Mispronunciations of the vowels E and I in English

The vowels E and I in English can be pronounced in a few different ways. Many of us, nonnative speakers, are not aware of these different pronunciations. Oftentimes, in our native languages, the vowels E and I have a long E sound. But the long E is just one possible sound of E and I. There are five more common sounds of E and I in English. Consider the following examples. The E in “ego” and “egg” have different sounds. The two E’s in “seven” have different sounds. The E in “material” and “maternal” also have different sounds. As a matter of fact, our examples gave us five different pronunciations of the vowel E.

Now let’s add the vowel I to the mix. The E in “ego” and the I in “ski” have the same sound. The E in “servant” and the I in “circle” have the same sound. But the I in “ship” and the I in “chic have different sounds. We know that English has five vowel letters, but not all of us are aware that it has 18-20 vowel sounds (depending on the source). Many of the vowel sounds in English do not exist in other languages, so they are replaced with something that sounds similar to our nonnative ears. But similar is not the same. It isn’t good enough that it should work. It is a mispronunciation that leads to confusion. But it is not impossible to fix if you have patience and persistence.

Common mispronunciations of E and I are as follows— The long E is not long enough; the short i sounds like a shortened version of the the long E; the short E is inaccurate because it lacks dropping the jaw, and the schwa+r is totally off because it sounds like a short E or a short i. This is an R-controlled vowel, and it needs a very heavy / r / sound. It’s the vowel sound in “her” and “girl.” If you want to have accurate pronunciation and want to learn about the six common sounds of E and I in English, click on the appropriate links below.

ONLINE COURSE
“The Six Sounds Of E and I” (Learn how to make the above sounds precisely like a native speaker.)

DIGITAL DOWNLOADS
Download a list of 300+ words with the sounds above plus more to practice.

LIVE SESSIONS
Live one-on-one online tutoring

YOUTUBE
Watch a video on the mispronunciations of the different sounds of E and I