English has fifteen vowel sounds represented by the letters a, e, i, o, and u. The letters y, w, and gh are also commonly used in vowel sound-spellings. Vowel sounds are produced with a relatively open vocal tract.

This chart provides audio examples for phonetic vowel symbols. The symbols shown include those in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and added material. The chart is based on the official IPA vowel chart .

beam, bean, and bingo. A vowel is a voiced sound produced in the mouth with no obstruction to the air stream. The air stream is weak. The tongue and the vocal cords are tense.

Learn and Listen to the Vowels of the Standard British English Accent. Audio of native speaker pronouncing different words. Plus a fun phonetic discussion!

An American IPA chart with sounds and examples. All the sounds of American English (General American): consonants, simple vowels and diphthongs. Interactive infographic + audio + PDF; easy to remember.

Listen to each vowel sound pronounced by a native English speaker, practise your pronunciation of each vowel sound and download our English Vowel Sounds Chart. Watch this English Vowel Lesson Video to practice all the vowels in English.

Click to hear each symbol and sample word. This interactive phonemic chart contains all 44 sounds used in spoken British English (Received Pronunciation).

The arrangement of the vowel sounds in the chart below reflects the IPA standard. Rounded and unrounded pairs are represented as: Unrounded • Rounded. For this class, you should learn the terms used to describe the vowel sounds of English.