Short vs Long Vowel Sounds in English
Learn the Difference Between Short and Long English Vowels
Pronunciation, IPA Symbols, Examples and Minimal Pairs
| Long vowel | Word | Short vowel | Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| /iː/ | sheep (Schaf) | /ɪ/ | ship (Schiff) |
| /iː/ | beach (Strand) | /ɪ/ | bitch (Hündin / Schimpfwort) |
| /iː/ | leave (verlassen) | /ɪ/ | live (leben) |
| /iː/ | feel (fühlen) | /ɪ/ | fill (füllen) |
| /iː/ | seat (Sitz) | /ɪ/ | sit (sitzen) |
| /iː/ | eat (essen) | /ɪ/ | it (es) |
| /iː/ | beat (schlagen) | /ɪ/ | bit (biss) |
| /iː/ | heat (Hitze) | /ɪ/ | hit (treffen) |
| /iː/ | peel (schälen) | /ɪ/ | pill (Pille) |
| /iː/ | steal (stehlen) | /ɪ/ | still (still) |
| /iː/ | green (grün) | /ɪ/ | grin (grinsen) |
| /iː/ | cheap (billig) | /ɪ/ | chip (Chip) |
| /iː/ | reach (erreichen) | /ɪ/ | rich (reich) |
| /iː/ | heel (Ferse) | /ɪ/ | hill (Hügel) |
| /iː/ | least (am wenigsten) | /ɪ/ | list (Liste) |
| /iː/ | deep (tief) | /ɪ/ | dip (eintauchen) |
| /iː/ | feet (Füße) | /ɪ/ | fit (fit) |
| /iː/ | keen (begeistert) | /ɪ/ | kin (Verwandtschaft) |
| /iː/ | sleep (schlafen) | /ɪ/ | slip (ausrutschen) |
| /iː/ | seen (gesehen) | /ɪ/ | sin (Sünde) |
| /uː/ | pool (Pool) | /ʊ/ | pull (ziehen) |
| /uː/ | fool (Narr) | /ʊ/ | full (voll) |
| /uː/ | Luke (Name) | /ʊ/ | look (schauen) |
| /uː/ | food (Essen) | /ʊ/ | foot (Fuß) |
| /uː/ | suit (Anzug) | /ʊ/ | soot (Ruß) |
| /uː/ | boot (Stiefel) | /ʊ/ | book (Buch) |
| /uː/ | moon (Mond) | /ʊ/ | good (gut) |
| /uː/ | tool (Werkzeug) | /ʊ/ | took (nahm) |
| /uː/ | loose (locker) | /ʊ/ | look (schauen) |
| /uː/ | shoot (schießen) | /ʊ/ | should (sollte) |
| /uː/ | goose (Gans) | /ʊ/ | good (gut) |
| /uː/ | choose (wählen) | /ʊ/ | could (konnte) |
| /uː/ | blue (blau) | /uː/ | blew (blies) |
| /uː/ | cool (kühl) | /ʊ/ | could (konnte) |
| /uː/ | tooth (Zahn) | /ʊ/ | took (nahm) |
| /uː/ | root (Wurzel) | /ʊ/ | rook (Turm (Schach)) |
| /ɑː/ | cart (Wagen) | /ʌ/ | cut (schneiden) |
| /ɑː/ | heart (Herz) | /ʌ/ | hut (Hütte) |
| /ɑː/ | park (Park) | /ʌ/ | puck (Puck) |
| /ɑː/ | calm (ruhig) | /ʌ/ | come (kommen) |
| /ɑː/ | dark (dunkel) | /ʌ/ | duck (Ente) |
| /ɑː/ | lark (Lerche) | /ʌ/ | luck (Glück) |
| /ɑː/ | march (Marsch) | /ʌ/ | much (viel) |
| /ɑː/ | harm (Schaden) | /ʌ/ | hum (summen) |
| /ɑː/ | barn (Scheune) | /ʌ/ | bun (Brötchen) |
| /ɑː/ | fast (schnell) | /ʌ/ | fuss (Aufhebens) |
