Memorable Schwa Sets:

#9 'A Dangerous Wizard'

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.

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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.

-ous famous, nervous, serious, curious, dangerous, obvious, generous

-ard wizard, standard, coward, forward*, hazard, leopard, vineyard,

* almost any -ward word has a lazy ending, e.g. inward, outward, upward – with the exception of to.WARD and to.WARDS – these stress the 2nd syllable.

lazy schwa sentences:

I know she’s famous for being generous with her time but, call me a coward, I’m nervous to ask!

I’m curious about why you’ve labelled it a hazard… is it really that dangerous?

exception words:

There really aren't many of these, but here are a handful...

-ous [none found]

-ard bollard, regard, discard, bombard