Memorable Schwa Sets:

#2 'A Useful But Immoral Label'

This is a multi-part series on 'Selectively Lazy English'. If you're new, you can jump back to the first set of resources ... or start at the very beginning with my intro article.

Your resources for this lesson are just below ...

lazy schwa words

TIP: It's a good idea listen to the audio without looking at the written examples – at least when you start.

We pronounce the highlighted spelling patterns with a lazy schwa vowel in all of the word examples below, and in all contexts – even if a speaker wants to heavily emphasise the word.

-al: legal, immoral, decimal, medal, social, musical, lethal, equal, local, fatal

-el: label, channel, morsel

-ful: useful, beautiful, awful, wonderful, helpful, thankful, mindful, painful

Note: Words in this set are very consistent. Exceptions with no schwa seem to be either non existent, or at least very uncommon.

lazy schwa sentences:

Legally, surely they can’t deny that the drug is lethal. It’s completely immoral.

Are these decimals equal?

You deserve a medal for that!

The local social group are organising a trip to see a new musical.

I thought it was beautiful but the reviews were awful.

He was wonderful: really helpful, I was thankful.

We have to be mindful about how painful this has been for people.

Any exceptions?

I don't think so, no!

This schwa set seems to be very consistent indeed, with no notable exceptions.

Of course, let me know if you've discovered any, and I'll add them here.