English has 20 vowel sounds — 12 pure vowels (monophthongs) and 8 gliding vowels (diphthongs) — but only 5 vowel letters to spell them all. The result is a spelling system where one sound can be written 10 different ways, and one spelling can say 4 different sounds. Understanding the full vowel sound chart is the key to teaching spelling without “just memorise it.”
This chart maps every English vowel sound to its common spellings, with example words at each spelling.
How to use this chart
Find the sound your child is struggling with. Look at all its spellings. Teach one spelling at a time — most common first. The phoneme symbol (in slashes) is from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) — ignore it if unfamiliar; use the example words instead.
Short vowels (5 sounds)
| Sound | Name | Key word | Common spellings | More words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /æ/ | Short A | cat | a | bat, cap, fan, ham, lap, map, pan, sat, van, wag |
| /ɛ/ | Short E | bed | eea | bet, get, hen, jet, pen, red, ten, wet, head, bread |
| /ɪ/ | Short I | sit | iy | bit, dip, fig, hip, kit, lip, pig, tip, gym, myth |
| /ɒ/ | Short O | hot | oa (after w) | cot, dog, fox, got, hop, lot, not, top, want, wash |
| /ʌ/ | Short U | cup | uoou | bug, fun, hug, mud, nut, run, sun, come, love, blood |
Short vowels are taught first — they appear in CVC words and are the most consistent. The only tricky one is short O: after w, the letter a says /ɒ/ (want, wash, wasp).
Long vowels (5 sounds, many spellings)
| Sound | Name | Key word | Common spellings | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /eɪ/ | Long A | cake | a-eaiayeieyea | lake, rain, play, veil, they, steak |
| /iː/ | Long E | feet | eeeae-eieeieye | seed, beach, these, chief, receive, key, he |
| /aɪ/ | Long I | bike | i-eighieiy | kite, night, pie, find, fly |
| /oʊ/ | Long O | bone | o-eoaowooe | home, boat, snow, go, toe |
| /juː/ | Long U | cute | u-eueewu | mule, blue, flew, human |
Long vowels are where English gets complex — each one has 3–6 possible spellings. Teach in this order: magic-e first (most predictable), then vowel teams (most frequent). See the long vs short vowels post and the complete vowel teams list for detailed word lists.
R-controlled vowels (bossy R)
| Sound | Name | Key word | Common spellings | More words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /ɑːr/ | AR | car | ar | bar, farm, hard, jar, park, star, yard |
| /ɔːr/ | OR | corn | ororeoaroor | fort, more, board, floor |
| /ɜːr/ | ER/IR/UR | bird | erirurearor (after w) | fern, shirt, turn, learn, word |
| /ɪər/ | EAR | fear | eareerereier | near, beer, here, fierce |
| /ɛər/ | AIR | care | areairearere | share, hair, bear, there |
R-controlled vowels are typically taught after long vowels. The trickiest are er/ir/ur — all three say /ɜːr/. See the dedicated r-controlled vowels post for full word lists and the er/ir/ur sort activity.
Diphthongs (gliding vowels)
| Sound | Name | Key word | Common spellings | More words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /aɪ/ | Long I (diphthong) | bite | i-eighiey | kite, right, pie, sky |
| /aʊ/ | OW | cloud | ouow | shout, cow, down, brown |
| /ɔɪ/ | OI | coin | oioy | oil, boil, joy, boy |
Diphthongs are vowels that glide from one position to another — you can feel your mouth move while saying /aɪ/ or /aʊ/. See the complete diphthongs list for the oi/oy and ou/ow position rules.
The /ɜːr/ vowel — the hardest sound to spell
The mid-central R vowel (/ɜːr/) is the single most confusing sound in English spelling because it has 5 common spellings: er, ir, ur, ear, or (after w). Example: her, bird, hurt, learn, word. All say exactly the same sound.
Children must learn these through visual memory, not phonics rules. The fastest method: the er/ir/ur sort (see r-controlled vowels).
Teaching order: short to long to r-controlled to diphthongs
Use this chart as a spelling reference whenever your child asks “how do I write the /eɪ/ sound?” — look up the sound, pick the most common spelling for that word position, and teach the others as alternatives once the primary one is automatic.