Vowels: long e sound /i/

Listen to the long e sound

How to pronounce the long e sound

The tongue is forward, with the body of the tongue near the tooth ridge. (The tongue is higher in the mouth for this sound than for any other vowel in English.) Because the tongue is so high, the jaw is relatively closed during the long e sound. The sides of the tongue touch the top, side teeth during the sound.

NOTE: This sound is very similar to a y sound.

---

Common long e spellings

spelling	example		other pronunciations for spelling
ee	keep free seem		none
ea	each dream tea		short e (dead)
ie_e	piece grieve achieve		none
ie[1]	brief priest field		long i (pie)
-y	happy marry pony		long i (my)
-e[2]	me we she		none

[1] ie spelling
Along with the long e and long i pronunciation, the ie spelling is occasionally pronounced as two adjacent vowel sounds, such as the words quiet, alien, and science. Consult a dictionary to be certain of the pronunciation of unfamiliar words spelled ie.

[2] -e spelling
The -e spelling is pronounced as the long e only in single-syllable words where the e is the final and only vowel in the spelling of the word.

---

The long e sound in suffixes

spelling	example		other pronunciations for spelling
-cy	agency fluency efficiency		none
-ity	quality ability reality		none
-logy	trilogy apology mythology		none
-graphy	photography choreography topography		none

The consonant+y suffixes are most frequently pronounced with a long e sound. An exception is the -fy suffix, which is usually pronounced with a long i sound (as in the words notify and glorify).

---

Non-phonetic long e words
The long e sound is underlined in the following words:
ski people weird receipt

---

Pronuncian Lessons

  

Click here to join Pronuncian for full online access to all exercises and quizzes for this lesson.

Top-Ranked Lessons

long e sound /i/

Compare long a/long e/long i

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/

Letter x Pronunciation: k+s or g+z

Join Pronuncian
Products
Forums
Services
Podcasts
Advertise
FAQ