Long Vowels Rules

Remember, vowels are short unless there’s a

reason for them to be long

Mark long vowels with a macronI like games.

Mark short vowels with a breve.

It is hot.

Long vowels say their name

A E I O U

Ace, aim, able, name, game Each, easy, eat, meet, meat Idea, I’m, I’ll, like Open, over, own, boat, vote Use, unit, union, mute, juice

Use key words to pronounce short vowels

A E I O U

Apple Echo Itch Octopus Up

#1 Silent e at the end of a word makes the vowel long

Not Kit Rod Con Past Pal tap

Note Kite Rode Cone Paste Pale tape

This rule works 90% of the time

Exceptions Give Pensive Have Olive Five

#2 When two vowels go walking the first one does the talking

and says its name and the second is silent.

Seat Beef Loan Coat Bean Boast Toast

Exceptions Receive Idea Piece You

This rule works 75% of the time

Maid Toad Bait Meat Meet Peel Speak

Vowel digraphs

#3 A vowel at the end of a syllable is usually long

Bacon April Open Go No I

Even Over Baby Idea Hero Bagel

This rule works 70% of the time

Exceptions occur when the vowel is a schwa

California America Alaska Florida

Global Exceptions

R-controlled syllables Girl Stir Her Member Sister Urge Furniture

-le syllable Little Middle Cuddle

Foreign words Rendezvous Caveat Noël

World Word Farm Are Or Bore

Mark exceptions with a slash Her rendezvous

Diphthongs – two vowels that begin with one vowel sound and glide into

another vowel sound are also exceptions. Circle these syllables

and mark them with a D. ai, ay, ee, ey, oa, oe, ue, oi, oy, au,

aw, ou, ow, oo (2 sounds each), ea (3 sounds), eu, ew, ui

bait, play, jeep, valley, boat, toe, blue, coin, boy, author, thaw, soup/though, snow/plow, book/boot, eat/bread/steak, Europe, few, juice

Mark the vowels You have to be very cautious

about making predictions, especially when you predict where things are going to be five years from now. For example, in 1973, there were 457 Elvis impersonators in America. In 1993, there were 2,736. If this trend had continued by the year 2000 one out of four Americans would have been Elvis impersonators.

A young man wanted to try an exciting sport. He decided to try skydiving, so he went to a store and bought a parachute.

“I’m going to try skydiving!” he told his friends.

Her friends were worried. “Skydiving is dangerous,” they said. “What will you do it your parachute doesn’t open?”

“If my parachute doesn’t open,” the young man said, “I’ll take it back to the store for a refund.”

A rich woman was thinking about her mother. It was her mother’s birthday, and she wanted to send her mother a nice birthday present.

The woman went to a pet shop. She saw a beautiful bird. The bird could sing, and it could speak seven languages. It cost $50,000. The woman bought the bird and sent it to her mother.

The next day the woman called her mother on the telephone. “Mama,” asked the woman, “How do you like the bird?”

“I’m eating it now,” her mother replied. “It’s delicious.”