/ə/
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.
Schwa. Most common sound in English. Tongue relaxed in the middle. Always unstressed.
Common slip: Learners over-pronounce. The schwa is *weak* — don't stress it.
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.
“sofa”
“sofa”
Open practice with “sofa” already filled in. Automated feedback is an estimate for practice, not a clinical or expert diagnosis.
Real recordings from our search library that contain “sofa”.
Public domain
“Third, as you enter the living room, you see a very large spoon of dry yeast sitting on the sofa”
General American
From "Make a Memory Palace to Improve Your English" (2021). VOA Learning English. Public domain (US government work). — “Make a Memory Palace to Improve Your English”
Open this clip in General American: Third, as you enter the living room, you see a very large spoon of dry yeast sitCreator video
“the sofa the teacher answered the”
RP
From Pronunciation with Emma (opens in a new tab) — “How to Pronounce the Schwa” · 390s
Open this clip in RP: the sofa the teacher answered theCreator video
“suburbs Do you know what I mean On my sofa”
Cockney
From Eat Sleep Dream English (opens in a new tab) — “A Guide To Multicultural London English (Top Boy/Stormzy Accent)” · 604s
Open this clip in Cockney: suburbs Do you know what I mean On my sofaCreator video
“sound occurs in the words sofa about Uh uh This sound occurs in the words book could”
General American
From Rachel's English (opens in a new tab) — “American English Vowels - IPA - Pronunciation - International Phonetic Alphabet” · 182s
Open this clip in General American: sound occurs in the words sofa about Uh uh This sound occurs in the words book cCreator video
“English and they say something like sofa”
RP
From Pronunciation with Emma (opens in a new tab) — “How to Pronounce the Schwa” · 188s
Open this clip in RP: English and they say something like sofaCreator video
“sofa this is a nice one thorough”
RP
From Pronunciation with Emma (opens in a new tab) — “How to Pronounce the Schwa” · 200s
Open this clip in RP: sofa this is a nice one thoroughSearch 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 “Sofa”