A vowel is a sound we make with our mouth and vocal cords open, without touching our tongue to any other part of our mouth. In vowel sounds the air flows freely through our mouth (differently from consonants, in which we block the air with our tongue, lips, or teeth).
Vowels in English are represented by the letters A, E, I, O, and U. The letter Y is considered a “semivowel” because sometimes it represents a vowel sound, and sometimes it represents a consonant sound.
English vowels can be divided into two types: long vowels and short vowels. The difference between them is in the duration of their pronunciation. Long vowels are pronounced with an extended sound, while short vowels have a quicker sound.
Long vowel words
Let’s look at examples of words with each long vowel sound. You can practice your pronunciation of these long vowels by repeating after me.
Words with a long “A” sound
name
cake
made
late
tape
paper
baby
lady
favor
agent
amazing
radiant
vacation
behavior
patiently
Words with a long “E” sound
bee
see
key
tree
deep
legal
secret
fever
believe
repeat
completely
proceeding
Words with a long “I” sound
time
wine
ride
bike
ice
tiger
silent
arrive
entire
provide
denial
reliant
surviving
Words with a long “O” sound
rope
bone
note
home
woke
total
open
focus
broken
remote
global
emotion
Words with a long “U” sound
cute
use
June
rule
clue
student
human
refuse
computer
suitable
consumer
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Short vowel words
Now let’s try pronouncing words with short vowel sounds – listen and repeat after me!
Words with a short “A” sound
bag
cat
hat
map
black
apple
basket
traffic
average
habit
rapidly
talented
Words with a short “E” sound
bed
set
pen
mess
wet
lesson
present
never
better
special
remember
elephant
Words with a short “I” sound
hit
lip
pig
win
miss
dinner
ticket
sister
window
picture
visitor
chicken
Words with a short “O” sound
job
box
hot
lock
fog
doctor
option
problem
bottom
solid
modern
octopus
Words with a short “U” sound
cup
rug
sun
bus
nut
button
public
summer
tunnel
muddy
umbrella
Spelling of long and short vowels
Keep in mind that there are different ways of spelling these long and short vowel sounds!
Some of them are pretty consistent – for example, the short “a” sound is always represented by the letter “a.”
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Short vowel words