| Long vowel | Word | Short vowel | Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| /ɑː/ | half (Hälfte) | /ʌ/ | huff (schnauben) |
| /ɑː/ | palm (Handfläche) | /ʌ/ | pump (Pumpe) |
| /ɑː/ | star (Stern) | /ʌ/ | stun (betäuben) |
| /ɑː/ | part (Teil) | /ʌ/ | putt (Golf-Putt) |
| /ɑː/ | hard (hart) | /ʌ/ | hud (Kapuze) |
| /ɔː/ | port (Hafen) | /ɒ/ | pot (Topf) |
| /ɔː/ | short (kurz) | /ɒ/ | shot (Schuss) |
| /ɔː/ | sport (Sport) | /ɒ/ | spot (Fleck) |
| /ɔː/ | caught (gefangen) | /ɒ/ | cot (Feldbett) |
| /ɔː/ | talk (sprechen) | /ɒ/ | tock (Tick-Geräusch) |
| /ɔː/ | walk (gehen) | /ɒ/ | wok (Wok) |
| /ɔː/ | law (Gesetz) | /ɒ/ | lot (Menge) |
| /ɔː/ | dawn (Morgendämmerung) | /ɒ/ | don (Mafia-Boss) |
| /ɔː/ | horse (Pferd) | /ɒ/ | hoss (Spitzname) |
| /ɔː/ | board (Brett / Vorstand) | /ɒ/ | bod (Körper) |
| /ɔː/ | store (Geschäft) | /ɒ/ | stop (stopp) |
| /ɔː/ | fork (Gabel) | /ɒ/ | fog (Nebel) |
| /ɔː/ | cord (Kabel) | /ɒ/ | cod (Kabeljau) |
| /ɔː/ | born (geboren) | /ɒ/ | bond (Bindung) |
| /ɔː/ | saw (Säge) | /ɒ/ | sock (Socke) |
| /ɜː/ | bird (Vogel) | /e/ | bed (Bett) |
| /ɜː/ | word (Wort) | /e/ | wed (heiraten) |
| /ɜː/ | heard (hörte) | /e/ | head (Kopf) |
| /ɜː/ | turn (drehen) | /e/ | ten (zehn) |
| /ɜː/ | burn (verbrennen) | /e/ | Ben (Name) |
| /ɜː/ | first (erste) | /e/ | fest (Fest) |
| /ɜː/ | shirt (Hemd) | /e/ | shed (Schuppen) |
| long | super (super) | short | supper (Abendessen) |
| long | diner (Diner) | short | dinner (Abendessen) |
| long | later (später) | short | letter (Brief) |
| long | rider (Reiter) | short | riddle (Rätsel) |
| long | biter (Beißer) | short | bitter (bitter) |
| /eɪ/ | late (spät) | /e/ | let (lassen) |
| /eɪ/ | pain (Schmerz) | /e/ | pen (Stift) |
| /eɪ/ | main (Haupt-) | /e/ | men (Männer) |
| Long vowel | Word | Short vowel | Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| /iː/ | sheep (Schaf) | /ɪ/ | ship (Schiff) |
| /iː/ | beach (Strand) | /ɪ/ | bitch (Hündin / Schimpfwort) |
| /iː/ | leave (verlassen) | /ɪ/ | live (leben) |
| /iː/ | feel (fühlen) | /ɪ/ | fill (füllen) |
| /iː/ | seat (Sitz) | /ɪ/ | sit (sitzen) |
| /iː/ | cheap (billig) | /ɪ/ | chip (Chip) |
| /uː/ | pool (Pool) | /ʊ/ | pull (ziehen) |
| /uː/ | fool (Narr) | /ʊ/ | full (voll) |
| /uː/ | Luke (Name) | /ʊ/ | look (schauen) |
| /uː/ | food (Essen) | /ʊ/ | foot (Fuß) |
| /uː/ | boot (Stiefel) | /ʊ/ | book (Buch) |
