How to pronounce 'Quarter' | American English

26 Apr 2016 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:40

A brief American-English pronunciation lesson by Hadar Shemesh explaining how to say the word "quarter." The instructor breaks the word into two syllables: the first syllable "cor-" (k + rounded "or" vowel followed by R, with timing advice to avoid altering the vowel) and the second syllable "-ter" (a schwa + flap T that sounds like a D). She demonstrates the sounds, gives an example sentence (“It was a profitable quarter.”), and closes with a call-to-action to subscribe and visit her website.

Chapters

Hi guys. It's Hadar. And this is the accent's way, your way to finding clarity, confidence and freedom in English. And today I'd like to talk to you about the word quarter. Quarter. To say this word, let's begin with the first syllable, core. Core. We start with a k sound and then the or, as in for vowel. Or to make this vowel round your lips a little bit, drop your jaw and the tongue pulls back so it's high in the back. You hear that nice rounded sound. After you hear the vowel only then bring the tongue up for the R. Cor. Right? You raise the tongue up for the R after you hear the long vowel. If you bring the tongue up before that, it can sound like this. Kur. Ker. That's a different vowel. You don't want that. So. Cor. Alright. As in the word cor, the second syllable is basically a T. Schwa. R. Ter. Ter. But since this T is between an R vowel and a vowel, it's a flap T. So it sounds more like a D than a T. Quarter. Der. Der. Do you hear that? Quarter. Der. It was a profitable quarter. Quarter. Alright, that's it. I hope you enjoyed it. Please share this video with your friends if you did. And don't forget to subscribe if you haven't yet. You're also invited to come and check out my website for more great content and free practices. Have a wonderful week and I will see you next week in the next video. Bye.