Pronunciation | The ei Sound

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What is this episode about?

Learn how to pronounce the sound [ei] correctly in context in this new Pronunciation episode form English Plus Podcast.

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Disclaimer

I am using an automatic transcript service as it is not possible for me to do it on my own and I cannot afford human transcription at the moment. The service claims to have about 95% accuracy, which means there will still be some mistakes, so my apologies for having a less than perfect transcript, but I hope I can afford human transcription soon and I will solve this problem. However, the service is pretty good, and the transcript is almost perfect.

Transcript

Welcome to a new episode from English plus podcast. Today’s episode is going to be about pronunciation. And in this episode, we will focus on the sound a as an eight game and they. But before we start, let me remind you that you can find the transcript of this episode in a link. I will leave in the description and you will also find it a link that will take you to Patreon, or you can support English plus podcast by becoming a patron of the show.

[00:00:35] And then you will get PDF practice worksheets custom made for every single episode we create. And now without further ado, Let’s start with our pronunciation lesson and this lesson, as I told you, we’re going to focus on the sound a as an eight game and they now, why should we care? That’s an important question.

[00:00:57] Why should we care whether we pronounce a or something else? Like, eh, if we say, eh, instead of a, we will have a different word. For example, late will sound like let and paper will sound like pepper. So two different words, and that’s why it is important for us to learn how to pronounce words with the sound.

[00:01:22] A so first let’s get introduced to this sound when it comes at the beginning of words, let’s take a look at these examples. Aide, Abe, age aim, Abel ache aid. April April. So these were examples when we used a, at the beginning of words, how about when we use a, in the middle of words, let’s take a look at these examples.

[00:02:02] Same Lake rain came, date table. Place brake paint. So these examples of the sound, a we’re in the middle of words. Now, let me remind you that it is very important for you to try and repeat after me. So you can listen to this episode. A couple of times you can stop. Repeat and then continue. That will be very good for your pronunciation.

[00:02:40] Now let’s continue. We talked about a, at the beginning of words, we talked about a, in the middle of words. Now let’s talk about a, at the end of words, we have examples. Like when we say way, say they way ley may obey. A way stay. Now, you may have noticed that I said way twice, but the first way is w a Y. And the second way is w E I G H, but they are pronounced the same way, way and way.

[00:03:23] And now that we have introduced ourselves to the way the AA sound is pronounced at the beginning in the middle. And at the end of words, let’s take a look at the common spellings for this sound. And remember when we talk about the common spellings, we’re just talking about common. Not always. I’m not saying that whenever you see this letter, you should pronounce it as a.

[00:03:48] But it is a common letter that when we see we pronounce as a, just common, remember that. So let’s start with the first common spelling of the sound. A and that is the letter a itself. For example, we say late, safe and hate another common spelling for the sound a is when we have a, I, the two letters a and I like in Maine.

[00:04:17] Fail and wait, and we can also have the sound a in the letters, a Y for example, when we say they Bay play and we can also have the sound a, when we have the letters, E I G H and we have, for example, eight slay and neighbor. And now, let me tell you about some less frequent spellings for the sound a and that can be EA like in the words break and great.

[00:04:53] And it can also be E Y like in Z and gray. And also it can be EDI, like in vain. Now there is something to notice as well with the sound a and that is with the letter a, when it comes in a syllable ending with a silent E take a look at these examples name, case same. You see, we have here name, we have the letter a in the middle or in a syllable ending with a silent E we have E at the end of name, but we don’t pronounce it.

[00:05:32] So when we have a silent E at the end of a syllable where we have a, we usually pronounce it as a, like we said, name, case, same lane, bake and Drake. And we also have the letters, a Y a I N E Y, which are usually pronounced a, like when we say play away bait, wait, they and convey. And finally we have the letters E Y when they’re followed by G or N, they’re also usually pronounced as a words, like way.

[00:06:17] Neighbor rain and vain. And you might think to yourself, where is the G? Well, actually the G is there, but it is silent. So in way it is w E I G H, but we don’t pronounce the G. We say way without pronouncing the GH actually. And the same for neighbor, we say neighbor, we don’t say Nate, bur we say neighbor an E I G H, but the G H is silent.

[00:06:46] And we say neighbor and in rain we have R E I G N but also the G is silent. So we say rain and vain. And the last one, we have an N which we pronounce. So with that being said, maybe it’s time for us now to practice with some phrases. And then we will have a full text where we will have the, a sound and we can practice it in context.

[00:07:14] Now let’s start with the very first one, wake up, wake up, gain weight, gain weight. What’s your name? What’s your name? A take it away. Take it away. Take an away a make haste not waste. Make haste not waste. April showers. Bring may flowers, April showers bring may flowers. They played a great game. They played a great game.

[00:08:01] And finally, the plane from Spain came late. The plane from Spain came late. So here we had examples of the sound a in sentences, but let’s take a look at a, within a small text about babe Ruth. Babe Ruth is the famous baseball player. Of course, we will talk about babe Ruth and we will see that we will have a lot of eight sounds in this small text, as it is obviously a common sound in English.

[00:08:34] So let’s start, babe. Ruth was a famous baseball player. He was born in Baltimore and raised there as an orphan. He first played for the Boston red Sox. But was later traded to the New York Yankees. He hits 714 home runs and became a baseball legend. He was named to the baseball hall of fame. The last team he played for was the Boston Braves.

[00:09:11] He died in 1948. Many say he was the greatest player of his day. So again, remember, it’s a very good idea. If you replay those texts, those examples, those words that we learned and try to say them yourselves, repeat them as many times as you can, and try to get the sound right. And you will, with some repetition, you will get the sound right.

[00:09:37] And by practicing your pronunciation will become perfect. So with that being said, our remind you again, that you can find the transcript of this episode in a link, I will leave in the description and you can also find a link to Patreon where you can become patron of English plus podcast and get a custom made PDF practice worksheet.

[00:09:57] For every single episode we release. With that being said, this is your host, Danny. Thank you very much for listening to another episode from English plus podcast. I will see you next time.

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<a href="https://englishpluspodcast.com/author/dannyballanowner/" target="_self">Danny Ballan</a>

Danny Ballan

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Danny is a podcaster, teacher, and writer. He worked in educational technology for over a decade. He creates daily podcasts, online courses, educational videos, educational games, and he also writes poetry, novels and music.

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