Decoding exercises: "er"

The letter combination "er" has several different pronunciations, mainly /ɜːr/ when stressed and /ər/ when unstressed. This article sets out some words teachers can use to help their students become more aware of the differences.

For "err" see Decoding exercises: "err".

Stressed

 * /ɜːr/: certain - concern - determine - her - perfect - person - service - term - version - were
 * /ɪə/: experience - material - period - series - serious
 * with magic e: here - mere - severe


 * /r/: American - austerity - ceremony - experiment - heroism - merit - peril - sheriff - therapy - very

Spelling anomalies

 * /r/: there - where
 * /ɜːr/ with misleading silent e: were
 * /ɑːr/: sergeant

Unstressed

 * /ər/: after - another - consider - letter - modern - never - number - offer - order - other - over - pattern - under - whether
 * /ər/ or /r/. See Varisyllabic words.
 * average - different - every - general - interest - several


 * /ɪr/: derive - derogatory - eraser - prerogative
 * Secondary stress
 * /iːr/: prerequisite