Difference Between Long and Short Vowels

There are five vowels in the English language. They are a, e, i, o, u. These vowels can represent a variety of sounds. The length and the sound of a vowel can change according to its position in a word and the pronunciation of that word. Vowels can be classified into long and short vowels based on their length. The main difference between long and short vowels is that long vowels have a long sound whereas short vowels have a short sound.

What are Long Vowels

A long vowel has a long sound. A long vowel sounds like the name of its vowel. For example, the letter ‘a’ in aim is pronounced as /ā/, or “ayy. The five long vowel sounds in the English language are

‘a’ as in name

‘e’ as in eat

‘i’ as in wine

‘o’ as in go

‘u’ as in human

Given below are some words that contain long vowel sounds.

A: ape,lake, name, date, rain

E: deep, heed, eat, feet, feel

I: wine, bite, hide, kite, ice,

O: oak, boat, long, soak, hope

U: mule, fuse, unite, cube

What are Short Vowels

Short vowels are the opposite of long vowels; they produce a short vowel sound. A short vowel sound is produced when the vowel in a syllable is followed by a consonant. This type of syllable is called a closed syllable. Thus, short vowels are caused by closed syllables. Unlike in long vowels, the vowel sound of short vowels is not similar to the name of the vowel. The five short vowel sounds in the English language are,

‘a’ as in fat

‘e’ as in nest

‘i’ as in win

‘o’ as in cot

‘u’ as in cup

Given below are some words that contain short vowel sounds.

A: cat, at, hat, mat, axe, apple, sack

E: set, edge, deck, head, bed, echo

I: bird, panic, pig, tin, bit, hid, ginger

O: hop, sock, ostrich, mop, mock

U: mud, fuss, blunder, up, ugly, under