You see the letter R in car, bird and water, so you say it. That is logical, and in many languages every written R is pronounced. But in modern Standard British, most of those Rs are silent. In this episode: • The rule: r only before a vowel sound • The vowel gets longer instead • Words that sound the same • Other accents are equally correct • An invented scene on the school run • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: red — R before a vowel, so you say it very (VE-ree) — R between vowels, so you say it sorry (SO-ree) — you say it carrot (KA-rut) — you say it car (KAH) — the car's outside park (PAHK) — let's go to the park bird (BURD with no R) — there's a bird in the garden four (FAW) — four o'clock school pick-up here (HEE-uh) — come here a minute there (THAIR with no R, a long EH sound) — it's over there water (WAW-tuh) — a glass of water, please better (BET-uh) — feeling better? hard (HAHD) — this bread is hard start (STAHT) — the film starts at eight short (SHAWT) — a short walk fork (FAWK) — knives and forks born (BAWN) — she was born in May first (FURST with no R) — who's first in the queue? shirt (SHURT with no R) — your school shirt's in the wash word (WURD with no R) — what's the word for it? In the wash — being washed (casual) sore and saw (SAW) — my back's sore; I saw it farther and father (FAH-thuh) — the same sound court and caught (KAWT) — the same sound aunt and aren't (AHNT) — the same sound for and four (FAW) — a present for Nan; four presents Can you pour the milk? — please put milk in the cups The dog's hurt its paw — its foot Real British English: the complete spoken course for learners worldwide — modern British accent, everyday grammar, phrasal verbs, idioms, slang, he/she/it for things, and real conversations at home. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.