English pronunciation guide
How to pronounce English R and L
English R and L are two separate sounds, and swapping them changes the word: right and light, rice and lice, correct and collect. Many languages have one sound somewhere between them, or an R made by tapping the tip of the tongue. The English R is different from both. The tip of the tongue does not touch anything.
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English R
Tongue tip curled up or bunched back, touching nothing. Lips slightly rounded.
red, right, very, around
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English L
Tongue tip pressed on the ridge behind your top teeth. Air flows around the sides.
light, long, hello, fly
How to make the sounds
- For L, press the tip of your tongue on the gum ridge just behind your top front teeth, and let your voice flow around the sides of the tongue.
- For R, pull the tongue tip back so it touches nothing. Either curl it up slightly, or bunch the body of the tongue up towards the roof of your mouth. Both give the same sound.
- Round your lips a little for R, as if you were starting to say “oo”. Keep them relaxed for L.
- Test the difference: say “la”, then slide into “ra” without letting the tongue tip touch the roof of your mouth.
Dictionaries often write the English R as /r/. Phoneticians write /ɹ/ to show that it is not the rolled R of Spanish or Italian.
In American English, an R after a vowel is always pronounced: car, hard, water. In most British accents it is silent unless a vowel follows. Tono scores English against the US model, so say every R.
Minimal pairs
- right light
- rice lice
- road load
- grass glass
- fry fly
- pray play
- correct collect
- arrive alive
14 minimal pairs: light and right
Tricky words with these sounds: libraryworldsquirrelruralparticularlygirl
Practice with real sentences
Tap Practice to open the sentence in Tono, listen to it, and say it. Scored against the US English model.
- Please read the rules really carefully.Practice
- Laura left the library early.Practice
- I would like a glass of fresh orange juice.Practice
- The road to the lake was closed on Friday.Practice
- Rory rarely rides his bike in the rain.Practice
- Correct the list before you collect the forms.Practice
- Can you really hear the difference?Practice
- Our flight arrives around eleven.Practice
Common mistakes
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One sound for both
Speakers of Japanese and Korean often use a single sound between R and L. Work on L first (tongue tip touching), then R (tongue tip touching nothing). The whole difference is the touch.
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A tapped or rolled R
Speakers of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Russian often tap the tongue tip for R. In English the tip must stay off the roof of the mouth.
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An R from the throat
Speakers of French and German may use a back-of-the-throat R. Move the sound forward: the English R is shaped by the tongue and lips, not the throat.