There are 52 sounds in the English language. Some are heard more often than others. Which one is heard more than any other? Of course, the SCHWA!

So how does the SCHWA sound? It sounds like "uh." You will find the sound in many words, particularly in the definite and indefinite articles: "the" and "a."

The SCHWA sound is made by slightly opening the mouth and punching yourself in the belly (not too hard but hard enough to force air out of your mouth). Native English speakers will pronounce "the" as if it were spelled "thuh." And "a" becomes a natural SCHWA ... "uh."

Try to mimic the SCHWA sound with these examples:

uh book
thuh flower
uh boy
thuh girl
uh SCHWA
thuh Russian

Thuh Moderator