The schwa is standard English’s most common vowel sound, yet it’s also one of the most confusing and misunderstood concepts.
Curriculum
Two-to-Four-Syllable Words with Short Vowels and Schwa
The schwa is standard English’s most common vowel sound, yet it’s also one of the most confusing and misunderstood concepts.
This article outlines what schwa is, provides some examples, and discusses how to teach the schwa sound.
Education resources
What is schwa?
A schwa is a vowel sound present in an unstressed syllable. It occurs when the vowel does not make its short or long vowel sound but instead sounds like a short ‘u’ or ‘i’ sound. Schwa is considered the most relaxed and neutral way of pronouncing vowels. It prompts you to pronounce unstressed vowels much quicker to emphasize stressed syllables. The schwa sound is represented by a ‘Ə’ symbol in the phonetic alphabet.
Examples of schwa
Looking at some examples of schwa words can help aid your understanding. Here is an example of it in each vowel:
- A = Pleasant
- E = Celebrate
- I = Family
- O = Bottom
- U = Support
- Y = Syringe
Two syllable words
Here are some examples of two-syllable schwa words:
- About
- Again
- Alone
- Around
- Certain
- Fountain
- Amaze
- Ahead
- Away
- Captain
- Bargain
- Album
- Problem
- Method
- Circus
- Custom
- Balance
- System
- Salad
- Wisdom
- Provide
- Agree
- Complete
- Observe
- Succeed
- Assume
- Contain
- Compare
- Enrich
- Insist
- Witness
- Campus
For some learning exercises on syllables, click here.
Three syllable words
Some examples of three-syllable schwa words include:
- Different
- Important
- Example
- Important
- Minimum
- Maximum
- Imprison
- Enrichment
- Helplessness
- Disgusted
- Subcontract
- Discontent
- Department
- Congressman
- Dependent
- Continental
- Sediment
- Abandon
- Badminton
- Misconduct
- Classical
- Pelican
- Production
- Understand
- Manager
- Punishment
- Malignant
- Astonish
- Diminish
- Admonish
- Hesitant
- Washington
- Basketball
- Cosmetics
- Wisconsin
- Volcanic
Four syllable words
Here are some examples of four-syllable schwa words:
- Aesthetic
- Inconsistent
- Development
- Available
- Transatlantic
- Secretary
- Accomplishment
- Disinfectant
- Academic
- Disenchanted
- Establishment
- Calisthenics
- Unexpected
- Environment
- Population
- Relationship
- Technology
- Appropriate
- Industrial
- Operation
- Application
- Majority
- Independent
- Traditional
- Competition
- Apparently
- Additional
- Nevertheless
- Introduction
- Distribution
- Difficulty
- Democratic
- Education
- Recognition
- Absolutely
How to teach schwa words to students
When teaching schwa sounds, it’s important first to develop a kinaesthetic awareness of vowels and their sounds. Some steps on how to teach the concept of schwa to students include:
1. Teach the concept of ‘stress’ in linguistics
In linguistics, stress means emphasizing certain syllables through special utterances. You want to carry out exercises allowing pupils to identify stress words, including saying sentences aloud and having them tap their legs when saying stressed words or highlighting stressed words in written sentences. Having students learn stressed syllables means they can better understand schwa by comparative difference.
Discover some stress word exercises here.
2. Link unstressed vowels with schwa
After identifying stressed words, ask students to write the schwa symbol over vowels in the unstressed words they’ve identified.
3. Teach the schwa sound
Teaching the schwa sound allows students to identify it in speech better. You can do this by making the schwa sound louder and opening your mouth w. This will enable you to draw attention to the sound while associating it with the relaxed jaw motion it is known for.
4. Do reading exercises
Try conducting reading exercises aloud so that students can come to terms with the schwa sound. Start by choosing words where the long or short vowel doesn’t sound correct. An example of this includes: “That is normal cust-om.” Decode the word with a robot voice so that each syllable is evenly stressed. Ask students to place stress on one syllable (“cust”) and then pronounce the other with a schwa.
You can discover more schwa sound exercises here.
5. Do spelling exercises
Schwa can confuse writing as students struggle to identify what vowel to use for the schwa sound. Encourage students to use their spelling voice when writing words – pronouncing unstressed syllables aloud. Teach students base words with the schwa sound and the following derivatives. Examples include ‘human’, ‘ humanity’, ‘accomplish’, and ‘accomplishment’.
