Vowels
The five vowels are A, E, I, O, U. (The letter Y sometimes acts as a vowel, as in happy or gym.) Every other letter is a consonant.
Vowels are special because they make the main, open sound that lets us pronounce a word. Every English word contains at least one vowel.
Each vowel has a short sound and a long sound:
| Vowel | Short sound | Long sound |
|---|---|---|
| A | cat | cake |
| E | bed | he |
| I | sit | bike |
| O | hot | go |
| U | cup | blue |
Short vowels: apple, egg, ink, on, up
Long vowels: rain, tree, time, boat, music
A long vowel usually "says its own name" (the a in cake sounds like the letter A).
Common mistake: Learners often forget that a word must have a vowel. If you can't find A, E, I, O, U in a word, look for a Y doing the vowel's job (my, happy).
✏️ Test Yourself
1. sun
2. pen
3. rain
4. Is "y" a vowel in *happy*?
📒 Words to learn
“We come every day.”
“This is a cheek.”
“We go every day.”
“This is an eye.”
“This is a cup.”