What is a short vowel sound word examples

The English vowels are A, E, I, O, & U. (Sometimes Y is a vowel, pronounced as if it were I. Sometimes W substitutes for U, especially in the digraph 'ow.') Each vowel can be pronounced in several ways.This page explains when each sound is commonly used.

(Most of this information applies to English in general, though the exact sounds differ slightly. For vowel digraphs & R-controlled vowels, I'm describing general American English, That's what the video demonstrates. British & Australian forms can be quite different, so the IPA symbols may also vary.)

Use these links to jump to a section lower down on the page:

• Long vowels

• Examples comparing long and short vowels (and showing the effect of the silent 'e')

• Other Vowel sounds (including those affected by a following 'R')

• More information on vowel sounds & spellings.

Short Vowels

 The most common sound for each vowel is its “short” sound:

•  ă, pronounced /æ/ as in apple, pan, or mat,

•  ĕ, pronounced /ɛ/ as in elephant, pen, or met,

•  ĭ, pronounced /ɪ/ as in insect, pin, or mitt,

•  ŏ, pronounced /ɑ/ as in octopus, ostrich, upon, or motto,

•  and ŭ, pronounced /ʌ/ as in umbrella, pun, or mutt.

(The International Phonetic Alphabet symbol for each sound is inside the backslashes://. You do not need to understand the IPA symbols; just look for an example word you know how to pronounce. For those who want more, this Wikipedia article gives a fairly simple demonstration of the IPA as used in English. It links to more detailed information.)

We call these vowel sounds "short," but they are not all spoken more quickly than the "long" sounds. However, it's important to learn to pronounce these five sounds, because each is the most common sound for its letter. The main rules for when to use them and when to use "long" vowel sounds apply to all five of them.

When syllables end in a vowel and then consonant (as in the examples above), the vowel is usually short. If the vowel is followed by more than one consonant, it is almost always short.

This becomes important as a way to keep the same vowel sound when adding -ed to put a verb into the past tense. We often double an ending consonant to keep a short vowel short. For example, the past tense of 'stop' is 'stopped.' Otherwise the silent 'e' rule below (which also applies when followed by 'ed') would give it a long 'o' sound like soap or hope. See the Simple Past Tense explanation of spelling changes.

Long Vowels

The alphabet sounds (when the vowel “says its name”) are called “long vowels.”

We call them ‘long’ because we hold them slightly longer than the short sounds. 

However, they are completely different sounds-- not a longer version of the same sound.

• Long A (ā), pronounced /eɪ/ as in late or mate,

• Long E (ē), pronounced /iː/ as in eat or meat (or meet or mete-- all pronounced the same),

• Long I (ī), pronounced /aɪ/ as in mite or might,

• Long O (ō), pronounced /oʊ/ as in oats, mote or moat, and

• Long U (ū), pronounced /juː/ as in mute or /uː/ as in blue.

Silent ‘E’ Rule: When a vowel and single consonant are followed by an ‘e’ (in the same syllable), the ‘e’ is almost always silent, but it causes the preceding vowel to be long. (Examples: ate, plane, Pete, bite, nine, rope, note, cube, flute.)

There are just a few exceptions, most involving a 've' or an 'ne': above, dove (the bird), give, have, live (the verb), love, move, prove, solve, etc. A few others: are, come, done, gone, none, and one, as well as the 'I' in office.

Those words are common, but many more words ending -ve, -one, & -ice are long: cove, dive, dove (the past tense), drive, drove, five, gave, grove, hive, knives, live (the adjective), pave, revive, save, stove, strive, survive, thrive; alone, bone, cone, phone, stone, tone; & advice, dice, ice, nice, price, rice, etc.

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’ (sometimes-- see Digraphs, below), ‘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.

However, there are many exceptions. (See the link to English Vowel Digraphs, at the bottom of this page, for the most common ones.)

