Learn the difference in pronunciation between A and O vowel sounds in English. Hear the difference between words like cat, sack, and caps, and words like cot, sock, and cops. If you know the International Phonetic Alphabet, the sounds I’ll be teaching in this lesson are æ
and ɑ
. If you don’t know the IPA, don’t worry!
196 COMMENTS
thanks Ronnie. i hope you teach a lesson about saying years.
Thanks
Dear Ronnie , Can you tell me the pronunciation of these (s) in Charles’s?
thank you
Hi ! I’d like to answer if it doesn’t bother you.
you pronounce a “i” between the two letters S. The “i” sound that you find in the word “miss” or “bis”. Remember, this sound is different of the “ee” sound. https://www.engvid.com/english-pronunciation-i-ee/.
I hope I could help.
“Charlie-Z”
hi Ronnie…
i wanted ask you a que..As im an indian..its really confusing for mr when i see guys from america pronouncing “J” as an “H”..as in “Marijuana”..”Hallelujah”….so i’d really like to know about this from you…i hope you’d take a class on this one..an advance thanx from me..
It’s because “marijuana” is a Spanish word, and Spanish has different pronunciation rules. Here are some rough guidelines:
– “j” sounds like “h”
– “ll” sounds like “y”
– “ñ” sounds like “ny-”
So, for example, “marijuana” is pronounced “MARE-i-HWAN-a” “jalapeño” is pronounced “HAL-a-PEN-yo” and “tortilla” is pronounced “tor-TEE-ya”.
Edit: Oh, I forgot “hallelujah”! “Hallelujah” isn’t Spanish, it’s Hebrew. Hebrew has a different alphabet, and traditionally in English the Hebrew “y” consonant is spelled “j”. Usually the “j” is pronounced like in English, but “hallelujah” is an exception. It is also spelled “alleluia”.
thanx a lot..i didn’t expect that i’d get such a quick reply from the EngVid guys..wud’ve been more happier if Ronnie herself had answered the que…anyways i needed an answer, doesnt matter who answers it…
Ronnie does answer questions, but if your comment goes into the moderation queue, chances are I’ll see it first!
Dear Ronnie! Thank you so much for what you do! I have a little question about pronunciation: as I understand in American English short O (in words like hot\honest\walk) sounds a bit like U (like in hut\sun). What about the long O like in door\shorts\born? Is that a clear sound O, or does it also have a tendency to sound similar to A (like in dArk)?
Dear Ronnie, as I understand in American English short O (hot\honest) is pronounced a little like U (similar to hut\”hunest”), but what about the long O (like in door, all, awkward, shorts, torn, born)? Is it also similar to AH (like in dark) or is that a clear sound Ooo? Thank you so much!
thank u this useful to us I’ll repeat
HI , IM FROM MEXICO, CAN YOU PLEAS SHOW ME THE SOUND OF A,U,O E
AND ITS DIFFERENCE ON THE MOUTH POSITION OF EACH ONE
Please, how to pronunce “th” in “other”? if possible make a video, thank you very much.
It’s pronounced like the th in “the” or “weather” — for more on how to pronounce the different “th” sounds, see this lesson.
Very nice expalanation, very nice teacher..thaks a lot Ronnie
Nice!
Hi Ronnie, firt of all thank you very much for taking the time to do this lesson. We are all very gratefull for your work.
I’d like though make a few comments about this lesson and give some ideas ^^
I wonder if the second symbol’s “leg” isn’t inverted ^^ .
Secondly I find that’s a pitty that you didn’t make use of one of your theories about pronunciation that usually replaces IPA. For instance : Last lesson you wrote “cuhd” to explain how to pronounce “could”.
I’m working on a theorie that says pronouncing “hat” is like “heh-at” “bag” “beh-ag” “cat” “keh-at” but I would need some comment of a professional like you.
So my little and humble idea was that you could make a 2nd part for this lesson where you’d add the sound “e” as “said” “beg” “het” and “sec” so that we can also hear the contrast with “sad” “bag” “hat” and “sack” as well as “sod” “bog” “hot” and “sock”.
