Short vowel sounds are the vowel sounds you hear in cat, bed, pig, hot and sun. Short a is the first sound in apple, short e starts edge, short i starts itch, short o starts octopus, and short u starts up. They usually show up when one vowel is followed by a consonant, as in cat.
Below you'll find what short vowels are, how to make each one with your mouth, word lists for practice, and simple games for home.
English has five main vowel letters, a, e, i, o and u, and each one can stand for more than one sound. The short sounds are the ones in cat, bed, pig, hot and sun. The long sounds match the letter names, like the a in acorn or the o in go. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) practice guide on foundational reading adds that y can make a short vowel sound too, as in gym.
Teachers sometimes write short vowels with a small curved mark (ă) or between slashes (/a/). You don't need either at home. Just say the sound.
Short vowels come early. The WWC panel recommends teaching consonants and short vowel sounds spelled with single letters first, because they appear often in the words beginning readers meet. Its sample first group of sounds is /s/, /m/, /d/, /p/ and /a/, which already makes words like sad, map and pad.
In the Common Core standards, kindergartners link the long and short sounds to the five main vowel letters, first graders tell long from short vowel sounds in spoken words, and second graders tell them apart when reading one-syllable words.
The mouth cues below come from Reading Universe, a teacher resource from a partnership of WETA, the Barksdale Reading Institute and First Book. Try each sound together in front of a mirror.
Short a (/a/ as in apple): mouth slightly open, tongue low in the mouth. Practice words: cat, bag, hat, sad, tap, bat.
Short e (/e/ as in edge): mouth slightly open, tongue relaxed in the middle, with the tip resting behind the bottom teeth. Practice words: bed, leg, pet, red, wet, jet.
Short i (/i/ as in itch): mouth spread wide with the teeth slightly apart, tongue lifted a little. Practice words: sit, pig, lid, zip, wig, fix.
Short o (/o/ as in octopus): mouth open wide, tongue low. Practice words: hot, mop, pot, top, box, fox.
Short u (/u/ as in up): mouth mostly open, tongue in the middle and pulled back. Practice words: sun, bug, cup, mud, rug, bus.
The vowel valley. Reading Universe describes a picture teachers call the vowel valley. Start with the tight smile of long e, as in me. As you move down through short i, short e and short a to short o, your jaw drops lower. Short o sits at the bottom of the valley, with the jaw all the way open. If your child mixes up short i and short e, Reading Universe suggests showing how the jaw sits differently for each one.
Two more notes from Reading Universe. Short a, e and i can sound a little different when /m/ or /n/ is nearby, which is why the a in ham and the a in hat don't sound quite the same, so it helps to start with words like cat and bag. And not every child needs to learn the vowel valley. It's most useful for children who need extra help hearing the difference between vowel sounds.
Mirror check. Say a short vowel word slowly together in front of a mirror. Is the mouth smiling, open or wide open? Is the jaw high or low?
Middle sound sort. Gather toys or pictures with short names (cat, pig, bus, pot, bed). Say each one and sort them by the middle sound. The WWC guide suggests sorting picture cards by their beginning, middle or ending sounds.
Vowel swap chain. With magnetic letters or paper squares, build bag, then change only the vowel: beg, big, bog, bug. Every one is a real word. The WWC guide recommends word building like this, and the kindergarten standards ask children to tell similar words apart by the letter sounds that differ.
Fill the gap. Write f _ n, p _ t or h _ t and ask which vowel makes a word. Some gaps have several answers (hat, hit, hot, hut), which makes for a good chat about how one sound changes the meaning.
Sound boxes. Draw three boxes. Say a word like fan. Your child says each sound and puts a letter in each box, then runs a finger under the boxes to read it back. The WWC guide describes this routine with Elkonin sound boxes.
Key picture cards. Make one card per vowel with a picture your child draws, such as an apple, an egg, an insect, an octopus and an umbrella. The WWC guide recommends pairing each new sound with a memorable picture of a familiar word.
Book hunt. In a picture book, look for short words with one vowel between two consonants and sort them by vowel sound.
Quick dictation. Say a short word and let your child write it, saying each sound as they go. Check it together and fix any mix-ups out loud.
Our sister site also has a guide to sight words for kids, the common words children practice alongside phonics.
Reading Universe singles out short i and short e as a pair some children struggle to tell apart. The WWC guide's tip for any sound mix-up is to use words that differ by only one sound, like dog and dig. Try pairs such as big and beg, sit and set, or pig and peg. Say both words slowly, watch your mouths in the mirror, and ask, "Which one did I say?"
This is an example only. Pick one vowel for the week, or mix them once your child is confident.
One minute of mirror sounds with the vowel of the week.
Two minutes of a vowel swap chain with letters.
One minute of a middle sound sort with four pictures.
One minute of dictation: two words, then done.
They are the a in apple, the e in edge, the i in itch, the o in octopus and the u in up.
Long vowels sound like the letter's name, as in cake or go. Short vowels don't. A short vowel is often a single vowel followed by one or more consonants, like cat. A long vowel is often spelled with a silent e at the end, like cake, or with two vowel letters together.
The WWC panel recommends starting with consonants and short vowels spelled with single letters because they appear often in early reading. A handful of them lets children start reading and spelling words like sad and map.
Yes. The WWC guide lists the y in gym as a short vowel sound. It sounds just like the i in itch.
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