Long and short vowel sound

Long versus Short Vowels

Look at the words 'bug' and 'bugle. ' How are they similar? How are they different?

The words are similar because they both include the letters B, U, and G. The way the U sounds in each word is different. Why is this the case? Vowels can be used in words to make more than one sound. These sounds are described as 'long' and 'short.'

Long Vowels

A long vowel sounds like the name of the letter. For example, a 'long A' sounds like the letter A. A 'long E' sounds like the letter E. So when does a vowel make a 'long vowel' sound? This usually happens one of two ways:

The first way to make a long vowel sound is to put two vowels next to each other. When two vowels appear next to each other, the word usually makes a long sound of the first vowel. This is the case in words like 'bead,' 'seed,' 'mail,' and 'boat.' Notice how the word 'bead' makes the long E sound and the word 'mail' makes the long A sound.

The second way to make a long vowel sound is to place an E at the end of a word. Placing an E at the end of a word also creates a long vowel sound. This happens in words like 'bake,' 'bike,' 'mote,' 'mute.'

Notice how the word 'mute' makes the long 'U' sound and the word 'bike' makes the long 'I' sound.

Short Vowels

In many words, vowels do not make a long sound. They make a short vowel sound instead. How can you tell the difference? Finding short vowels is actually pretty easy: if it doesn't sound like any of the vowel letters, then you know it's a short vowel! Short vowels usually sound like the following:

• A = 'ah' as in 'apple'
• E = 'eh' as in 'egg'
• I = 'ih' as in 'insect'
• O = 'awe' as in 'bog'
• U = 'uh' as in 'tug'

Let's take another look at our example words from before: 'bug' and 'bugle.' Notice how the word 'bug' does not have the long U sound that the word 'bugle' does. The word 'bug' has a short vowel sound.

Using Long and Short Vowels Together

There are so many words in the English language that use more than one vowel. It's very common for words to have more than one long vowel sound, more than one short vowel sound, or both long and short vowel sounds together!

Examples of words with multiple long vowel sounds include:

• 'Betray,' which has a 'long E' and a 'long A' sound
• 'Behind,' which has a 'long E' and a 'long I'

Examples of words with multiple short vowels include:

• 'Coffin,' which includes the 'short O' and a 'short I'
• 'Backing,' which includes a 'short A' and a 'short I'
• 'Squishing,' which includes two 'short I' sounds

Examples of words that use long and short vowel sounds together are:

• 'Shaking,' which includes a 'long A' and a 'short I'
• 'Confide,' which includes a 'short O' and a 'long I'

Lesson Summary

The English alphabet includes five special letters called vowels. These letters are A, E, I, O, and U. Vowels can make both long and short sounds.

Long vowel sounds happen when the letter makes the actual sound of the letter; for example, when the letter A sounds like the letter A. Long vowels sounds are frequently made by placing two vowels together, like in the words 'maid' and 'feel.' Generally, these combinations make the sound of the first vowel listed in the word. For instance, 'maid' has a 'long A' sound instead of a 'long I' sound. Short vowel sounds happen when a letter in a word is not pronounced the way the letter sounds. For example, the letter 'U' in the word 'bug' makes an 'uh' sound.

Words can include a combination of more than one long vowel sound, like with the word 'betray'; more than one short vowel sound, like with the word 'sinking'; or a combination of long and short vowel sounds, like the word 'confide.'

Vowels at a Glance

• There are five vowels in the English language, and they can make long or short vowel sounds.
• Long vowel sounds sound like you are saying the letter itself.
• Short vowel sounds occur when the letter is not pronounced the way it sounds.
• Long vowel sounds are created by placing two vowels together or ending the word with an 'E.'
• Short vowel sounds happen when a vowel is placed next to a consonant.

Learning Outcomes

The video on long and short vowels could enhance your understanding as well as your ability to:

• List the vowels
• Understand what constitutes a long or short vowel sound
• Provide examples of words that feature long and short vowel sounds

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Long & Short Vowels: Sounds & Word Examples Review:

Vowel sounds in English can be pronounced as either 'short' or 'long.' Long vowels occur when a vowel 'sounds like its name'; that is, the full letter is pronounced in the word. For example in the word 'bake' the 'a' sounds like its name, in that it's pronounced as 'ay.' With a short vowel sound the opposite occurs; for example in the word 'pat' the 'a' is pronounced as 'ah,' so it does not 'sound like its name.' Often when a word has an 'e' on the end, the preceding vowel is pronounced as long, as in 'bake,' 'lake,' and 'pane.'