I just wanted to give some ideas with this comment. I love your ways to teach.
And if you ever need some help in Portuguese, Spanish or French I’m your guy ^^.
Carlos.
Thanks for the suggestion!!!!!
thank you so much Ronnie about all the great effort that you do
nice expalanation, nice teacher..thaks a lot Ronnie
Hi Ronnie, you’re a very good teacher. I think you’re a very kind people too. Thank you a lot !
Hi, I have been learning English for over 3years now and my writing is decent. My speaking however is huge problem, for some unknown reason I stutter alot when speaking in English. I never stutter when speaking French, Arabic or other languages I speak. What can I do to reduce the stutter?
Wow, Carlos! Você é o cara!!!
Que é isso senhorita, fiquei todo vermelho ao ver seu comentario ^^
Tenha um bom dia.
Nao senhorita,Carlos, sou casada, entao, senhora, ja que vc quer ser formal kkkkkkkk (Brazilian Laugh)
WOW!GREAT. u can speak french.lucky u.i want to learn french but it’s so difficult for me.:(
Hello Elisangela,
Nice to meet you,I’m from São Paulo-Brazil,my name is Marcelo. I’m studying English here in Brazil. I’m married and I’d like to get some friends that live in another country in specially from the Canada. Is a country that have very wish to know. I’ve plan to make exchange in Canada and I’d like to receive some tips of better school,etc. My address of email is in my profile.
If hasn’t trouble for you I wait your help to improve my learning.
Take care,bless you God.
first of all a big thank you to all of the teacher
this site helps me alot
I’d like to have a lesson on the particule like : up off out on in….when it changes the verbe like: give / give up or give in
thanks ronnie!
Thanks a lot!
Hi Ronnie,
I am a great fan of your’s :). I would like to know some tips about business email writing. while talking with the customers over phone, Some time it hard for them to understand me. Do you think I am from India thus they can understand me? Or I need to change the way I speak? I face this problem particularly for USA customers not any other country. Need some tips from you.
Thanks
Aaliya
Can you have some topics use of the following,
1.Apparently
2.In fact
3.Actually
4.Indeed
5.Obviously
6.Literately
7.Clearly
8.Openly
Thanks.
Tamil Eelavan
(sunshine19n9@gmail.com)
Than you Ronnie
Thank you Ronnie
thanks all
I am realy interesting Thanks so much.
Hi Ronnie, could you tell me what did you said at the end of the video? “till then … (what?)”
thanks
Hi ! I’d like to answer if you don’t mind.
“Till then” is an expression that replaces “good bye” when we are persuaded that we will meet the other person. It’s like if you said the whole phrase: “Good bye till then.” or “Good bye till/until the moment we see each other again.” Using online translators would help you very much even if it’s not a bad idea to ask in here either, as I will take the oportunity to help you and learn at the same time.
I hope this will help you.
Yes, it’s clear, thanks.
Maybe i formed question in incorrect way.
The question is what is very last word in this video (there are another Ronnie’s videos with same words at the end).
If i turn on auto subtitles, there appears “till then kato’s”. What’s “kato’s”?
Dear Ronnie, could you please tell me that which one is correct and why?
what else it could be?
or
what else could it be?
if possible please make a video on this to let us know about it clearly.
Thanks a lot.
Thank you Ronnie, love your way of teaching! :)
Thank you, Ronnie!
Thank you so mush
Thank you …Nice
This webpage is not available i still confuse where do i use to and for
Here’s a lesson all about to and for, if that helps…
Thanks Ronnie for your great lessons! ^^
Hi Ronnie.
Im new here!
You’re a very good teacher and your classes are so good!
Thanks’ I’ll keep studing with them!
Hi Ronnie.
Im new here!
You’re a very good teacher and your classes are so good!
Thank’s I’ll keep studing with them!
Hahhaha why were you laughing when you said “sack” ?? Ronnie!
