A long vowel. The lips are relaxed (not rounded), the tongue is in the middle and the mouth is half open. In British English there is no /r/: bird is /bɜːd/.
Hear it: /ɜː/ · in a word: bird
How to make it
- Keep your lips relaxed and still.
- Hold it steady, in the middle of your mouth.
- Do not curl your tongue (British English).
Spellings
| Spelling | Examples |
|---|---|
| ir | bird, girl, first, shirt |
| er | her, term, verb |
| ur | turn, nurse, hurt |
| or (after w) | work, word, world |
| ear | learn, early, earth |
Compare with /ɔː/
Round your lips for /ɔː/; keep them relaxed for /ɜː/.
| /ɜː/ | /ɔː/ |
|---|---|
| shirt /ɜː/ | short /ɔː/ |
| turn /ɜː/ | torn /ɔː/ |
| bird /ɜː/ | board /ɔː/ |
| work /ɜː/ | walk /ɔː/ |
Practice
Drag each word to the vowel it has. On a phone, press and hold a word to drag it, or tap a word and then tap a box. Spelling can mislead you.
Words to sort: bird, girl, first, her, turn, work, learn, earth, short, torn, board, walk, four, sport, more, door. /ɜː/ as in bird; /ɔː/ as in door.
Think about the sound, not the spelling. British pronunciation.
Press 🔊, listen, and choose what you heard. Press it again to hear it again. Each time you start, the sounds are different.
Press 🔊 to hear each sentence. There is no text: drag the word you hear into the gap. The bank has words that do not belong, so listen carefully. On a phone, press and hold a word to drag it, or tap a word and then tap the gap.
Press 🔊 to hear each sentence. There is no text: drag the word you hear into the gap. The bank has words that do not belong, so listen carefully. On a phone, press and hold a word to drag it, or tap a word and then tap the gap.