Listen to Some Words with Short &&lt;p&gt;Here's a demonstration of words mentioned above-- &amp;amp; more.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;iframe data-ezsrc="https://player.vimeo.com/video/532775712?badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479" width="1052" height="720" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen title="Short &amp;amp; Long English Vowels.mp4" class="ezlazyload"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;h2 id="examples" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:28px"&gt;&lt;span id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-106" class="ezoic-adpicker-ad"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ezoic-ad ezoic-at-1 link-h-large-1 link-h-large-1106 adtester-container adtester-container-106" data-ez-name="englishhints_com-link-h-large-1"&gt;&lt;div id="englishhints_com-link-h-large-1" class="ezo_link_unit_a"&gt;&lt;ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:728px;height:15px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3477395195786642" data-ad-slot="1935928274" data-ad-channel="3563924468"&gt;&lt;/ins&gt;&lt;script&gt;(adsbygoogle=window.adsbygoogle||[]).push({});</h2></div>Common Examples: Short and Long Vowels<p><span style="font-size:17.666667938232422px">These contrasts demonstrate the rules (in each column, first short, then long)<b>:</b></span></p><div class="desktopOnly"><div style="overflow-x:auto"><table class="columns_block grid_block" border="0" style="width:100%"><tbody><tr><td class="column_0" style="width:50%;vertical-align:top"><div style="overflow-x:auto"><table class="columns_block grid_block" border="0" style="width:100%"><tbody><tr><td class="column_0" style="width:50%;vertical-align:top"><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:">A: short</span></b></p><p><b></b></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">back</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">snack</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">fad</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">mad</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">Sam</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:">E: short</span></b></p><p><b></b></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">bed</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">Ben</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">men</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">ten</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:">I: short</span></b></p><p><b></b></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">lick</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">hid</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">slid</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">dim</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">Tim</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:">O: short</span></b></p><p><b></b></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">rob</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">hop</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">mop</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:">U: short</span></b></p><p><b></b></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">cub</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">tub</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">hug</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><td class="column_1" style="width:50%;vertical-align:top"><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:">A: long</span></b></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">bake</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">snake</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">fade</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">made/maid</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">same</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:">E: long</span></b></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">bead</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">bean</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">mean</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">teen</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:">I: long</span></b></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">like</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">hide</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">slide</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">dime</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">time</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:">O: long</span></b></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">robe</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">hope</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">mope</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:">U: long</span></b></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">cube</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">tube</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family:">huge</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p></td></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td><td