Vowels: short e sound /ɛ/

Listen to the short e sound

How to pronounce the short e sound

The short e sound is a relatively relaxed vowel sound. The middle of the tongue rounds slightly upward and the sides of the tongue may lightly touch the top and bottom side teeth. The lips and jaw are loose and relaxed.

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Common short e spellings

spelling	example		other pronunciations for spelling
-e-(CVC)[1]	bed send yes		none
ea	head bread heaven		long e (dream)

[1] e spelling followed by the letter r
When the consonant following the letter e is the letter r (as in the words her and after), the sound is usually pronounced as the schwa+r instead of the short e sound followed by the r sound.

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The short e sound in suffixes

none

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Non-phonetic short e words
The short e sound is underlined in the following words:
said says friend guest again

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Pronuncian Lessons

  

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long e sound /i/

Compare long a/long e/long i

Compare short a/short o/aw sound

Introduction to Approximant Sounds

l sound /l/

velar l sound /ɫ/

Introduction to Stops

t sound /t/

b sound /b/

g sound /ɡ/

k sound /k/

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