Practice:

In the following sentences determine whether the italicized word is pronounced as short or long, then write your answer.

1) The ice cubes are all over the floor

2) Uncle Pat made us all recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

3) The cake is delicious!

4) It's wonderful how many times you've won the championship.

5) Let's try to inflate the tires before we get to the garage.

6) The pigs are covered in mud, which makes them harder to catch.

7) Can we go to swim practice now?

8) The garland is strung across the ceiling.

9) Who knows the code for the gate?

10) I don't know if I'm willing to pay the price of fame.

Try Your Own:

Write two sentences in which you include at least one word with a short vowel sound and one with a long vowel sound.

Answer Key

1) Long
2) Long
3) Long
4) Short
5) Long
6) Short
7) Short
8) Short
9) Long
10) Long

For the 'Try Your Own' section, answers will vary. Below is a sample correct set of sentences:

The unicorn ('u', long) jumped ('u', short) over the fence.
My phone ('o', short) is the one with the red ('e', short) case.

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All About Short and Long Vowel Sounds for Preschoolers

Have you ever wondered or been asked by your child why ‘a’ in ‘cat’ and ‘cake’ sound different? Or why words like ‘cub’ and ‘cube’ are pronounced differently though their spellings are almost similar? Well, you are not alone!

The sounds of the letters of the English alphabet can vary quite a bit. In some cases, it can get tricky. Not all letters make the same sound in all words. Teaching preschoolers to read English can be challenging as the letters can make different sounds depending on how they are used. A case in point is the short and long vowel sounds for preschoolers. Read on to find out how your child can learn vowel sounds and recognize their differences.

Learning short and long vowel sounds- what are they?

Learning phonics sounds is getting to know all about all vowel and consonant sounds that make up the 26 letters of the English alphabet. Each of the 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) can make at least 2 sounds. For example, the vowel ‘a’ sounds different in ‘cat’ and ‘cake’. How we spell with vowels does not always determine the sound it makes. 

Each vowel makes two sounds- a short sound and a long sound. In some cases, they can be silent too! When a vowel makes the sound of a particular letter, then it is a short sound. However, when the vowel sounds like the letter’s name, then it makes a long sound. The sound the vowel makes depends on its position in the word and the letters that surround it. 

For example:- the ‘a’ in ‘fat’ and ‘e’ in ‘bed’ make short vowel sounds. While in ‘fate’ and ‘wheat’ they make the long vowel sounds. 

So, based on where and the vowel is placed in a word, its length and sound can change. When teaching preschoolers to read, you must help them understand the rules for what sound the vowels make in different instances. Yes, short and long vowel sounds for kids can be confusing at times. However, regular practice with them to recognize the distinctions will help.

Rules to bear in mind while learning short and long vowel sounds

Here are some basic rules to help you introduce short and long vowel words for preschoolers. Do remember that rules have exceptions too.

Rule No.

Vowel Position

Vowel Sound

Examples

1.

When a word has only one vowel and ends with a consonant

Vowel makes a short sound

‘a’ in ‘jam’

‘e’ in ‘west’

‘o’ in ‘hot’

‘i’ in ‘fish’

‘u’ in ‘cup’

2.

When a word has two vowels separated by two or more letters

The first vowel makes a short sound

as in ‘apple’

as in ‘octopus’

as in ‘basket’

as in ‘elephant’

as in ‘umbrella’

3.

When a word ends with the letter ‘e’ (magic ‘e’/ silent ‘e’)

The first vowel makes a long sound

‘cap’ becomes ‘cape’

‘kit’ becomes ‘kite’

‘tub’ becomes ‘tube’ 

as in ‘game’

as in ‘time’

4.

