Pronouncing vowels: How and When to Use in English

Quick and simple lesson to help you understand grammar better.
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Pronouncing vowels

These are the vowels in English:

A

E

I

O

U

Notes:

  • There are also two letters that are considered consonants in most languages, but they have a vowel sound in English:

W : wow ; what

Y : fly ; try

  • Vowels actually vary in sound based on their position and the nearby letters. Listen to these sound differences for the same vowel:

A: mate ; cat

I: pin ; wine 

Exercise 1

Listen to the spelling of each word and complete it with the missing letters.

 

 

 

Listen to the spelling of each word and complete it with the missing letters.

  1

  2

  3

1 cake:

What you heard spelled out was cake , with the vowels a and e .

2 onion:

You heard the vowels o , i  and o again, which help to form the word onion .

3 about:

The word spelled out in the audio is about , which includes the vowels a , o and u . 

Exercise 2

Listen to the spelling of each word and complete it with the missing letters.

 

 

 

Listen to the spelling of each word and complete it with the missing letters.

  1

  2

  3

1 ice:

The word spelled out in the audio is ice , with the vowels i and e .

2 under:

What you heard spelled out was under , with the vowels u and e . 

3 goal:

The word spelled out here is goal  , with the vowels o and a .

Exercise 3

Listen to the spelling of each word and complete it with the missing letters.

 

 

Listen to the spelling of each word and complete it with the missing letters.

  1

  2

3

1 you:

The word spelled out in the audio is you , with the vowels o and u .

2 please:

The word you heard spelled out here was please  , with the vowels e , a and another e .

3 idea:

The word spelled out here is idea , with the vowels i , e and a .

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