Short and long vowels
Ship or sheep, full or fool, cat or cart: the vowel pairs that change meaning in English, and how to make the difference clear.
When it matters
Standard British English has twelve simple vowel sounds and eight diphthongs, while Ukrainian has six vowels and Russian five or six. So several English vowels fall into one Ukrainian or Russian slot, and pairs of words start to sound the same: ship and sheep, live and leave, full and fool. Context usually saves you, but not always. I want to live here and I want to leave here mean opposite things. This lesson covers the pairs that cause the most trouble and shows how to keep them apart.
How it works
In a dictionary, the colon-like mark ː after a vowel means it is long: /iː/, /uː/, /ɑː/, /ɔː/, /ɜː/. A vowel without it is short: /ɪ/, /ʊ/, /æ/, /ɒ/, /e/, /ʌ/.
The name is a little misleading. Long and short vowels differ in length, but they also differ in the position of the tongue and lips, and this second difference matters just as much.
- /iː/ in sheep: tongue high and forward, lips spread as if smiling, sound held longer. /ɪ/ in ship: tongue slightly lower and more relaxed, lips neutral, sound short.
- /uː/ in fool: lips rounded and pushed forward, tongue high at the back. /ʊ/ in full: lips only loosely rounded, tongue lower and more relaxed.
- /ɑː/ in cart: mouth wide open, tongue low and back, as in a long Ukrainian or Russian а. /æ/ in cat: mouth open, tongue low but forward; the sound lies between е and а.
- /ɔː/ in caught: lips firmly rounded, sound long. /ɒ/ in cot: mouth more open, lips only slightly rounded, sound short.
- /ɜː/ in bird, work, learn: lips and tongue relaxed, mouth half open, as if you were hesitating. It has no short partner, and it has no equivalent in Ukrainian or Russian.
Two more details help. First, in British English the letter r after a vowel is not pronounced unless another vowel follows: cart is /kɑːt/, sport is /spɔːt/, bird is /bɜːd/. The long vowel replaces the r. In American English the r is pronounced. Second, every vowel sounds shorter before a voiceless consonant such as /t/, /p/ or /k/. The vowel in seat is a little shorter than in seed, but it is still clearly longer and tenser than the vowel in sit.
British and American English differ in some common words: bath, can't and dance have /ɑː/ in southern British English but /æ/ in American English, and hot and stop have /ɒ/ in British English but /ɑː/ in American English.
Practice words
/ɪ/ and /iː/:
| Word | Sound | Compare with |
|---|---|---|
| ship | /ʃɪp/ | sheep /ʃiːp/ |
| live | /lɪv/ | leave /liːv/ |
| sit | /sɪt/ | seat /siːt/ |
| fill | /fɪl/ | feel /fiːl/ |
| chip | /tʃɪp/ | cheap /tʃiːp/ |
/ʊ/ and /uː/:
| Word | Sound | Compare with |
|---|---|---|
| full | /fʊl/ | fool /fuːl/ |
| pull | /pʊl/ | pool /puːl/ |
| book | /bʊk/ | boot /buːt/ |
| good | /ɡʊd/ | food /fuːd/ |
/æ/, /ɑː/ and /e/:
| Word | Sound | Compare with |
|---|---|---|
| cat | /kæt/ | cart /kɑːt/ |
| hat | /hæt/ | heart /hɑːt/ |
| match | /mætʃ/ | march /mɑːtʃ/ |
| bad | /bæd/ | bed /bed/ |
| man | /mæn/ | men /men/ |
| pan | /pæn/ | pen /pen/ |
/ɒ/, /ɔː/ and /ɜː/:
| Word | Sound | Compare with |
|---|---|---|
| cot | /kɒt/ | caught /kɔːt/ |
| spot | /spɒt/ | sport /spɔːt/ |
| shot | /ʃɒt/ | short /ʃɔːt/ |
| work | /wɜːk/ | walk /wɔːk/ |
| bird | /bɜːd/ | board /bɔːd/ |
| shirt | /ʃɜːt/ | short /ʃɔːt/ |
Common mistakes
- ✗ live and leave both as /liv/
✓ /lɪv/ and /liːv/
Russian has one и for both, so Russian speakers tend to use the same vowel twice. Ukrainian speakers have an advantage: Ukrainian и in лист is close to /ɪ/, and і in ліс is close to /iː/ if you make it longer. - ✗ bad and bed both as /bed/, man and men both as /men/
✓ /bæd/ and /bed/, /mæn/ and /men/
/æ/ does not exist in Ukrainian or Russian, so learners use е. Open your mouth wider, as for а, but keep the tongue forward. Without /æ/, singular man and plural men sound the same. - ✗ work as /wɔːk/ or /vork/
✓ /wɜːk/
If work sounds like walk, the sentence changes. For /ɜː/ keep the lips relaxed, not rounded, and do not pronounce a Ukrainian or Russian р. - ✗ book, look, cook with a long /uː/
✓ /bʊk/, /lʊk/, /kʊk/
The spelling oo can be long, as in food and school, or short. Words ending in -ook are almost always short. - ✗ beach and sheet with a short vowel
✓ /biːtʃ/, /ʃiːt/
With /ɪ/ both words turn into common swear words. Make the vowel long and smile slightly.
Try it
- Which word has a long vowel: ship or sheep?
- Which word has /ʊ/: full or fool?
- Is the r pronounced in heart in British English?
- Which vowel is in the plural men: /æ/ or /e/?
- Tom says "I walk in an office", but he means his job. Which word should he say?