Long and Short vowels in English

In this post, we will cover long and short vowels in English.

Long vowels definition

Long vowel sounds are pronounced like the letters of the alphabet. So, if you can pronounce a e i o u (as in abcdefg…) then you can pronounce long vowel sounds. We see these long vowels in words like ate, eat, bite, boat, and use.

They are called long vowel sounds because we hold them for longer than short sounds.

Short vowels definition

Short vowels do not sound like their letter in the alphabet. They are more common than long vowel sounds. We see short vowels in words like bat, red, fit, hot, and cut.

Short vowels in English

–   /æ/ as in apple, pan, or mat,

–    /ɛ/ as in elephant, pen, or met, 

–   /ɪ/ as in insect, pin, or mitt, 

–    /ɒ/ as in octopus, ostrich, upon, or motto, 

–    /ʌ/ as in umbrella, pun, or mutt.

Long vowels in English

–   /eɪ/ as in late or mate,

–    /iː/ as in eat or meat (or meet or mete-- all pronounced the same), 

–    /aɪ/ as in mite or might,

–    /oʊ/ as in oats, mote or moat, and 

–    /uː/ as in blue.

Video time

The following video contains a detailed explanation of the difference between long and short vowels. Please, watch it and practice with the presenter. 

Silent ‘E’ Rule

When a vowel and consonant are followed by an ‘e’, the ‘e’ is almost always silent, but it causes the preceding vowel to be a long one. Examples:

–   Ate            –   Plane        –   Pete        –   Bite        –   Nine

–   Rope          –   Note        –   Cube       –   Flute

Other Long Vowels

A vowel at the end of a syllable is almost always long. Examples: I, we, he, she, go, try, potato and tomato. (Some English speakers use a short ‘a’ in the 2nd syllable, while others use a long ‘a,’ but both ‘o’s are long for everyone.)

-igh and -ight are usually long I (and silent gh): bright, fight, high, light, might, night, right, sigh, sight, tight.

Often the first letter of the vowel combinations, especially ‘ai’, ‘ay’, ‘ea’, ‘ee’, & ‘oa,’ will be long & the second will be silent. (An old rhyme for children says “when 2 vowels go walking, the first does the talking.”) So ’plain’ sounds exactly like ‘plane,' ‘meat’ and ‘meet’ like ‘mete,’ etc.

Say aloud the given words to note the difference between long and short vowels.

A: short         A: long         A: short     A: long

back             bake                 can                 cane

snack             snake                 plan                 plain/plane

fad                     fade                 tap                 tape

mad                     made/maid         cat                 Kate /keɪt/

Sam                     same                 rat                 rate

E: short         E: long         E: short         E: long

Bed                     bead                 bet                     beat/beet

Ben                     bean                 met                     mete/meat/meet

men                     mean                 pet                     Pete

ten                     teen                 set                     seat

Common Examples: Short and Long Vowels

The Schwa

Any vowel in an unaccented syllable has a neutral or “schwa” /ə/ sound.

Examples: the ‘a’ in above, or approve, the ‘e’ in accident, camera or mathematics, the ‘i’ in family or officer, the ‘o’ in freedom or purpose, or the ‘u’ in industry or succeed.

Video time

Watch the following video about the Schwa and practice with the presenter.

Vowel comes before R

If a vowel comes before R, it changes in quality and is neither long nor short. (ER, IR, and UR are often -- though not always--the same sound.)

Examples with phonetic symbols:

1. /ɑr/ -- arm, car, charge, dark, farm, start
2. /ɛər/-- air, aware, bare/bear, hair, spare, tear (pull apart paper or fabric), there, very, where
3. /ɪər/-- beer, ear, hear/here, near, tear (from crying)
4. /ɜr/ -- bird, burn, first, fur, herd, earth, service, sir, third, thirty, turn, urgent, worse
5. /ər/ -- baker, better, bigger, doctor, letter, smaller, summer
6. /ɔr/ -- for, important, more, north, or

Practice time

Say aloud the coming words. Make sure to identify the difference between long and short vowels.

• Tin – teen
• Sin – seen
• Kip – keep
• Twit – tweet
• Shit – sheet
• Bitch – beach

Now, keep practicing with the following video.

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