Have you heard the word

About this sound

Circle

purple

Example words

-ir- ,-er-, -ur-, -ea-, -or-, -our- fir fern burn learn worm scourge bird term turn earth word first her nurse seach work thirsty person fur pearl dirty herb curtain heard certain germ

How to make this sound

"Early bird"
Click on the phonetic symbol to hear the sound. This vowel is a short to medium length vowel. For this sound the lips are quite rounded and forward. The tongue is quite relaxed but held away from the sides of the mouth so that it doesn't touch anything. (In uS EN the back of the tongue is slightly raised at the back. In most of the uSA and in parts of Britain the letter -r- is pronounced in many words where it is silent for other English speakers. For more about this 'rhetoric /r/ refer to the page how to pronounce /R/"