The 8 diphthongs.

What you learned

A diphthong is two vowel sounds in one. It starts as one sound and moves to another, like the “oy” in boy. Your mouth must move! Here are the 8, in the order of the video.

1. 1

   /ɪə/

   here, near, clear, idea

   Start with a short /ɪ/, like in it. Then move to a relaxed /ə/. No R sound.

   ▶ here
2. 2

   /ʊə/

   tour

   Start with /ʊ/, like in book, then move to /ə/. It is rare. Many British people now say tour with /ɔː/, like door.

   ▶ tour
3. 3

   /eə/

   chair, hair, where, there, pair, wear

   Start with /e/, like in get. Then move to /ə/. No R sound.

   ▶ chair
4. 4

   /eɪ/

   day, say, name, make, rain, eight, today

   Start with /e/ and move up to /ɪ/. It is the name of the letter A.

   ▶ day
5. 5

   /ɔɪ/

   boy, toy, toys, enjoy, noise

   Start with round lips, like in door. Then move to /ɪ/ and smile a little.

   ▶ boy
6. 6

   /aɪ/

   my, I, like, time, nice, buy, night

   Start with your mouth open, then move to /ɪ/. It is the name of the letter I.

   ▶ my
7. 7

   /əʊ/

   go, home, phone, know, road, don’t, own

   Start with a relaxed /ə/. Then make your lips round for /ʊ/. It is the name of the letter O.

   ▶ go
8. 8

   /aʊ/

   now, how, house, down, out, town

   Start with your mouth open. Then close your lips into a small circle.

   ▶ now

A diphthong moves. Look in a mirror and say boy. Can you see your mouth move? With a long vowel, like in car, your mouth stays still.

Practise them again and again. Moving your mouth is a skill, like riding a bike. It gets easy!