I love when you say Miauuuu! Hahaha do you love cats?
Regards
Sack is slang for “huevos”!!!!!! ( Not the chicken kind of huevos)
hi, Ronnie. Thank you so much. bye
until then Ronnie.
O! A!
Thank You Ronne
hi ronnie..I would like to ask you a question out of our lesson if you don’t mind
………….
we say
A man of principle or a man with principleS
or both are correct???
thank you so Much
They are both correct.
may allah bless you .thanks ;
Hi Ronnie
Please, Could you help me with relative clause, because Iam very confuse with that
Very good work
THANK U RONNIE HOW TO PRONOUNCE WATER AND WINDOW
THANK U SO MUCH RONNIE
HOW TO PRONOUNCE WATER
hi Ronnie how are you doing today. the reason of my message is that, i am very like you and you least ion your speech style so nice, and i want meet you but how.? how do i improved my English now. tell. have day good to see you tomorrow bey Eng . Arshad Hassan From Pakistan in Karachi.
hi ronnie;you a very good teacher; thanks too much for your explanation i follow your lesson every day.
hello Ronnie thank u soo much for the lesson it isreally interesting to learn english with u i wanna more lesson because i have problems with ponunciation please
this’s the first video i’v been watching for you Ronnie it was really nice, useful and funny
You are very funny. I really like your lessons.
Hi..! Ms Ronnie, I would like to you help me .I’m had a lot of trouble sound pronunciation three word are: FAX , FACT AND BAD WORD ( F… )
THANKS……!!!!.
Fax = “fakssss”
Fact = “fa-kT”. You really have to say the T!
F&ck = “Fu-K. You have to say the K!!!
I checked it in IPA because I wasn’t sure about “fact”, and I thought that the letter “t” isn’t often pronounced. But it looks like that only the plural form has the feature. :)
Pronunciation “facts”
(US, Canada, standard) IPA: /fækts/
(US, Canada, informal or dialectal) IPA: /fæks/
Homophone: fax
Like = LYE-K
Lake = LAY-K
Look = lou-k
lick = li-K
hello M/s Ronnie how are you doing now.
i was sent the message. what about the it? way do you not replay beck.
hey Ronnie youtube is blocked here in Pakistan, so is it possbile to send me all your lesson videos.? My id is abidrasool94@gmail.com
Sorry, you’ll have to use a proxy/VPN to watch them!
Thanks Ronnie for the detailed explanation completely
I love you Ronnie <3 thanks for the awesome work!
I like you style of teaching so much :)
Hi roonie,
Great lesson
Dear Ronnie, thank you for giving clear understanding in English use. it’s very helpful for me;-)
Ronnie M’am.. Thanks lot.
It helps me lot.
Hi Ronnie! I love your blue jacket, you look beautiful, thanks for teaching us.
nice…..
Thank you ronnie!!! you’re amazing!
Thanks very much Heather for your prompt reply. For explanations you are wunderful
thank you teacher :)
Hi Ronnie , I love the you way you teach, it’s so funny, Thank you :)
thank you ronnie
thanks to your lesson I have more self-confidence on coping with pronunciation.
Is there a posibility to prepare a lesson of the followings words’ pronunciation
“true” “during” are both words sound like
“ch” ?
Thanks for yours all help to esl students
Ok! I will try to make a lesson for you!
Good morning Ronnie,
Can I use “something” in questions? (Do you have something to declare?)
Thanks in advance.
FEAZ
IRAQ
Yes!
thanks
Hi, Ronnie. Thank*s a lot for your lesons. I have some problems wıth pronuncıatıon of consonant. For example: LET’S DROP. When there are T,S,D… It is awful for me, few consonants are one by one. How can I improve my pronuncıatıon?
