Description of /r/

/r/ is an English liquid approximant consonant. As with all liquids, it is pulmonic

egressive since the air comes from the lungs, and oral since the soft palate is in
its raised position. It is sonorant because there is no noise component and no
obstruction to the airflow in the vocal tract. This sound is considered a
frictionless continuant because it does not require the same narrowing as
fricatives do, and it is produced with an approximation of the articulators, which
is too open to cause friction.
When pronouncing /r/, the tip of the tongue approaches the rear of the alveolar
ridge while the centre of the tongue is lowered and the back sides are in contact
with the upper teeth.
In this case, /r/ is voiced since the vocal folds vibrate. As regards spelling to
sound rules, /r/ is the sound for the spelling <r> as in round //; <rr> as in
sorry //; silent <w> + <r> as in write //; and <r> + silent <h> as in
rhyme //. This sound may occur in the onset of the syllable as in
rock //, or in the coda of the syllable, only in rhotic accents, as in car //.
According to some of its variation, /r/ can be post-alveolar [] before and
between vowels as in very []. This sound can be partly or fully voiceless []
after any aspirated /p t k/ as in pry [] or cry []. In all other contexts, it
is a voiced frictionless continuant as in radio []. It can also be an
alveolar tap [], made with the tip of the tongue on the alveolar ridge in
intervocalic position as in sorry [], or on the dental ridge before // as
in thread [].
In comparison with Spanish, /r/ can be an alveolar trill /r/ in initial position and
after /l s n/ as in roto [roto] or carro [aro], or it can be an alveolar tap //
between vowels when /r/ does not occur, and in all other consonant clusters as in
caro [ao] or pero [peo]. A common mistake for SSLE is to use the two
Spanish /r/ sounds instead of English post-alveolar approximant /r/, which gives a
very strong foreign accent.