When a word has two vowels walking together the first one does 

the talking

The first vowel makes a long sound

The second vowel remains silent

as in ‘tie’

as in ‘boat’

as in ‘rain’

as in ‘value’

as in ‘feet’

Here's a long and short vowel sounds list: few more examples

Vowel

Short Vowel

Long Vowel

Aa

‘fat’, ‘map’, ‘hand’, ‘lamp’, ‘glass’

‘fate’, ‘pain’, ‘game’, ‘mail’, ‘whale’

Ee

‘egg’, ‘red’, ‘nest’, ‘bell’, ‘smell’

‘ear’, ‘sea’, ‘heal’, ‘weak’, ‘three’

Ii

‘pig’, ‘rib’, ‘fist’, ‘milk’, ‘swim’

‘hide’, ‘tile’, ‘lime’, ‘wipe’, ‘prize’

Oo

‘fox’, ‘hop’, ‘rod’, ‘drop’, ‘pond’

‘road’, ‘goat’, ‘bone’, ‘note’, ‘roast’

Uu

‘bud’, ‘gun’, ‘hug’, ‘dump’, ‘puff’

‘rule’, ‘true’, ‘dune’, ‘flute’, ‘fruit

Ways to teach short and long vowel soundsHere are some simple long and short vowel activities to introduce and practice the vowel sounds with your kids.

1. Fun with Songs

Learning the different vowel sounds can be more fun with songs. They are one of the best ways to teach short and long vowel sounds, as their catchy rhythms can help kids learn vowel sounds and remember them easily. Check out Kutuki’s ‘Short and Long Vowel Song’ . This song is great for kids learning short and long vowel sounds.

For more such fun and engaging songs, download the Kutuki kids learning app now!

2. Use hand motions or movements

Use simple gestures for every vowel. This can help kids associate the vowels with the motions and the sound they are making. In addition to working on their muscle memory, the kinesthetic activity makes learning more engaging for kids. For instance, have your child bend their knees when they hear a short vowel sound. For a long vowel sound, ask them to jump up and clap. 

3. Mark the vowels

It is useful to place a mark on top of the vowels. It indicates the vowel sound to be used. For instance, a short vowel sound is indicated by a curved symbol above the vowel-like ‘ă’ in ‘măn’. While a long vowel sound is represented by a small horizontal line above it, like ‘ā’ in ‘māin’. Such symbols will reinforce your kid’s ability to recognize and use the appropriate vowel sound effectively. 

4. Create Practice Sheets

Have your child practice the short and long vowel sounds using activity sheets. These help kids recognize, understand, and distinguish words with a long vowel sound from those with a short vowel sound.

Please Note: These worksheets are subject to copyright. They are exclusively available only for students enrolled in Kutuki’s Phonics Program. 

Kutuki’s Live Phonics Program has an extensive collection of such worksheets. For instance, one such activity has kids circle given pictures that match the vowel sound. While another, have them add magic ‘e’ to the given word and match the word with the right image.

These are just a few activities to help you get started with short and long vowel sounds for preschoolers. If your child is struggling to learn vowel sounds, do not stress or overwhelm the child about it. Remember, every child learns at their own pace!

If you are looking for expert guidance on phonics for your child, enroll in Kutuki’s Live Phonics Program today. 1000s of students have become active readers. Your child could too! The Kutuki kids learning app offers interactive stories, engaging rhymes, and games with attractive animations and illustrations to meet the learning needs of preschoolers

Long and short vowels in English

Longitude is one of the characteristics of a vowel sound, which shows the relative duration of its sound compared to other sounds.

Longitude can be positional and phonemic. In the first case, the duration of the vowel depends on the position in the word and stress, while this characteristic does not affect the meaning. The phonemic length of a vowel has a semantic function, that is, depending on the length of the sound, the meaning of the word changes.

In Russian, the length of vowel sounds does not affect the meaning of words and changes only depending on stress. In English, vowels differ not only in positional but also in phonemic length. This means that long and short sounds, similar in other characteristics, represent different phonemes. Words that differ only in these phonemes have different meanings: ship - sheep , fit - feet , pull - pool . Therefore, it is so important to pronounce long and short sounds correctly.

In transcription, long vowels are indicated with a colon: [i:], [α:], [ɔ:], [u:], [ә:]. In some cases, long vowels in an unstressed position are reduced and become semi-long, which in transcription is indicated by one dot from above: [α ].