| /ɑː/ | cart (Wagen) | /ʌ/ | cut (schneiden) |
| /ɑː/ | heart (Herz) | /ʌ/ | hut (Hütte) |
| /ɑː/ | park (Park) | /ʌ/ | puck (Puck) |
| /ɑː/ | calm (ruhig) | /ʌ/ | come (kommen) |
| /ɔː/ | port (Hafen) | /ɒ/ | pot (Topf) |
| /ɔː/ | short (kurz) | /ɒ/ | shot (Schuss) |
| /ɔː/ | sport (Sport) | /ɒ/ | spot (Fleck) |
| /ɔː/ | dawn (Morgendämmerung) | /ɒ/ | don (Mafia-Boss) |
| /ɜː/ | bird (Vogel) | /e/ | bed (Bett) |
| /ɜː/ | word (Wort) | /e/ | wed (heiraten) |
| /ɜː/ | heard (hörte) | /e/ | head (Kopf) |
| /eɪ/ | late (spät) | /e/ | let (lassen) |
| /eɪ/ | pain (Schmerz) | /e/ | pen (Stift) |
| /eɪ/ | main (Haupt-) | /e/ | men (Männer) |
| Long vowel | Word | Short vowel | Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| /iː/ | sheep (Schaf) | /ɪ/ | ship (Schiff) |
| /iː/ | beach (Strand) | /ɪ/ | bitch (Hündin / Schimpfwort) |
| /iː/ | leave (verlassen) | /ɪ/ | live (leben) |
| /iː/ | feel (fühlen) | /ɪ/ | fill (füllen) |
| /iː/ | seat (Sitz) | /ɪ/ | sit (sitzen) |
| /iː/ | eat (essen) | /ɪ/ | it (es) |
| /iː/ | beat (schlagen) | /ɪ/ | bit (biss / bisschen) |
| /iː/ | heat (Hitze) | /ɪ/ | hit (treffen) |
| /iː/ | peel (schälen) | /ɪ/ | pill (Pille) |
| /iː/ | steal (stehlen) | /ɪ/ | still (still) |
| /iː/ | green (grün) | /ɪ/ | grin (grinsen) |
| /iː/ | cheap (billig) | /ɪ/ | chip (Chip) |
| /iː/ | reach (erreichen) | /ɪ/ | rich (reich) |
| /iː/ | heel (Ferse) | /ɪ/ | hill (Hügel) |
| /iː/ | least (am wenigsten) | /ɪ/ | list (Liste) |
| /iː/ | deep (tief) | /ɪ/ | dip (eintauchen) |
| /iː/ | feet (Füße) | /ɪ/ | fit (fit) |
| /iː/ | keen (begeistert) | /ɪ/ | kin (Verwandtschaft) |
| /iː/ | sleep (schlafen) | /ɪ/ | slip (ausrutschen) |
| /iː/ | seen (gesehen) | /ɪ/ | sin (Sünde) |
| /uː/ | pool (Pool) | /ʊ/ | pull (ziehen) |
| /uː/ | fool (Narr) | /ʊ/ | full (voll) |
| /uː/ | Luke (Name) | /ʊ/ | look (schauen) |
| /uː/ | food (Essen) | /ʊ/ | foot (Fuß) |
| /uː/ | suit (Anzug) | /ʊ/ | soot (Ruß) |
| /uː/ | boot (Stiefel) | /ʊ/ | book (Buch) |
| /uː/ | moon (Mond) | /ʊ/ | good (gut) |
| /uː/ | tool (Werkzeug) | /ʊ/ | took (nahm) |
| /uː/ | loose (locker) | /ʊ/ | look (schauen) |
| /uː/ | shoot (schießen) | /ʊ/ | should (sollte) |
| /uː/ | goose (Gans) | /ʊ/ | good (gut) |
| /uː/ | choose (wählen) | /ʊ/ | could (konnte) |
| /uː/ | cool (kühl) | /ʊ/ | could (konnte) |
| /uː/ | tooth (Zahn) | /ʊ/ | took (nahm) |
| /uː/ | root (Wurzel) | /ʊ/ | rook (Turm (Schach)) |