and only four people are there, you can't

go ahead because any decisions you make will not be valid if it's not a quorum.

"Raw" - food that isn't cooked is raw, like vegetables or meat.

"Roar" is the sound an animal makes, like a lion, and it imitates the sound, so a lion

might go: "Rroarr", like that.

So, it sounds like what it is - roar.

And "roaring" - present participle.

"Saw" - past tense of "see".

"Sore" - if you have an injury, your skin hurts; it feels sore.

To "soar" - this spelling is usually a bird or a plane in the air; soar; "to soar" is

to sort of glide through the air.

And "sure" - sure.

I'm sure of that; I'm certain - sure.

"Tour" - going on a tour of somewhere as a "tourist"; you're "touring".

"Wall" is part of a building.

"War"- a conflict.

"Warm" is the temperature.

-"Do you feel warm enough, or is it very cold in here?"

-"No.

I feel quite warm, that's okay."

It's sort of not hot, it's not cold; it's in between - warm.

Okay, we are warming the room.

And then, finally: "yawn" - to yawn when you're tired.

Aw."

And the word also imitates what you look like when you're doing it.

"Yawww", but it's: "yawn", "yawn", and "yawning", "yawning".

Okay, so that's the first half of the lesson, and I now have some sentences for you to practice

these words in combination.

Okay, so let's have a look at some sentences.

They're a bit strange, but they're designed to give you some practice in using several

words together, which are pronounced with the "or" sound.

So: "or" keeps coming up.

So, first one: "All the lawyers".

So, those two words have "or" in them.

"All the lawyers".

And then the second one: "Pour the port."

"Pour the port."

So, you could put those two together, and it would make sense: "All the lawyers pour

And then next one: "Four bald bores".

So, that's three in that sentence.

"Four bald"-without hair-"bores" - boring people.

"Four bald bores".

Then, next one: "The tourists are yawning.

The tourists are yawning."

Next one: "The dawn is in the morning.

The dawn is in the morning."

Next one: "That's an awful flaw.

That's an awful flaw", meaning a fault; something wrong with something.

Next one: "A tall wall.

"The north of Norfolk.

The north of Norfolk" is on the coast.

Norfolk has a coast, and the sea above it, so: "The north of Norfolk".

"His jaw is sore."

Maybe he's been talking a lot, like me, so his jaw is sore; it's hurting.

Not yet, anyway.

"His jaw is sore."

And then, finally: "I normally call to make sure.

Normally call to make sure".

If I phone for a friend to check that she's in before I visit her - I normally call to

make sure that she's in.

Otherwise if I go and she's not in, I've wasted my time.

So: "I normally call to make sure."

So, I hope that's been a useful lesson on pronunciation, and do go to the website: www.engvid.com

where there's a quiz to test you on this.

And if you found the lesson useful, do subscribe to my channel.

And thanks for watching, and see you again soon.