SOUND LESSON

How to pronounce /ɑ/ and /ɑː/: the vowel in father

Open wide and relax for the vowel in father and palm. Learn how r changes car in American and British English, and hear silent l in calm.

/ɑ/ and /ɑː/

American English: /ɑ/ · monophthong · open · back · unrounded
British English: /ɑː/ · monophthong · long · open · back · unrounded

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Pronunciation model

Try it in a word

Start the car in the dark park.

Mouth & tongue

Enable JavaScript to view the 3D panda. Pronunciation steps remain available below.

Vocal folds: vibrating

TongueTeethUvula

Simplified human pronunciation. The small uvula hangs from the palate; it is not the vocal folds. The wave indicates voicing.

Voice settings

The mouth starts slightly open. Movement is slowed for observation; the synthetic sound plays once at its original speed. Pause holds the current mouth shape; reset returns to the relaxed position. The panda is a symbolic teaching aid for human pronunciation, not animal anatomy.

What your mouth is doing

The jaw opens wide and the tongue lies low and back, with relaxed, unrounded lips. British references write /ɑː/ and American references /ɑ/. It tends to last longer than short vowels in the same context.

Comparing with Mandarin and Spanish

In car and start, standard southern British English has no /r/ unless a vowel follows, whereas General American pronounces it. Words such as bath and dance also vary between accents, so use a dictionary for your chosen model.

Mandarin a and Spanish a are useful starting points, though this vowel sits further back. Spanish speakers should also avoid a trilled or tapped r in car.

Build the sound, step by step

Open your jaw as if a doctor asked you to say ah.
Keep your tongue low and hold the vowel in father steadily.
Say palm with a silent l, then car and start in your chosen accent.

What to watch for

Pronouncing the l in calm and palm follows the spelling, not the usual speech pattern.
A forward tongue moves the vowel toward cat. Let it stay back.

Hear the difference in your own voice

Compare heart and hat, then cart and cut. Keep the opening wide and the tongue back for heart and cart, with forward and central tongue positions for the others.

References & editorial notes

PronounceKit wrote this lesson as practical guidance. The references below describe the sounds; the comparisons with other languages are editorial teaching suggestions. It describes common American and British patterns, not every accent, and it has not been independently reviewed by a pronunciation specialist. The mouth model is a simplified teaching aid, not a validated simulation.

Published 3 November 2026