R-controlled vowels (also called Bossy R vowels) are vowels that change their sound when followed by the letter R. When R comes after a vowel, it controls the vowel and makes a new sound that is neither the short sound nor the long sound. ⸻ ✅ The 5 R-controlled vowels 1. AR → /ar/ as in car, star, farm 2. ER → /ər/ as in her, fern, water 3. IR → /ər/ as in bird, shirt, girl 4. OR → /or/ as in fork, corn, storm 5. UR → /ər/ as in fur, nurse, turn ⸻ ✅ Why are they called “Bossy R”? Because the R c