The Five Short Vowel Sounds

Learn the short sound of a, e, i, o, and u.

The vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. Almost every word has at least one. Each vowel has a short sound you hear in many little words. Short a says /a/ as in apple. Short e says /e/ as in egg. Short i says /i/ as in itch. Short o says /o/ as in octopus.

Short u says /u/ as in up. Look at 'bag', 'beg', 'big', 'bog', and 'bug'. Only the middle vowel changes, but each one is a different word. That shows how much the vowel matters. Listen closely to the middle of a word to hear its vowel.

• 1The vowels are a, e, i, o, u.
• 2Each vowel has a short sound.
• 3Changing the vowel changes the word.