Note – Since English is a non-phonetic language, these rules don’t work all the time. It means when a word or syllable ends with a consonant and there is only one vowel, the sound made is of a short vowel.Ģ) When a word ends with the vowel “e”, then it remains silent while pronouncing the word (do not read out loud), and the vowel that comes before it, is a long vowel.ģ) When two vowels appear next to each other in a Syllable, the second vowel is generally short and the first vowel is pronounced as a long vowel.Įxamples: boat, beat, leaf, pain, grow, true, beat, train, loadĤ) If a Vowel is followed by two Consonants at the end of a word, it is pronounced as a short vowel.ĥ) When a Vowel is a final letter in a Word (comes last), it is pronounced as a Long Vowel. Words are split into syllables Each syllable has one vowel sound and Syllables can have more than one letter.ġ) A Vowel is followed by a Consonant at the end of a word is pronounced as a short vowel. Syllables are naturally occurring sound units that create the rhythm of pronunciation.

Vowel sounds and Syllables have a direct impact on the pronunciation. Most Followed Rules for Vowel Pronunciation These are called non-phonetic words and needs to be memorized individually. Note – Apart from the aforementioned methods, the English language also has a large number of words that are not pronounced the way they are spelled. It uses the placement of consonants to force a short vowel sound. Short Vowel – A short vowel refers to the sounds when the vowel occurs individually between consonants. Long Vowel – A long vowel is pronounced in the same way as the name of the letter. Vowel sounds are basically divided into two categories: On the other hand, Consonant sounds are made by releasing air and needs the assistance of the tongue, lips or teeth. In all vowels, the flow of air is unobstructed at the time of pronouncing. The reason they are called vowels is because, you can pronounce it without obstructing the air to flow through the mouth.

English Letters ‘ a ‘, ‘ e ‘, ‘ i ‘, ‘ o ‘, ‘ u ‘are commonly known as vowels.

What makes a vowel a vowel