/ɪə/
This page teaches controlled sound targets from our reviewed catalogue. It does not claim one universal whole-word IPA transcription: the sounds in a word can vary by speaker and target variety.
British NEAR vowel: glide from /ɪ/ toward schwa without adding a pronounced final /r/.
Common slip: No universal substitution is claimed; compare the recording with the target-accent reference.
See the mouth diagram and controlled set →These synthesized voices are repeatable reference points, not a claim that every British or American speaker uses one identical form.
“near”
No R sound in “near”? That’s correct: RP (Received Pronunciation)drops an R that isn’t followed by a vowel (“car” sounds like “cah”).
“near”
Open practice with “near” already filled in. Automated feedback is an estimate for practice, not a clinical or expert diagnosis.
Real recordings from our search library that contain “near”.
Public domain
“They were talking. When we came near, Woola turned to fight us.”
General American
From "'A Princess of Mars,' by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Part Four" (2017). VOA Learning English. Public domain (US government work). — “'A Princess of Mars,' by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Part Four”
Open this clip in General American: They were talking. When we came near, Woola turned to fight us.Creator video
“moves down here here near try this”
RP
From English with Lucy (opens in a new tab) — “How to Learn a British Accent (Modern RP)” · 529s
Open this clip in RP: moves down here here near try thisCreator video
“pieces of advice Pieces of advice It's a process we call near monothongization”
Cockney
From Eat Sleep Dream English (opens in a new tab) — “A Guide To Multicultural London English (Top Boy/Stormzy Accent)” · 100s
Open this clip in Cockney: pieces of advice Pieces of advice It's a process we call near monothongizationPublic domain
“So, black families and friends celebrated Juneteenth near rivers and lakes, Gates said.”
General American
From "What Is Juneteenth in the US?" (2024). VOA Learning English. Public domain (US government work). — “What Is Juneteenth in the US?”
Open this clip in General American: So, black families and friends celebrated Juneteenth near rivers and lakes, GateCreator video
“near the throat in the back of the mouth cat”
RP
From Oxford Online English (opens in a new tab) — “5 Key Differences Between British Pronunciation and American Pronunciation” · 440s
Open this clip in RP: near the throat in the back of the mouth catPublic domain
“NASA said the laser system works with signals that exist at near-infrared wavelengths.”
General American
From "NASA Extends Laser Communication in Space to 226 Million Kilometers" (2024). VOA Learning English. Public domain (US government work). — “NASA Extends Laser Communication in Space to 226 Million Kilometers”
Open this clip in General American: NASA said the laser system works with signals that exist at near-infrared waveleSearch our indexed caption corpus for real-context examples. Coverage varies by word and accent, so the results page may have no matching clip.
Search clips for “Near”