Can you teach detail about conditional zero first second third
u r very good
Hi RONNIE I am Froam INDIA and i am your new student.Ilearn basic grammer from your lesson.Thanks RONNIE U TEACH US VERY EASY WAY. IF IN THIS COMMENT IHAVE DONE ANY MISTAKE PLEASE CORRECT IT. THANK U SO MUCH AND LOVE YOU.
more samples
thank you and god bluest you
thank you ver much indeed for Explaition regarding like lake look lick lock
Thank you so much for teaching me and my child, I wish you all the best
Thank you!
thank you,expecting more lesson.you are a good teacher Ronnie..
thank you
hi ronnie
ill like to know how to start learning english from the very beginnig ,i`m trying to help my wife so she can learn english, she speak spanish only
you are the best teacher!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you
Thank you!
Thank you Iam sudanese
you are the best ! thank you :)
Ma’am I hope you remember that I had requested you to do a lesson on clauses and you had replied that you will try to do it as soon as possible…ma’am I really need your help..I have my exam on 20 feb..please help me before that..I request you..please help!!
Hi, thank you Ronnie.
It’s nice.
Thank.
Thanks Ronnie, I’m learning too with your nice lesson. You’re very funny and I really love your method.
Thanks Ronnie!
Hi Ronnie, I’m confused. Canadians pronunce caught and cot with the same vowel, but that vowel is /ɑ/ or /ɒ/? I like these videos where we can learn english vowel sounds :)
Many thanks for this good clip where most of personal will get benefit from it.
Ronnie mam, can you explain me about apostrophe rules?
I want to know too, how do we talk on the phone?
Ronnie Mam, please tell me about the article.
thanks, you are my best teacher..
hi ronnie,I live 2 hours away from obihiro..thank you so much…I need to improve my speaking ability, ALT teacher come visit to our church sometimes and I can hardly speak english..Any plans to come visit hokkaido?hope to meet you in person….God bless ronnie…
Hi Ronnie,
Thanks a lot for your video. I like the way you teaching very much.
thank you
thanks
Thanks Ronnie for the lesson. Do you have any lesson about the different between “V” sound and B sound ?
She a nice teacher
I really enjoyed that lesson!
HI Ronnie how are you …you are good teacher
fun & useful thanks Ronie :)))
U are the best teacher ever
Hi Ronnie, I love your lessons. I’m moving to Toronto with my family in July and I would like to know your e-mail. We are going in order to improve our skiils in English and we have questions about the best way to do this. Could you please help us?
Thank you
Dimas
Thank you Ronnie. You’re the best teacher :)
Thank you a lot:)
thanks viva ronnie kiss for you I lack heard 80/100
I hope I see before I hear great sound
I love to learn the English language wonderful world
I write with translational
Thanked God bless you Health always happy
Night happy my skype. steve.mcqueen48
Profesora Ronnie, de verdad muchas gracias, con usted sí voy a aprender.
¡Muy bien por su buen humor!
Awesome! You`re great! learning with you is pretty easy! thanks!
hi my most respected teacher Roni,
i like your teaching and love her, tell me tips how i can learn easily, i have no environment like english speaker(people) where i speak it if u have skype ID please tell me, i promise u am not to narrow you plzzzzz am just want learning i struggle it lonely obediently!
Many thanks Ronnie,you are the best.
I would like to explain (cups) and how to generate with caps when someone speak with me.
I never found so much fun in English before. You are a great teacher. Every time I watch your video I think to myself how could you be so dramatic, so enthusiastic. I am really amazed by your accent, the way you make fun and your body language. I respect you Ronnie. At the same time it seems I am falling in love with you :) Take care.
Your comment is so well written I would feel bad about deleting it, but from now on, please don’t talk about being in love with the teachers, it is not polite. You may also want to give this video a watch…
Thanks to you, I could have a fun time.
How to pronounce A and O was very easy to understand.
At the same time I could know the meaning of IPA.
Please keep uploading new videos.
