How to Pronounce: Where Are You From?

Hello! I’m John Russell. Let’s continue our exploration of useful words, phrases, and questions. Today, we will continue our lesson on introductions. Our question for today will be this: Where are you from? We will pay careful attention to the first and last words of the question - where and from. Where involves the vowel sound /ər/ Watch my mouth closely and repeat after me: /ər/ Now say the full word after me: Where Now let’s turn to our second word: from. From involves the neutral vowel sound: ə Watch my mouth closely and repeat after me: /ə/ Now repeat after me: From So, we have worked on the first and last word of our question: Where are you from? Now we can ask the question: why are those two words important? The reason is this: Americans often reduce or shorten the words in the middle – the verb BE and the subject you. The question can sound like this: Where’re ya from? Note that the verb are was shortened and the word you became something like this: ya. You do not need to try to ask the question fast like an American. But by clearly pronouncing the first and last word of the question, you greatly increase your chances of being understood. That’s all for today! Keep up the good work!