ENGLISH VOWELS SOUNDS

ENGLISH VOWEL SOUNDS

IES JULIO PRIETO NESPEREIRA

1. VOWEL SOUNDS

2. SHORT VOWELS

There are 7 ‘short’ vowel sounds:

/æ/ - /ʌ/ - /ɛ/ - /ə/ - /ɪ/ - /ɒ/ - /ʊ/

This sound is commonly represented by the letter ‘a’ (e.g., cat, hat)

This sound is commonly represented by the letter ‘u’ (e.g., bus, sun) and occasionally by ‘o’ (e.g., come, love).

The short ‘e’ sound can be represented by the letter ‘e’ (e.g., bed, red)

The schwa is found in unstressed syllables of content words: SOLDIER, HAS,

This sound is usually represented by the letter ‘I' (e.g., sit, hit) and occasionally by ‘y’ (e.g., gym, symbol).

The short ‘o’ sound can be represented by the letter ‘o’ (e.g., dog, hot) and occasionally by ‘a’ (e.g., watch, want).

The letters "u, oo, ou" also sound /ʊ/:

1. VOWEL SOUNDS

3. LONG VOWELS

A long vowel is a vowel sound that is pronounced for a longer duration than a short vowel.

3. LONG VOWELS

3. LONG VOWELS

3. LONG VOWELS

3. LONG VOWELS

3. LONG VOWELS

LET´S PRACTICE!

• In which word is the underlined vowel pronounced like the "e" in “equal”? enter, even, elbow, exit
• Which word contains the same vowel sound as the underlined vowel in “Republic”? focus, ambiguous, multiple, ensure.
• In which word is the letter "u" pronounced the same as in “cut”? pull, push, huge, hug.
• In which word are the underlined letters pronounced differently? beast, breath, head, healthcare

LET´S PRACTICE!

• In which word are the underlined letters pronounced differently? field /ˈfiːld/, feel /ˈfiːl/, fill /ˈfɪl/, feast /ˈfiːst/.
• In which word is the underlined vowel pronounced differently? Asia /ˈeɪʒə/, pharmacist /ˈfɑːrməsɪst/, vegetable /ˈvɛdʒtəbəl/, character /ˈkɑːrɪktər/.

• In which word does the underlined vowel sound like the “a” in “cat”? part /ˈpɑːrt/, ankle /ˈæŋkəl/, bath /ˈbɑːθ/, fall /ˈfɔːl/.