Long vowel sound A is easy to say, it sounds like the “a” in “game.” If you can say the letter “A”, then you’ve mastered the sound that Long A makes. Recognizing when an “a” should be a Long A or Short A is much harder. In this lesson, we’ll walk you through common Long A patterns so you can correctly identify Long A’s in every word you read and learn.
If you need any more phonics help, check out our Vowels Home Page for lessons, flashcards, and articles.
If you want to learn about other Long Vowels, take a look at these lessons:
How to Pronounce the Long A
The IPA symbol for Long A is /eɪ/. It makes a sound like the “a” in “ape” or “lake.” Listen below to hear the Long Vowel Sound A in an Ameican accent.
In contrast, a Short A sounds like “a” in “ant” or “apple.” Listen below to hear a Short A vowel sound.
Long Vowel Sound A Worksheet
Download and print our free long A patterns worksheet to start practicing. Includes Long A patterns, examples, and some pictures to color.
1. Long A Pattern: “Magic E Words” (a_e)
The first, and most important strategy for identifying a Long A vowel, is words with Magic E. With Magic E words, the “e” hops over a letter and turns the “a” from a Short A into a Long A. For example, a word like “nap” (with a Short A) becomes “nape” (with a Long A) when you add an “e”.
Important Words with “Magic E Words” (a_e)
- Name
- Same
- Game
- Plate
- Grade
Important Exceptions to “a_e”
- words ending in -are: share, care, rare, etc. (the “a” sounds more like a short /e/)
2. Long A Pattern: ai
This is another fairly reliable pattern for spotting a Long A vowel. Though, like most things in English, it is not going to be correct every time. The pattern “ai” will generally work to indicate a Long A, but I will list some of the notable exceptions below.
Important Words with “ai”
- Rain
- Train
- Wait
- Paint
Important Exceptions to “ai”
- -air words like “hair” or “fair” or “chair” (pronounced the same as the -are words above)
- Said (the “ai” makes an /e/ sound)
- Again (sometimes pronounced with a Long A, but typically we use a short /e/ in this word)
3. Long A Pattern: ay
The Long A pattern “ay” is a very reliable pattern to determine whether an “a” is long or not. Typically, this pattern happens at the end of words, though you may see it in the middle of words as well. Besides one fairly common exception (see below), your child can be fairly certain that if they see an “ay,” then they will need to pronounce it as a Long A vowel.
Important Words with “ay”
- Day
- Play
- May
- Gray (Grey in British English, but same Long A)
- Okay
Important Exceptions to “ay”
- Says (/s/ /e/ /z/) (This can be a little confusing because “say” does use the long A)
4. Long A Pattern: ei
This is a bit of a weird one because it doesn’t actually contain an “a” in it. But yes, unfortunately, there are words in English that use “ei” as a Long A sound. It is best to just memorize the important ones, and luckily there are not too many. The “ei” pattern is made more difficult because “ei” can represent other sounds as well like long E (weird) or short /e/ (their).
Important Words with “ei” (Long A sound)
- Eight
- Neighbor
- Weigh
- Weight
- Sleigh
Important Exceptions to “ei”
There are many, many words that have “ei,” but do not make a Long A sound. It would be easier to learn the ones that do, and assume that the others do not.
5. Long A Pattern: Open Syllable (a)
Most words with just a single “a” should be pronounced with a short /a/. However, there are some words that do not follow this rule. Instead, you will have to memorize these exceptions to the rule. These words usually are examples of what are called “Open Syllables.” These syllables end with a vowel, and when this happens we get a long vowel instead of the normal short vowel.
Important Words with Open Syllable “a” (Long A Sound)
- Able
- April
- Asia
- Baby
- Crazy
- Lazy
- Tomato
- Table
Important Exceptions to Open Syllable “a” (Long A Sound)
As mentioned earlier, most a’s on their own will make a short /a/ sound. It would be easier to memorize these exceptions that follow the Open Syllable rule, rather than checking the syllables of the word each time you encounter an “a.”
6. Further Exceptions: “ey”
The pairing of “ey” almost always results in a long E sound. However, there are a couple of words that use “ey” to make a Long A instead. Of these words, these are the ones most commonly used.
- They
- Hey
- Obey
How do I Practice Long Vowel Patterns?
Once you have gone over the patterns that use Long A, it is best to practice identifying Long A vowels by reading with your child. You can do this by reading to your child and having them try to sound out individual words, or let them read to you. It all depends on what they like, and what level of English they have. For long vowel identification, reading is the best way for children to learn the patterns and to start to become familiar with common exceptions to the rules.
While reading with your child, please make sure that you discourage them from guessing words. Also, do not try to push them to read beyond their level. By taking it slow in the beginning and properly teaching them how to read using long vowel patterns and synthetic phonics, your child will improve in the long run.
For further practice, consider try reading some of our fairy tales written specifically for beginners.
More Long Vowel Practice
If you have questions that you would like answered, feel free to leave us a post in the comment section.
All done with Long A? Check out some of our other phonics lessons: