How to Pronounce the Word OR: American English

In this American English pronunciation video, we're going to discuss how to pronounce the

little word 'or'.

The word 'or' is written in IPA with the 'aw'

as in 'law' sound followed by the R consonant sound. But I find actually, the vowel sound

is more closed than that--- o, o, o, or, or. However, this word will generally be unstressed

in a sentence. It is a conjunction. That is a function word. And function words will

normally be unstressed. In this case, it will be pronounced er, er. Very short, very low

in pitch, the schwa-R sound: er, er, er. Let's look at some examples. He'll come at

6 or 6:30, 6 or, er, er, 6 or, 6 or 6:30. Now, the thing to note, when you reduce a

word, you must link it to the words that come around. You don't want to say 6---or---6:30.

Six-er, six-er. 6 or 6:30. Very connected, very smooth. He'll come at 6 or 6:30.

Do you want to leave now, or wait a while? Er-wait, er-wait. Did you notice? I did put

a gap before the word 'or'. That's ok. Just make sure that it links to either the word

before or the word after. Do you want to leave now, or wait a while? I don't eat beef or

chicken. Beef-er, beef-er, beef or chicken, beef or chicken. I don't eat beef or chicken.

Come here, or you'll be sorry! Er-you'll, er-you'll, or you'll be sorry. Come here,

or you'll be sorry. Reduction and linking are important concepts

in American English. Saying 'or' this way will help to smooth out your language, and

will help you to be understood.

That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.