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Long Vowel Sound Rules

The long vowels make the same sounds in a word as they do when pronounced alone. Each vowel has a few unique rules, but generally, they all make a long sound when they are the last letter of a word (examples: she, go; exceptions: to, bite). And if a word has two vowels next to each other, the first vowel usually is pronounced long (examples: sail, bean, soap, juice).

"A"

1. If the "a" is followed by a "y," it makes the long vowel sound (examples: play, Sunday). If the "a" is followed by one consonant, followed by an "e," it makes a long vowel sound (examples: fate, dare).

fade
made
page
nape
rake
cake
sale
chase
shake
saint
main
paint
hail
bail

"E"

2. If the letter "e" is paired with another "e," it will make the long vowel sound (examples: sweet, beef). If the "e" is followed by one consonant, followed by another vowel, it makes a long vowel sound (example: evil, deplete), but the "e" will not typically be long if there are two or more consonants between the "e" and the other vowel (examples: end, elder, enter).

If an "e" is the last letter of a word, it is usually silent, but it also signifies that the vowels that came before have a long sound (examples: note, pride, derive, state).

fee
meet
seen
cheese
peel
seed
cheek
meek
seed
feed
teeth
street
need
meal
speak
jeans
lead
read
mean
seat
meat
eat
seize
money
valley
ceiling

"I"

3. If the "i" in a single-syllable word is followed by two consonants, it will usually have the long vowel sound (examples: bright, mind, child). Exceptions are when single-syllable words are plural or contain a "th" or "sh" at the end (examples: fifth, clips, fish, girth).

The "i" has a long vowel sound if the last letter in the word is an "e" (examples: bite, mine, slide).

bide
hide
ride
Mike
tide
nine
fine
line
like
bite
ride
hide
life
pile
lie
pie
fight
kite
blind
hind
kind

"O"

4. If the "o" in a single-syllable word is followed by two consonants, it will have the long vowel sound (examples: old, most, roll). Exceptions are when single-syllable words are plural or contain a "th" or "sh" at the end (examples: moth, posh). The "o" has a long vowel sound if the last letter in the word is an "e" (examples: mole, rope).

lobe
robe
phone
hone
cone
smoke
throne
shone
lonely
vote
globe
close
smoke
bone
oak
load
chrome
float
bowl
grow
flown
sold
told

"U"

5. A "u" long sound doesn't sound exactly the same in a word as it does when pronouncing the letter by itself. When pronouncing the letter by itself, it is "yoo" but as a letter in a word it simply makes an "oo" sound (examples: costume, salute). The "u" makes a long sound when it is followed by an "e" (examples: cue, blue, flute).

fume
cute
mute
flute
rude
cute
prune
use
tune
cube
tube
suit
clue
cruise
glue
true
fruit
juice
blue
hue
cue