The correct pronunciation of vowels in English can be complicated, but there are some more rules that can help. Let’s start this page by looking at 3 important points you need to know:
1. Vowels and consonants
You probably already know this, but just to be sure, the 26 letters of the English alphabet are made up of 21 consonants and 5 vowels. The vowels are the letters A, E I, O and U.
2. Short and long vowels
In English, vowels can be both short and long. Here are some examples
| A | E | I | O | U | |
| SHORT | HAT | HEN | TIM | GOT | BUT |
| LONG | HATE | HE | TIME | GO | MUTE |
3. Open and closed syllables
Every word in English is built up of syllables. For example, football is 2 syllables – foot and ball. On open syllable is a syllable that ends with a vowel, and a closed syllable ends in a consonant.
Examples of open syllables: me, he, babies (ba+bies)
Examples of closed syllables: cat, sat, spelling (spell+ing)
So how does this information help with pronunciation?
If you can take a longer, more difficult word and break it into syllables, this will help with spelling and pronunciation. Here are some example:
Word: Motivation
Syllables: MO + TIV + A + TION
Short or long vowel sound: we can see that the first syllable is open (it ends with a vowel), so should be a long vowel sound
Word: Operation
Syllables: OP+ ER + A + TION
Short or long vowel sound: we can see that the first syllable is closed (it ends with a consonant), so should be a short vowel sound
So how does this information help with spelling?
You can also use these techniques to help you with spelling. Here’s a simple example:
KITTEN
If you were having problems trying to spell the word, just think to yourself “Is the vowel sound short or long?” In this case, it is a short vowel sound (kitten, not kiiiitten). That tells you that is a closed syllable ending with a consonant, so must have T at the end of the syllable. That should then lead you to know that it should be spelled KIT – TEN
We hope these tips for better pronunciation help!