A syllable is 'closed' if the vowel is followed by a consonant. In English, there is a closed syllable, and an open syllable. Here are some example words where the silent E makes the preceding vowel long: This is a fairly simple and straightforward way of teaching the silent E. So basically, the long sound of a vowel sounds exactly like its name. 'The silent E here, jumps over one letter, and then makes the A say its name.' How I like to teach this to my students is that I tell my students: In English, in words where you have 'vowel-consonant-silent E', the silent E will make the preceding vowel long - that is, the silent E makes the preceding vowel say its name. So let's start with the silent E! Long Vowel Sounds With the Silent E Here, we're just concerned about how to figure out whether a single vowel letter is long or short. For example, AI making the /aye/ sound, or EE and EA making the /yee/ sound, or OA making the /oh/ sound, but that's really beyond the scope of this discussion, and begins to deal with diphthongs.

There are also other long vowel sounds that are made by a combination of vowels. Once you understand the above 2 ideas, you'll be able to handle long and short vowel sounds from almost all words, well, almost. Why does the A make the /aye/ sound in TABLE, but make the /a/ 'ah' sound in TAB? Why does letter O make the 'oh' sound in HOPE, and make the /o/ 'awe' sound in HOP? These are two different examples of long and short vowel sounds.ġ) TABLE and TAB are called open and closed syllables making the vowel long or short.Ģ) HOPE and HOP have (or not have) what's called the 'silent E', which is a spelling convention where a letter E makes the preceding vowel a long vowel.

Kidding aside, why does the letter A sometimes make the /a/ 'ah' sound, and other times, it makes the /aye/ sound. Ever wonder what makes a long vowel different from a short vowel? Well, here it is. The issue of long and short vowel sounds often leads to confusion for many parents and children alike.

Long and Short Vowels A, E, I Owe You an Explanation

What is a long vowel