All the sounds of the letter E.

What you learned

E is the most common letter in English. In the alphabet it says /iː/. But in real words it has many sounds. Here they are, in the order of the video, with the words I used.

1. 1

   /iː/

   we, he, she, see

   Long and smiley. It is the name of the letter E.

   ▶ we
2. 2

   /e/

   get, bet, dead, breakfast

   Short. Open your mouth a little.

   ▶ get
3. 3

   /ɜː/

   person, perfect, her, were

   Long and relaxed. We don’t say the R.

   ▶ person
4. 4

   /ɪə/

   here, near, fear, idea

   Two sounds: /ɪ/ then /ə/.

   ▶ here
5. 5

   /ɪ/

   English, pretty, women

   A short /ɪ/. English starts with this sound, not with /e/.

   ▶ English
6. 6

   /ə/

   happen, open, often, movement

   The small, relaxed schwa. Very common in the weak part of a word.

   ▶ happen
7. 7

   /eɪ/

   they, grey, weight

   It sounds like the name of the letter A.

   ▶ they
8. 8

   /aɪ/

   eyes, height

   It sounds like the name of the letter I. Only a few words.

   ▶ eyes
9. 9

   /eə/

   where, there, bear, pear

   Two sounds: /e/ then /ə/. No R sound.

   ▶ where
10. 10

    Silent E

    • movement
    • something

    Sometimes you can’t hear the E at all. Movement has two Es: the first is silent, the second is a schwa.

    ▶ movement
11. 11

    Magic E

    • hop → hope
    • Pet → Pete
    • rat → rate
    • car → care

    An E at the end is silent, but it changes the vowel before it. Often the vowel says its name: hop, hope.

    ▶ hope

One more, very rare: in sergeant /ˈsɑːdʒənt/, the E says /ɑː/, like car.

English pronunciation is mad, I know! Say every E word after me, out loud. Watch the video more than once.