The schwa that eats an unstressed vowel

1. 1
   family/ˈfæməli/iAlso said ˈfæmli.

   noun

   Parents and their children.
2. 2
   camera/ˈkæmərə/iAlso said ˈkæmrə.

   noun

   A device for taking pictures.
3. 3
   memory/ˈmeməri/

   noun

   Something you remember from the past.
4. 4
   photograph/ˈfoʊtəˌɡræf/

   verb

   To take a picture of someone or something with a camera.
5. 5
   chocolate/ˈtʃɔːklət/

   noun

   A sweet brown food made from cocoa beans.
6. 6
   vegetable/ˈvedʒtəbəl/

   noun

   A plant part eaten as food, like a carrot or a bean.
7. 7
   comfortable/ˈkʌmfərtəbəl/

   adjective

   Easy on the body, with nothing sore or pinching.
8. 8
   interesting/ˈɪntrəstɪŋ/iAlso said ˈɪntərəstɪŋ or ˈɪntərɪstɪŋ.

   adjective

   Worth paying attention to.
9. 9
   several/ˈsevrəl/iAlso said ˈsevərəl.

   adjective

   More than two, but not many.
10. 10
    together/təˈɡeðər/

    adverb

    In each other's company rather than alone.

The sentences

1. The whole family is crowded around these old pictures.

2. Who was holding the camera in this one?

3. This picture brings back such a good memory.

4. He used to photograph us every summer.

5. You had chocolate all over your face here.

6. He grew every vegetable in that back yard.

7. That old couch looks so comfortable in this picture.

8. The clothes back then were more interesting than ours.

9. There are several pictures of the same day.

10. It's nice to see the family together again.

Pronunciation

• photograph/ˈfoʊtəˌɡræf/

  Stress sits on the first syllable, and the middle 'o' is only a quick uh.

• chocolate/ˈtʃɔːklət/

  Two syllables in normal speech, CHOK-lut. The middle 'o' is gone.

• vegetable/ˈvedʒtəbəl/

  Three syllables, VEJ-tuh-bul. Nothing sounds between the j and the t.

• comfortable/ˈkʌmfərtəbəl/

  Stress on the first syllable and everything after it goes flat. The 'fort' part sounds like 'fert'.

• interesting/ˈɪntrəstɪŋ/

  Three syllables, IN-truh-sting. The 'e' after 'inter' disappears.

• several/ˈsevrəl/

  Two syllables, SEV-rul. The middle 'e' drops out.

Questions

What does vegetable mean in this collection?

Vegetable is the part of a plant you eat, like a carrot or a bean.

What do you say if you don't remember who took a photo?

You could ask 'Who was holding the camera in this one?'

What does several mean?

Several means more than two, but not many, as in 'There are several pictures of the same day.'