How to say HER vs. HAIR | American English

Hi, it's Hadar.

And this is the Accent's Way, your way to finding clarity,

confidence, and freedom in English.

Let's talk about 'her hair'; or more specifically, the word

'her' and the word 'hair'.

If they sound the same when you say them, this video is for you.

Let's begin with a word 'her', 'her'.

So, we begin with an H sound.

So, release air, it's like you're whispering.

And then you shift directly to the R - h'r, h'r.

To make the R, bring the tongue up, round your lips.

The sides of the tongue should be touching the upper teeth - h'r.

So, although there is an 'e' there, you don't hear an [ɛ] vowel sound.

It's not 'hair', this is hair.

h'r.

It's like when you say the word 'hurt', 'hurt' without the T - 'hur'.

"Tell her".

"Tell 'er".

The word 'hair' does have an [ɛ] sound there, and you gotta hear it.

So we begin with an H, release the air.

And then open it to an [ɛ] sound - 'he-'.

Here, you want to wait with the R, you don't want to pronounce the R before you

hear the pure vowel, the [ɛ] vowel, 'he-'.

Only then you bring the tongue up for the R: 'he-r'.

And round your lips just a bit, 'he-r'.

'Her' - here your lips are round right from the beginning, because

you go to the R directly, 'Her'.

And 'Hair'.

"Look at her hair".

"I love her accessories".

"I love hair accessories".

Do you hear the difference?

Her - Hair.

All right, that's it.

Thank you for watching.

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