class="column_1" style="width:50%;vertical-align:top"><div style="overflow-x:auto"><table class="columns_block grid_block" border="0" style="width:100%"><tbody><tr><td class="column_0" style="width:50%;vertical-align:top"><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">A: short</span></b></p><p><b></b></p><p>can</p><p>plan</p><p></p><p>tap</p><p>cat</p><p>rat</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">E: short</span></b></p><p>bet</p><p>met</p><p>pet</p><p>set</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">I: short</span></b></p><p>fin</p><p>shin</p><p>bit</p><p>lit</p><p>sit</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">O: short</span></b></p><p>cot</p><p>not</p><p>rot</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">U: short</span></b></p><p>cut</p><p>flutter</p><p>mutter</p><p><td class="column_1" style="width:50%;vertical-align:top"><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">A: long</span></b></p><p>cane</p><p>plain/plane</p><p></p><p>tape</p><p>Kate</p><p>rate</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">E: long</span></b></p><p>beat/beet</p><p>mete/meat/meet</p><p>Pete</p><p>seat</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">I: long</span></b></p><p>fine</p><p>shine</p><p>bite</p><p>light/lite</p><p>sight/site</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">O: long</span></b></p><p>coat</p><p>note</p>rote/wrote<p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">U: long</span></b></p><p>cute</p><p>flute</p><p>mute</p><p></p></td></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="mobileOnly"><div style="overflow-x:auto"><table class="columns_block grid_block" border="0" style="width:100%"><tbody><tr><td class="column_0" style="width:50%;vertical-align:top"><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">A: short</span></b></p><p>back</p><p>snack</p><p>fad</p><p>mad</p><p>Sam</p><p>can</p><p>plan</p><p>tap</p><p>at</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">E: short</span></b></p><p>bed</p><p>Ben</p><p>men</p><p>ten</p><p>bet</p><p>set</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">I: short</span></b></p><p>lick</p><p>hid</p><p>slid</p><p>dim</p><p>fin</p><p>lit</p><p>sit</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">O: short</span></b></p><p>rob</p><p>hop</p><p>mop</p><p>cot</p><p>not</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">U: short</span></b></p><p>cub</p><p>tub</p><p>hug</p><p>cut<td class="column_1" style="width:50%;vertical-align:top"><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">A: long</span></b></p><p>bake</p><p>snake</p><p>fade</p><p>made/maid</p><p>same</p><p>cane</p><p>plain/plane</p><p>tape</p><p>ate</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">E: long</span></b></p><p>bead</p><p>bean</p><p>mean</p><p>teen</p><p>beat/beet</p><p>seat</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">I: long</span></b></p><p>like</p><p>hide</p><p>slide</p><p>dime</p><p>fine</p><p>light/lite</p><p>sight/site</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">O: long</span></b></p><p>robe</p><p>hope</p><p>mope</p><p>coat</p><p>note</p><p><b><span style="font-size:14pt">U: long</span></b></p><p>cube</p><p>tube</p><p>huge</p><p>cute</p></td></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><h2 id="other" style="text-align:center"><span id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-119" class="ezoic-adpicker-ad"></span><span class="ezoic-ad ezoic-at-0 large-mobile-banner-2 large-mobile-banner-2119 adtester-container adtester-container-119" data-ez-name="englishhints_com-large-mobile-banner-2"><span class="ezoic-ad-disclosure" style="font-size:12px;padding-bottom:2px;display:block;text-align:center;line-height:15px">Advertisement</span><span id="div-gpt-ad-englishhints_com-large-mobile-banner-2-0" ezaw="300" ezah="250" style="position:relative;z-index:0;display:inline-block;padding:0;width:100%;max-width:1200px;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;min-height:250px;min-width:300px" class="ezoic-ad"><script data-ezscrex="false" data-cfasync="false" style="display:none">if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'englishhints_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_9',119,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-englishhints_com-large-mobile-banner-2-0');Other English Vowel Sounds &lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:17.6667px"&gt;Besides the long and short sounds, there are other sounds English vowels can make.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-124" class="ezoic-adpicker-ad"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ezoic-ad ezoic-at-0 banner-1 banner-1124 adtester-container adtester-container-124" data-ez-name="englishhints_com-banner-1"&gt;&lt;span id="div-gpt-ad-englishhints_com-banner-1-0" ezaw="250" ezah="250" style="position:relative;z-index:0;display:inline-block;padding:0;width:100%;max-width:1200px;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto !important;min-height:250px;min-width:250px" class="ezoic-ad"&gt;&lt;script data-ezscrex="false" data-cfasync="false" style="display:none"&gt;if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'englishhints_com-banner-1','ezslot_10',124,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-englishhints_com-banner-1-0');<p></p><p><span style="font-size:17.6667px"><span style="font-size:20px;color:#000"><b>Many vowels in</b> <b>unaccented syllables have a neutral or “schwa”&nbsp;</b><b>/ə/ sound.