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Published: June 30, 2015, 4:05 a.m.

Are you familiar with the most common vowel sound in the English language? Well, you are about to meet the \u201cschwa\u201d sound. \u201cWhat is that\u201d, you say? Well, the \u201cschwa\u201d sound is that \u201cuh\u201d sound that is found in the unstressed syllables of words.

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In this podcast, Gabby explains how the \u201cschwa\u201d sound is a lazy utterance that is used instead of the actual pronounced syllable in some words. Gabby provides three examples to illustrate the \u201cschwa\u201d sound \u2013 \u201cpencil\u201d, \u201cquestion\u201d, and \u201cfamous.\u201d You will find that a great many English words have this particular sound. By listening to native English speakers, over time you will be able to not only hear the sound, but you will be able to use it yourself. This will help you sound more like a native English speaker.

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To learn more about learning English, visit gonaturalenglish.com, and just by visiting you can get Gabby\u2019s free mini eBook. You can also find Gabby on Facebook and Twitter. Expand your opportunities and improve your English language fluency. Subscribe to Go Natural English today.

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Episode transcript below:

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Hello, and welcome to the Go Natural English podcast.

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I\u2019m your host, Gabby Wallace, your American English teacher and Number One fluency coach.

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I\u2019m so excited to bring you the tip today that will help you so much with your English fluency through pronunciation.

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Now, before I forget I want to remind you that you can get the free Go Natural English mini eBook just by visiting gonaturalenglish.com.

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Enter your name and email address and I will send you your free mini eBook to help your English fluency immediately.

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So, I hope to see you over there as soon as you\u2019re done listening to this quick English tip on the GO Natural English podcast right here.

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So, I have a really important tip that I want to share with you really quickly here.

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The most important sound in the English language is actually one that you probably didn\u2019t learn in your English class, and that makes me mad because it\u2019s really important.

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It\u2019s called the \u201cschwa\u201d sound but the name is not important.

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What is important to know is that when you have an English word that has two syllables like, \u201ctoday\u201d \u2013 one, two \u2013 \u201ctoday.\u201d

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Two syllables, right?

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\u201cToday.\u201d Two parts \u2013 we break the word into syllables and there\u2019s two in the word, \u201ctoday.\u201d

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Well, you have one syllable that is stressed and another syllable that is not stressed.

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So, we have a lot of words that have two or more syllables in the English language.

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You\u2019re always going to have one stressed syllable and another syllable that\u2019s weak could be a \u201cschwa\u201d sound.

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So, I\u2019m going to share some examples with you and I want you to listen to see how the weak syllables all sound very much alike.

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And that is the \u201cschwa\u201d sound.

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It makes a kind of \u201cuh\u201d sound. It\u2019s a funny sound, right?

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\u201cUh\u201d but check it out.

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How about the word pencil.\u201d

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Do you notice how the first syllable is strong, \u201cpen\u201d, and the second syllable is weak and it sounds like \u2018Uh?\u201d

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\u201cPencil, pencil.\u201d

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OK, how about the word \u201cquestion?\u201d

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The strong syllable is the first one \u201cquest \u2013 ion.\u201d

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And the second syllable kind of sounds like \u201cuh\u201d again.

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OK, how about the word \u201cfamous?\u201d

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Well, the first syllable is strong again, \u201cfam\u201d and the second syllable \u201cous.\u201d

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So, even though the spelling is different for all these words, right?

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\u201cPencil\u201d \u2013 p-e-n-c-i-l.

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\u201cQuestion\u201d \u2013 q-u-e-s-t-i-o-n.

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And \u201cfamous\u201d \u2013 f-a-m-o-u-s.

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Even though those spellings are so different those weak syllables \u2013 the \u201cschwa\u201d sound makes those weak syllable all sound alike.

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One more time \u2013 \u201cpencil\u2019\u201d, \u201cquestion\u201d, \u201cfamous.\u201d

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OK, and those three words are just three examples off the top of my head.

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Now, there are a lot more examples that you\u2019d be able to hear the \u201cschwa\u201d ...