Where's the bear's spare chair? Nowhere near here.
Two near-twin vowels share this sentence: the AIR sound in where's, bear's, spare, chair and nowhere, and the EAR sound in near and here. Swap one for the other and you say a different word.
👅 Sounds to Practise
- AIR /eə/, as in where's, bear's, spare, chair and nowhere. Start with your mouth open and relaxed, then slide to a soft, short sound at the end. American speakers say the R at the end, as /ɛr/.
- EAR /ɪə/, as in near and here. Start with your lips spread, as if you were smiling, then slide to the same soft ending. American speakers say /ɪr/.
- W /w/, as in where's and nowhere. Round your lips first, then open them.
- CH /tʃ/, as in chair. A quick burst, with the tongue against the ridge behind your top teeth.
Quick test: say bear, then beer. Only the start of the vowel moves.
🐢 Start Slow
Say each chunk slowly. Listen for AIR, then EAR.
Where's the bear's
spare chair?
Nowhere near here.
🚶 Normal Speed
Say it at a natural pace, with the stressed syllables in capitals:
WHERE'S the BEAR'S SPARE CHAIR? NOwhere NEAR HERE.
🚀 Tongue-Twister Mode
Say it three times in a row, as fast as you can:
Where's the bear's spare chair? Nowhere near here.
If near slides into nair, or here turns into hair, slow down and listen for the EAR.
🤯 Why Is This So Difficult?
- Two near-twin vowels. AIR and EAR end in the same soft sound, so only the beginning tells them apart, and it is a small difference to hold at speed.
- The swap comes right at the end. Nowhere finishes with AIR, and then near and here jump to EAR without a pause.
- The spelling is no help. Where and here end in the same letters but sound different, and so do bear and near.
- A chain of rhymes. Bear, spare and chair rhyme, and so do near and here. Your mouth wants to stay in one sound and keep rhyming.
👀 Words to Notice
- bear /beə/ and beer /bɪə/
- chair /tʃeə/ and cheer /tʃɪə/
- hair /heə/ and here /hɪə/
- fair /feə/ and fear /fɪə/
🏆 OddLingo Challenge
- Round 1: say it slowly, one chunk at a time, with no mistakes.
- Round 2: say the whole sentence once at normal speed.
- Round 3: say it three times fast without stopping.
Bonus round: try this one:
The fair deer dared to stare at the bear's chair.
🔗 Related Practice
- A Noisy Noise Annoys an Oyster: another vowel that glides.
- Sheep and Ship: two vowels that are easy to swap.
- Pearl's Early Bird: vowels followed by R.
- Whether the Weather: W and the TH sounds.