</b></span>&nbsp;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.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:17.6667px">In the U.S., this is very close to the short 'U' sound. I can't hear the difference, except that the vowels are often harder to hear at all in unaccented syllables.</span><span id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-111" class="ezoic-adpicker-ad"></span></p><h3>Vowel Digraphs</h3><div class="ImageBlock ImageBlockLeft"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.englishhints.com/vowel-digraphs.html" title="Go to English Vowel Digraphs"><img width="250" height="250" alt="can you pronounce these words with OU?... Different words with OU, including (pictured) house, mountain, dough, & double (ice cream cone)" title="Vowel Digraphs: Vowel Sounds Written with 2 letters (for example, OU)" data-pin-media="https://www.englishhints.com/images/img-link-vowel-digraphs-min.jpg" style="width:250px;height:auto" ezimgfmt="rs rscb2 src ng ngcb2" class="ezlazyload" data-ezsrc="https://www.englishhints.com/images/img-link-vowel-digraphs-min.jpg"></a></div><p><span style="font-size:20px"><b>Two vowels written together</b></span><span style="font-size:17.6667px">&nbsp;(digraphs) may be a diphthong, combining the two sounds, (like the oi/oy in boy, point, or ointment).</span></p><p><span style="font-size:17.6667px">They may instead be pronounced in various other ways, depending on the combination.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:17.6667px">Some (like ai or ay, ea, ee, or oa), use the long (or in a few cases the short) sounds above.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:17.6667px">Others (au/aw, oo, and ou or ow) may use these sounds <b>or others</b>.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size:17.6667px">See&nbsp;</span><a target="_blank" style="font-size:17.6667px" href="https://www.englishhints.com/vowel-digraphs.html">Vowel Digraphs</a><span style="font-size:17.6667px">&nbsp;for a full explanation.&nbsp;</span></p><h3>R-Controlled Vowels</h3><div class="ImageBlock ImageBlockRight"><img width="400" height="600" alt="8 boxes with spellings for one sound: 4 give its possible letter combinations: EAR, ER, EUR/ IR (+ a picture of a bird with a worm)/ OR & OUR/ & UR, paired with 4 boxes with words for each spelling." title="7 Spellings for 1 Sound: /ɜr/" data-pin-media="https://www.englishhints.com/images/er-ir-ur-4-eng-vowels-sm-min.png" style="width:400px;height:auto" ezimgfmt="rs rscb2 src ng ngcb2" class="ezlazyload" data-ezsrc="https://www.englishhints.com/images/er-ir-ur-4-eng-vowels-sm-min.png"></div><p><span style="font-size:21px">if a&nbsp;<b>vowel comes before R</b></span><span style="font-size:17.6667px">, it changes in quality, and is neither long nor short. (ER, IR, and UR are often -- though not always--the same sound.)</span><br><span id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-164" class="ezoic-adpicker-ad"></span><span class="ezoic-ad ezoic-at-0 box-3 box-3164 adtester-container adtester-container-164" data-ez-name="englishhints_com-box-3"><span id="div-gpt-ad-englishhints_com-box-3-0" ezaw="300" ezah="250" style="position:relative;z-index:0;display:inline-block;padding:0;min-height:250px;min-width:300px" class="ezoic-ad"><script data-ezscrex="false" data-cfasync="false" style="display:none">var cid='5926310027';var pid='ca-pub-3477395195786642';var slotId='div-gpt-ad-englishhints_com-box-3-0';var ffid=1;var alS=1002%1000;var container=document.getElementById(slotId);container.style.width='100%';var ins=document.createElement('ins');ins.id=slotId+'-asloaded';ins.className='adsbygoogle ezasloaded';ins.dataset.adClient=pid;ins.dataset.adChannel=cid;if(ffid==2){ins.dataset.fullWidthResponsive='true';} ins.style.display='block';ins.style.minWidth=container.attributes.ezaw.value+'px';ins.style.width='100%';ins.style.height=container.attributes.ezah.value+'px';container.appendChild(ins);(adsbygoogle=window.adsbygoogle||[]).push({});window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId,'stat_source_id',44);window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId,'adsensetype',1);var lo=new MutationObserver(window.ezaslEvent);lo.observe(document.getElementById(slotId+'-asloaded'),{attributes:true});Examples with phonetic symbols:/ɑr/ -- arm, car, charge, dark, farm, start/ɛər/-- air, aware, bare/bear, hair, spare, tear (pull apart paper or fabric), there, very, where/ɪər/-- beer, ear, hear/here, near, tear (from crying)/ɜr/ -- curt, discern, first, fern, herd, hurt, earth, mirth, service, slur, whirl, worry, worth/ər/ -- baker, better, bigger, doctor, letter, smaller, summer/ɔr/ -- course, for (or four), important, more, north, or, source, war (or wore), your (or you're)