The long vowels listed above are opposed to short vowels, forming the following pairs in English:

• [i:] - [ı]
• [uː] - [u]
• [ɔ:] - [ɒ]
• [α:] - [ʌ]
• [ә:] - [ə]

The pronunciation of long and short English vowels often causes difficulties for Russian learners of English, since in Russian vowels do not have phonemic longitude, and we are not used to distinguishing the length of a vowel sound by ear. We often do not hear the difference between long and short vowels when listening to English speech. It is still not clear how long you need to draw a sound when speaking, so very unnatural, or almost inaudible, or too long vowels are obtained. It is impossible to correctly pronounce short and long sounds so that a native speaker hears the difference, even if you diligently shorten short vowels and stretch out long ones.

Sometimes it seems that native speakers themselves do not know the difference between short and long sounds, they seem to pronounce them the same way - but they themselves understand each other. But it's not. Let's see what are the differences between long and short English vowels, how to learn to hear them and how to train their pronunciation.

It is logical to assume that if vowels are called long or short, they differ in sound length. This is the main difference between them, but not the only one. It is important to understand that long and short sounds have other differences, which consist in articulatory features. This means that the sounds are not just of different lengths, they are also different in sound. And most often it is these articulatory features that determine the length of the vowel sound: the duration of the sound depends on the position of the tongue and the tension of the vocal apparatus.

Long and short English vowels differ in such a characteristic as tension. Long vowels are tense, in English they are also called tense . When they are pronounced, the root of the tongue seems to be tense, under tension. The sound is pronounced, bright, rich, clear.

Short vowels are called lax – relaxed. The tongue in the region of the root is relaxed, the vowel sound is articulated quickly, easily, without additional effort, as if bursting. It turns out short, inconspicuous, faded and fuzzy.

Qualitative differences in sounds in different pairs of English vowels range from pronounced to almost imperceptible. It is easy to notice the difference between long and short sounds a: pay attention to how the words cart and cut are pronounced, they differ not only in duration, but also in sound. But the differences between long and short u are almost imperceptible: pool and pull sound very similar, only slightly different in length. The Scots generally pronounce them the same way, differing only in context.

In addition, the duration of the pronunciation of vowels is also affected by positional longitude - for example, stressed or unstressed position in a word. As a result, a short vowel sound in one word may sound longer than a long sound in another word.

Thus, it is not enough to rely only on the subjective duration of a vowel sound. All the features of short and long vowels described above must be taken into account when learning English. It remains to understand how to master the pronunciation of long and short sounds in practice.

The main mistake foreigners make when pronouncing long and short English sounds is focusing only on duration. But with this approach, it is intuitively incomprehensible where the boundary between a long and a short sound passes: you can’t measure the length of a sound with a stopwatch. When trying to artificially lengthen or shorten a vowel, the sounds are unnaturally short or drawn out.

To learn how to pronounce long and short English sounds, you need to forget about the usual terminology "long" and "short". Try not to think about the duration of the sound at all. To correctly pronounce long and short vowels, you need to focus on their articulation, and not on duration. If we correctly reproduce the pronunciation of the vowel, then the duration will turn out to be correct automatically. Remember that long vowels require more tension at the root of the tongue, while short ones are pronounced without additional effort, easily and without tension.

Pay attention to how native speakers pronounce vowels - don't watch how long they draw them out, but watch the pronunciation, the articulation, the quality of the sound. Repeat, imitate, practice. For practice, it is best to use video lessons or a conversation with a native speaker, since audio materials do not make it possible to see articulation.

It is best to train long and short sounds not separately, but as part of words. First, this way you will note the influence of positional longitude on the duration of the sound in specific examples. Secondly, just as words are best learned in context, sounds are also best learned in the environment.

Practice pronunciation of long and short vowels in pairs of words to notice the difference between sounds, for example:

• Sport – hot
• Arm-cut
• See-hit
• Food-put
• Fur – ago

When you learn how to pronounce long and short vowels correctly in English, it will become easy to distinguish between them in speech. When listening to speech, forget about the differences in duration, pay attention to the qualitative differences in sounds - how intensely the vowel is pronounced, how bright or faded it sounds, how pairs of sounds differ from each other, except for duration.

English vowels

Short vowels ( Short vowels ) in English in transcription are indicated as follows:

box

dog [dͻg]dog

pig[pig]pig

Long vowels ( Long vowels ) in English in transcription are indicated as follows:

horse [hͻ:s] horse

keep [ki:p]keep

steal[sti:l]steal

To convey longitude in transcription, a colon is placed after the sound, as in the examples.

