pronouncekit

SOUND LESSON

How to pronounce /eə/: the vowel in hair

Learn British /eə/ in hair and care, often a long steady vowel today, and the American /ɛr/ pattern. Understand spellings such as air, are and ear.

/eə/
British English
/eə/ · diphthong · open-mid front → central · unrounded

Try it in a word

Share the chair over there.

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

Traditional British descriptions show a glide from a front vowel toward /ə/. Many current speakers use a long steady vowel. American English typically has /ɛr/, with the tongue moving into /r/.

Comparing with Mandarin and Spanish

Several spellings share this sound: hair, care, bear and where. Homophones such as bear and bare, or hair and hare, are good reading practice.

Spanish e and Mandarin ei can give you the starting point. Avoid reading air as separate letters, and keep the word to one syllable.

Build the sound, step by step

  1. Start with the vowel in bed, with a slightly more open jaw.
  2. Hold it longer or glide softly toward /ə/; for American English, move into /r/.
  3. Say hair, care and where, each with a single beat.

What to watch for

  • Reading air as /aɪ/ follows the letters. The spelling does not predict this vowel.
  • A strong steady /r/ in British-model speech does not match that model, so choose one accent.

Hear the difference in your own voice

Try hair and here, then bear and beer. Open your jaw more for hair and bear, then compare care and car, where the second word starts low and back.

Compare these sounds

Keep practicing

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