Exceptions, Dialects, &&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:17.6667px"&gt;Quite a few common words spelled with ‘O’ are pronounced with a short ‘U’ sound: of, love, money, other, some, son. (That means some and sum are homophones: they sound the same. So are son and sun.) See the course below for more examples and practice.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:17.6667px"&gt;Different English dialects pronounce certain vowels differently than the general rules given above.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:17.6667px"&gt;&amp;nbsp;For example, in&amp;nbsp; California and much of the U.S., the ‘a’ in ‘father’ or ‘want’ sounds like the ‘au’ in ‘audio’ or the short ‘o’ in ‘pot’ or ‘hot.’ In many other places that’s not true.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ate, the past tense of eat, is pronounced with a long 'a' (&lt;span style="font-weight:400"&gt;/eɪ/&lt;/span&gt;) in North America, but more often as 'et' (with a short 'e') in British English.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-126" class="ezoic-adpicker-ad"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:17.6667px"&gt;Another example: the&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;/ɜr/ in bird, burn, earth, etc. is generally pronounced /ər/ in the U.S. and some other areas.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Don't worry about these differences. English speakers can almost always understand people speaking other dialects of English. If you live in any area for a while, you'll be able to adjust to them-- and most are not&amp;nbsp;&lt;b&gt;very&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp;different.&lt;br&gt;&lt;span id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-109" class="ezoic-adpicker-ad"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:17.6667px"&gt;For the exact pronunciation of any English vowels, consult a good dictionary. Most list the sound symbols they use on one of the front pages. Good online dictionaries like the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/" onclick="return FIX.track(this);"&gt;Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;will let you listen to the pronunciation. (This dictionary gives both British and American pronunciations of each word.)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id="course" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:25px"&gt;Updated Course on English Vowel Sounds &amp;amp; Spellings&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Are you interested in learning more about the relationship between English vowel sounds and spellings?&amp;nbsp;&lt;span id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-173" class="ezoic-adpicker-ad"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="ezoic-ad ezoic-at-0 leader-4 leader-4173 adtester-container adtester-container-173" data-ez-name="englishhints_com-leader-4"&gt;&lt;span id="div-gpt-ad-englishhints_com-leader-4-0" ezaw="250" ezah="250" style="position:relative;z-index:0;display:inline-block;padding:0;width:100%;max-width:1200px;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;min-height:250px;min-width:250px" class="ezoic-ad"&gt;&lt;script data-ezscrex="false" data-cfasync="false" style="display:none"&gt;if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'englishhints_com-leader-4','ezslot_14',173,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-englishhints_com-leader-4-0');<p></p><p>There have been so many positive comments on this page that I designed a short course about it. I recently improved it and also added a section on words of more than one-syllable, especially some important academic words. Knowing which syllable to stress can make these words much simpler to pronounce (and to spell).&nbsp;</p><p>The course can help you recognize more of the words you know when you read them. It will also help you spell better and pronounce new words. Learn more and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.englishhints.com/vowels-in-english.html">sign up here</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>If there are certain things you especially want to learn about vowel sounds or spelling, you can also leave a comment or question in the box below.<br></p><form class="FormBlockCenter" method="post" id="formBuilderForm_2405174395011415_AA25F434_1346_11ED_B8CB_5B15AD33B17C" action="//www.englishhints.com/cgi-bin/fb/FormProcess.pl" onsubmit="return validateFormBuilderForm('2405174395011415_AA25F434_1346_11ED_B8CB_5B15AD33B17C',form_builder_fields_2405174395011415_AA25F434_1346_11ED_B8CB_5B15AD33B17C)" accept-charset="utf-8"><style>.form_builder_form_field_is_missing{color:red}</style><script type="text/ez-screx"> Questions or comments? Let me know!