English vowel sounds
Standard British English has about twenty vowel sounds written with only five vowel letters, which is why spelling is such a poor guide to pronunciation. Twelve are single steady vowels, or monophthongs, such as the vowels in kit, dress and goose. Eight are diphthongs, where the tongue glides from one position to another during the vowel, such as the vowels in face, price and mouth. American English has a slightly different inventory, most noticeably merging the vowels of lot and thought for many speakers.
Five letters, twenty sounds
Every one of these sounds has to be written using a, e, i, o, u and y. That mismatch is the root of English spelling's reputation — the same letter carries different sounds in , and , while the same sound is spelled four ways in , , and .
The keywords below are the standard set used in teaching. Learn the keyword and you have a label for the sound that does not depend on spelling. If the symbols are unfamiliar, the IPA guide explains how to read them.
The 12 single vowels
The 8 diphthongs
A diphthong is one vowel that moves. The tongue starts in one place and glides to another while the sound continues — it is a single vowel, not two.
Length is not the whole story
The pairs below are usually taught as short versus long, which is misleading. The tongue is also in a different position, so simply holding the short one for longer does not produce the long one — it produces a stretched wrong vowel.
Work on them as contrasts rather than as durations — that is what the minimal pairs method is for.
Where American English differs
The set above is standard British. American English differs in three notable ways. Most speakers merge and into one vowel. The vowels before r are r-coloured rather than followed by a separate r, so and are not diphthongs in the same way. And the START set uses a vowel closer to LOT.
Play any word above in both accents with Compare to hear it directly rather than take my word for it.
Practise this
Show the 15 words
Show the 15 words
Show the 15 words
Show the 15 words
Show the 15 words
Show the 15 words
Quick pronunciation tips
Read slowly first. Pronounce each syllable deliberately before trying to blend them at full speed. Rushing hides the vowel and consonant shapes your ear needs to learn.
Record yourself. Most phones have a voice memo app — record a word, then compare it to the playback here. Hearing the gap between your version and the model accent makes targeted practice far easier.
Focus on one accent. Jumping between American, British and Australian in the same session creates confusion. Pick the accent you encounter most and stick with it until the patterns feel natural.
Keep going
Every word above is a button. Set the accent and voice you want on the main screen, then come back — the guides use whatever you chose. To hear two accents against each other, use Compare; to test whether you can actually hear a contrast, use the listening quiz.
Sources and review
Last reviewed 2026-09-15 · Learn Pronounce