Consider the first short sound [i] . Pronounced like a Russian sound [and] . Pronounce this sound briefly.

Now try to read it yourself

dig [dig] dig- shovel

brik [brik]brik - brick

skip [skip] skip - jump

Read and compare short and long sounds

still [stil]still - steal [sti:l]steal

be [bi]be - bee [bi:]bee

ship [ship]ship- sheep [shi:p]sheep

Now a short vowel sound [ӕ] . Pronounced like a Russian sound [e] .

Now try to read this sound yourself:

snack [snӕk] snack

map [mӕp] map

manager [mӕnidʒə] manager

Sound [e] .

Try to pronounce the sound [e] yourself

metal [`metl]metal

seldom [`seldəm]seldom - rarely

belt [belt]

Let's move on to a short sound [ə]

Sound [ə] in English is called schwa is a neutral sound. This sound is unstressed and practically unpronounceable, it is found in many English words.

Example:

burglar [`bз:glə]burglar - thief

advance [əd`va:ns] advance

master [`ma:stə]master

Consider the example a cup of tea . In this example, the article a and the preposition of are the neutral sound schwa .

[ə`kʌpə ti:]

Hence the name cuppa - a cup of tea.

Now consider the short sound [ʊ]

Let's try to read this sound on our own

book [buk] book - book

cook [kuk]cook

took [tuk]took - took

Next sound [ʌ] .

Try to read the sound yourself [ʌ]

[dʌv] Dove- dove

[dʒʌmp] jump

[wʌn] one

Last sound [ɒ]

Trying to pronounce this sound ourselves

odds [ɒdz]odds-opportunities

office [`ɒfis] office

off [ɒf]off

We now know how to pronounce short vowels correctly. Do not forget that in order to pronounce sounds correctly, you need to listen to the speech of native speakers more often. Watch movies, instructional videos, listen to songs. Phonetics in English is an integral part of the language, as well as grammar. If you know the rules of grammar perfectly, but don't pronounce the words well, you will not be understood.

The main thing is to pronounce words clearly and correctly. You must understand that in English there are a huge number of words that are similar in spelling, but they are pronounced differently. For example, the words ship - ship and sheep - sheep. The spelling is a bit similar for these words, but what about the pronunciation? Let's look at the transcription of the words: ship [ʃ i p] and sheep [ʃ i: p] . The first word has a short vowel, and the second has a long vowel. If you pronounce these words incorrectly, for example, the first word with a long vowel, and the second with a short one, then you will not be understood correctly, you may even put yourself in a stupid position. That is why it is necessary to study the phonetics of the language.

Let me give you another example. In the English language, intonation is very important when you ask: How are you? How are you? You should ask with a high intonation, if you say with a low intonation, the interlocutor will think that you are a very angry and aggressive person. In order not to frighten the interlocutors, study the rules of intonation.

Now we will analyze long vowels ( Long vowels ).

Consider the first long vowel [i:] .

Now we know how to pronounce these sounds correctly. Let's try to read words with a long vowel [i:] on our own:

precede [pri`si:d]precede

secretive [`si:krətiv] secretive

negro [`ni:grəʊ]negro

tease [ti:z] tease

uneasily [ʌn`i:zili]uneasily-not easy

speed [spi:d]speed

queen [kwi:n]queen

premium [`pri:miəm] premium

Next, consider the sound [ɜ:] .

Let's try to pronounce words with this sound on our own:

reserve [ri`zɜ: v] reserve

reserve [`sɜ: fis] reserve- surface

survey [`sɜ:vei] survey

versus [`vɜ:səs]versus - in comparison with

worker [`wɜ:kə] worker

worst [wɜ:st]worst - worst

sunburn [`sunbɜ:n]sunburn - sunburn

Consider the long vowel [ a: ] .

Let's try it ourselves:

hard [ha:d]hard - hard

enchant [in`tʃa:nt]enchant - enchant

spark [`spa:k]spark

laughter [`la: ftə] laughter - laughter

raft [ra:ft]raft - raft

Long vowel [u:] .

Now we can pronounce words with this sound ourselves. We try:

schoolmate [`sku:lmeit]schoolmate - classmate

suit [sju: t] suit

new [nju:]new

numeral [`nju:mərəl]numeral - numeral

The next sound is [ ͻ:] .

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