British BATH Vowel: Pronunciation and Practice
/ɑː/as in grass
In RP, bath and grass use the long vowel heard in father.
The long BATH vowel is an RP and southern English feature. Many northern English speakers use a short vowel here. Both are British pronunciations.
Listen once, repeat the word, then use it in a sentence. Practise the long bath.
Compare
baath (flat a)
Practice target
bahth
What to listen for
Compare the vowels in cat and bath. Many northern English speakers use a short vowel in bath.
How to practise
Open the back of the mouth and hold the ah. Think father, not cat.
A short practice session
- Listen to bath. Open your mouth without forcing your jaw.
- Compare cat and bath. Do not lengthen every written A.
- Try bath, after and grass, then put one into a sentence.
Try it in a sentence
I had a bath after work.
Does bath keep the same vowel when you say the full sentence? If it changes, shorten the phrase and try again.
Read a line for a free accent assessment, or follow the British accent learning guide.
Practise words
Hear how you do on grass.
BritSpeech scores long bath on your own voice, on your phone, in seconds, then offers exercises to practise it.