Vowels

Vowels

What is a vowel?

A letter that represents a vowel sound. Represent speech sounds whre air leaves the mouth without any blockage by the tongue, lips or throat. Vowel sound are differentiated by pitch, accent, volume and duration.

When do you need a vowel?

Unlike consonants, every word needs at least one vowel. In fact, the shortest words in the English language are one letter, and they’re both vowels: the article a and the pronoun I. Every syllable also needs a vowel sound. If a word has more than one syllable, it then needs more than one vowel. There are only five vowels (sometimes six) in the English language, but there are twenty vowel sounds in total.

Fuente: TikTok

Classification of Vowels

Long vowel

Short vowel

Long vowels are a little more complex. Generally, they’re created by combining two vowels, where one is typically silent. Often they’re pronounced like the name of the vowel.

Short vowels are the standard pronunciation of vowels—usually when there is only one vowel in the word—especially in short words.

vs

6th vowel

Classification of Vowels

bean

mail

paint

scene

Long vowel

Short vowel

tap

bin

ship

sale

van

gas

dog

lid

nail

has

four

act

vs

mill

made

hen

came

lead

take

bat

game

gap

sleep

snail

gin

ask

play

tiger

cat

chip

cap

cap

dad

Jean

day

dish

How to use it?

The two indefinite articles in English are a and an. The indefinite article an is used to make pronunciation easier when reading a text aloud. The general rule is to use a when the indefinite article precedes a word beginning with a consonant sound and an when it precedes a word starting with a vowel sound.

The indefinite article a, an

Indefinite articles are used when we are referring to an unspecified thing or quantity. We use them when we don’t know (or don’t care) which thing we’re talking about.

Use of a

Use of an

When the indefinite article comes before a word beginning with a vowel sound

When the indefinite article comes before a word beginning with a consonant sound

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Stress

Stress is a quality of vowel sounds. It has three primary characteristics: Length ↔ Volume 🔊 Pitch ↑ Stressed vowel sounds are longer, louder, and/or higher in pitch than vowel sounds without stress. You can use just one of these features, or any combination of these features at the same time. Overall, stressed sounds are “stronger” than unstressed sounds.

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Is y a vowel?

Basically, y can be either a vowel or a consonant, depending on how it’s used. When y is used as a vowel, it copies either the long or short vowel sound for i or the long vowel sound for e.

my (long i)shy (long i) system (short i) crypt (short i) lady (long e) hairy (long e)

How to use?

Stress and syllables are closely related. Almost all syllables in English contain a vowel sound; therefore, we usually say that syllables are stressed or unstressed. Every multi-syllable English word contains at least one stressed syllable. For example:

• Amazing
• Discard
• Appreciated

Exceptions

It’s important to note that not all nouns that begin with a consonant begin with the consonant sound. Always trust the sound, not the letter when applying the a vs. an rule. Remember, it’s about pronunciation.

Example

Likewise, there are some nouns beginning with a vowel that make a consonant sound. In these cases, the indefinite article a should be used.

These same rules apply to acronyms:

Rules

Example