Diphthongs

In the previous lessons, you focused on different aspects of pronunciation, including the unstressed schwa sound and word stress. You also explored long and short vowel sounds and their impact on how we pronounce words. 

Now, we will dive into another important feature of pronunciation: diphthongs. A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds pronounced in a single syllable, and it differs from the simple long and short vowel sounds you’ve learned about. For example, in words like great (/ɡreɪt/) and kind (/kaɪnd/), the vowel sounds glide together to create a new sound. 

The examples below will help you recognize how diphthongs appear in common words.

Exercise 4A

Your task is to choose the word from the options that matches the given IPA transcription. 

Pay close attention to the diphthongs, as they combine two vowel sounds into one syllable. 

This activity will help you become more comfortable distinguishing between diphthongs and simple vowel sounds, leading to clearer and more precise pronunciation.