Miss Elise
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Master Pronunciation in Minutes: Free 5-Minute Tutorials
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Start your ESL classes with quick, effective pronunciation lessons—perfect as a warmup or standalone activity. Or, dive deeper to discover essential habits and techniques for mastering American English pronunciation with confidence.
The Sound of ER, as in Over
How to produce ER: To produce the vowel sound ER (as in over), the front of your tongue (not the tip) needs to be raised and slightly curled back towards the roof of your mouth, and your mouth needs to be slightly rounded and tensed while you expel your breath in a murmur.
Practice the ER (as in over) sound by repeating the following, making only the sound:
ER, ER, ER
ER, ER, ER
ER, ER, ER
ER, ER, ER
Repeat the following two times, exaggerating the ER sound:
Her, ern, per, fern, doer
Perm, germ, herb, verb, over
Gamer, timer, Ernest, ruler, piper
Mercy, tiger, verse, sober, eager
Alert, outer, alter, Roger, laser
Later, fiber, river, serve, upper
Repeat the following sentences two times:
1) Roger was both a writer and a baker.
2) They liked the weather in Denver and decided another visit was a must.
3) When she entered the chamber, her sister was bantering with the buyer.
4) The tower was built using superior materials because it served a higher purpose.
5) Peter’s bitter anger at his error thankfully passed quickly.
6) The powerful river was too fierce for the fisherman to handle, and he returned home.
7) The buyer lowered the offer, much to the seller’s dismay.
8) The inner and upper lining were both leather, insisted the clever dealer.
9) The butler opens the door for the preacher every single day.
10) The lawyer gathered his clients together and delivered a superb speech.
* Please note, different letters can make the same sound, such as hard C and K, and the same letter can make different sounds depending on context, like cat/cake.