Thank u very much
thank u ronnie …thanks a lot …
thank you very much i hope that you make a video for the poem The Chaos ( Dearest creature in creation studying English pronunciation…) as i think it will be helpful for learning thank you again and this is the link for it
http://www.madore.org/~david/misc/english-pronunciation.html
Unlike American lazy fatassed chicks – Canadian girls are super hot and sexy … just like Ronnie here …
this is a good site for teaching English
Hello Ronnie! I feel so confused:( I have difficulty with the sound of bag, hat, Dan…
For example: the ‘a’ of bag and Dan, sounds more ‘e’ to my ear, while it sounds ‘a’ in cat , sack, caps. Moreover, In a lesson given by Alex, he taught us the pronunciation of these words: man, land, band, tan, Anne and I noticed the ‘a’ sounded almost like an ‘e’. It was very very open. Can you understand my doubt? To conclude, I still don’t understand how to pronounce this vowel, which sounds like an ‘a’ and an ‘e’ at the same time!!!!
I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Thanks!
Thank, I try to lean english!!
Thanks Ronnie.
Thanks.
thanks you
thanks you :) !
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
put a sock in it what is the the meaing Ronnia please
Thanks! :D
pleas pleas pleas
what is the sentence is
easy squezy
easy ………. squesy
thanks !
Hiya Ronnie!! May I ask you to teach us a lesson for the following words: in/at. THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORT AND TIME! Take care!
Hi Ronnie, I enjoyed all of your lessons. They helps a lot :)
Besides A and O, I am also confused by the U sound. eg. bat, bot, but. cap, cop, cup. Fall , Full, fool, those are difficult to me to tell apart. Would you shoot a video about those pronunciations? Thanks!
Try to do it well
Very clear
Thanks
Thanks Ronnie ! Your are the best!
very very good!
Thanks Ronnie! It is very useful
Ronnie, please¡¡¡ Spaniards have difficulties in saying two sounds. CUT and CAT sounds the same for us. Could you help me?
Hi Ronnie can you help me with the pronuntiation of the letter ch when sound like “k” and when like “ch” for example mechanic, stomach, chorus etc.
Hi Ronnie, I’m so sorry for this stupid question, sometime I hear people say ‘æ’ like ‘e’, can you explain me why? some words like: back ( my teacher say like ‘beck’, she is russian), flat, dance?
Thank you so much.
Hi Ronnie,
The “o” sounds like “a:” by Americans. For example, pot /pa:t/ and pat /paet/. These two sounds are very similar. How can I recognize them? Thanks
hi ,ronie your are very good
please give me the website to knowledge prounciation
Thank you, Ronnie. I love your teaching style!!
Very nice lesson!!!Thanks a lot.
Nice expression………….
thanks Ronnie .i like your kidding teaching style.
whenever i watch your videos,i feel as sit in first standard class room.
Hi Ronnie, I enjoyed all of your lessons
thanks
جزيلا شكرا
Maybe it’s me, probably it is… but Dan sounds different… doesn’t it?
I learned new words….and meow
thanks Ronnie :D
Thanks,Ronnie.
Thank you. You’re very funny
thank you Ronnie.
It’s very interesting.:)
Hi Ronnie… Could you please make a more specific video about the pronunciation of the sound “A” (like sack, sock and suck, knob and nap, cup, cop and cap or gat, got and gut)? This letters sound pretty much the same to an italian speaker in my opinion. To be more specific, I’m talking about /ʌ/, /ɒ/ and /a/ in IPA… I hope I’ll put the baby in the cot and not in the cat or cut :P Thank you for your lessons anyway!!
Pronunciation of this threesome “hut, hat and hot” is always difficult for Spanish speakers. Or, at least, for me
Thanks..
there is no quiz?
Thx a lot!!!
thank you Ronnie.
This is THE MOST DIFFICULT FOR ME I BELIEVED ALWAYS PRONOUNCE THESE WORDS WITH DE SAME SOUND. bUT YOU MAKE IT EASY tHANKS Ronnie
thanks!
Thank you.
Thanks
Thanks
Ronnie, you made it easy. Thanks a lot
Thank you Ronnie
I like you , thanks
Hello ronnie I like to learn pronunciation with you, thank you
Great! Pronunciation is very important in English learning!
Great lesson. Thanks.