How to pronounce the Long A sound /eɪ/
/eɪ/ is a diphthong — a vowel that glides, moving front, mid to high (glide). Start on the short E of 'bed', jaw half open. Glide the tongue up and forward toward the long E of 'see'.
- Free
- No card
- Scored in your browser
How to make it
- 1Start on the short E of 'bed', jaw half open.
- 2Glide the tongue up and forward toward the long E of 'see'.
- 3Let the lips spread as you move — the whole thing is one sliding sound.
- 4Do not stop halfway: a flat 'eh' turns 'late' into 'let'.
- Lips
- Start relaxed, then spread into a small smile.
- Tongue
- Starts at mid front, glides up and forward.
- Jaw
- Starts half open, closes as the glide finishes.
Feel it
Put a hand flat on your throat and say the sound. It should buzz under your fingers from the very start — if the buzz only arrives with the vowel, you are making the voiceless version.Where the sound appears
Keeping it through a whole line
They came by train to the same place today.
Wait and say the eighth name again later.
Minimal pairs to drill
Each of these is two words separated by exactly one sound. If a listener hears the wrong one, the problem is the contrast, not the effort.
If your first language is…
Nothing here is about ability. Every one of these is a sound system doing exactly what it was built to do, applied to a language that asks for something else.
- HindiUrdu
Hindi and Urdu have a mid front vowel that stands in without gliding, so 'day' can sound clipped.
- Mandarin
Mandarin has an ei diphthong very close to this one, so it transfers well.
- Japanese
Japanese has an e plus i sequence that matches this diphthong well, so it transfers reasonably; the risk is making the two halves too separate.
- Korean
Korean has a similar glide, so it transfers reasonably well.
- Vietnamese
Vietnamese has rich diphthongs, so the glide itself is easy; matching the English starting point is the work.
- Spanish
Spanish e is a single steady vowel, so 'late' is produced without the glide and can sound like 'let'.
- French
French é is a single steady vowel, so 'say' is produced flat.
- German
German has a long e that is steady, so the English glide is often missing.
- Italian
Italian e stays steady too, so the upward glide has to be added.
- Russian
Russian has no eɪ diphthong, so a steady e substitutes and 'name' loses its glide.
- Arabic
Arabic has an ay sequence close to this diphthong in many varieties, so it transfers reasonably well.
- Turkish
Turkish has no true diphthongs, so 'day' comes out as a steady e.
Straight answers
Is /eɪ/ voiced or voiceless?
It is voiced. Put a hand on your throat and say it: you should feel a buzz the whole time. All English vowels are voiced, so the question only really separates the consonants.
What words start with the Long A sound?
Common ones include eight, age, able. In the middle of a word you get name, day, train, and at the end say, play, today. Every one of those links to its own pronunciation page here.
How is /eɪ/ spelled in English?
It is written "a_e", "ai", "ay", "ei", "ey", "ea", "eigh". English spelling and English sound came apart centuries ago, so the same sound turns up under several spellings and the same spelling carries several sounds — which is why the sound, not the letter, is the thing to learn.
Why do Hindi & Urdu speakers find /eɪ/ hard?
Hindi and Urdu have a mid front vowel that stands in without gliding, so 'day' can sound clipped.
Record the Long A sound and see if it landed
sayit lines up every sound you made against the sound you meant, in IPA, and marks the ones a listener would miss. Free, private, in your browser.