PRONUNCIATION EXERCISES: VOWELS

A. a (ey) as in bay, pay, tail

weigh
neighbor
eight
gape
beige
table
ace
data
vague
brave
same
apparatus
great
steak
break
fail
range
hasten
faint
saint
sail
mail
daily
date
ate
day
trace
vain
rake
shake
Sentences:
1. The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain.
2. Eighty-eight sailors were saved because of their great bravery.
3. The caged animal was enraged but was tamed by the lion tamer.
4. Daily mail is usually carried by train or plane.
5. The new apparatus aided the same jet ace.
6. Pale but amiable Jane was the portrait of a quaint dame.
7. Cake is good if it is well made.
8. The maimed man was forced to stay in jail.
9. They remained in the same occupation for eight years.
10. The students waited in vain for the tailors to finish their gala uniform.
Vocabulary:
Bravery brey-ve-rii = noun = great courage
Enrage en-reyj = verb = make somebody very angry
Apparatus ah-pa-rey-tus = noun = equipment
Amiable ey-mii-ya-bol = adjective = friendly and likable
Quaint kweynt = adjective = pretty but old-fashioned
Dame deym = noun = woman or girl
Maim meym = verb = to hurt and cause great damage to somebody
Gala gey-lah = noun = party
B. o (ow) as in broke, joke, token
rope
hole
open
pole
prone
soap
told
most
both
flow
slow
nose
glow
grow
gross
chose
cone
host
hold
ocean
roll
wont
beau
plateau
ghost
Sentences:
1. In flowing tones he boasted of his recent role in Congress.
2. The ocean holds no terror for old rowers.
3. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll.
4. He chose only the best for the good of his soul.
5. In a droll brogue, he told about the note he wrote.
6. The old soldier was slow to roll the stone away.
7. Without hat and coat he walked down the road with a heavy load on his shoulder.
8. The Post Office personnel posed for photographs required by the Bureau.
9. Most local shows are overflowing with old jokes.
10. Morgan supposes his toes are roses, but Morgan supposes erroneously.
Vocabulary:
Boast bowst = verb = to brag about ones accomplishments or possessions
Thou thow = pronoun = you
Droll drowl = adjective = funny in an odd way
Brogue browg = noun = regional accent, especially the accent of the Irish people
speaking English
Bureau byuu-row = noun = government department
Erroneously - i-row-nii-yas-lii = adverb = incorrectly
C. o (oh) as in ball, Paul, drawl
call
altar
waltz
jaw
law
August
author
audience
autumn
fraud
water
dawn
lawn
pawn
scrawled
bought
fought
sought
thought
ought
sort
sport
short
snort
lord
Sentences:
1. George thought the lawn was forlorn at dawn.
2. The ball players were called because the stage crew was short of men.
3. He bought an automobile when he won a fortune.
4. The month of August was named after Augustus Caesar.
5. If you recall, some wise man said: Pride goes before the fall.
6. Yawning is good exercise for the jaw, but its awful to yawn openly at the ball.
Vocabulary:
Fraud frohd = noun = fake
Scrawled - skrohld = verb = write or draw something messily
Snort snohrt verb= force air through the nose
Forlorn fohr-lohrn = adjective = showing signs of neglect
Fortune fohr-chun = noun= large amount of money
Recall ri-kohl = verb = remember something
Ball bohl = noun= (for number 6) formal dance
D. o (aw) as in bout, doubt, town
out
about
account
allowed
amount
astounding
counting
doubt
devour
endowment
ounce
mouth
proud
mountain
south
town
tower
eyebrow
voucher
plow
sundown
throughout
unsound
sprout
foul
Sentences:
1. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
2. No one is allowed to play in the yard when the ground is wet.
3. The Mountain City is crowded every summer, but not with scowling prowlers.
4. The townspeople were astounded by the shocking announcement.
5. He was proud of his loud, resounding voice.
Vocabulary:
Astounding ah-stawn-ding = adjective = amazing
Devour- di-vawer = verb = consume something quickly (whether by eating or
destroying)
Endowment en-daw-ment = noun = natural qualities
Voucher vaw-cher = noun = substitute for money when buying something
Unsound an-sawnd = adjective = unhealthy; unsafe
Sprout sprawt = verb = to begin to grow
Scowling skawl-ling = verb = to frown
Prowler = praw-ler = noun = somebody who roams an area to do a criminal act
Resounding ri-zawn-ding = echoing loudly
E. u as in bird, dirt
early
bird
birth
curl
firm
murder
murmur
pearl
search
church
fern
burn
fur
hurt
colonel
fir
curtain
shrink
occur
sir
attorney
journal
circle
work
nerve
Sentences:
1. The early bird catches the worm.
2. The clerk had the nerve to burn the ferns and herbs belonging to the irksome girl.
Vocabulary:
Murmur mer-mer = noun = something said quietly
Fern fern = noun = plant without flowers
Herbs erb = noun = culinary (for cooking) and medicinal plant
Irksome erk-sam = adjective = annoying