0:00 Hi, I'm going to show you 13 different ways the letter I can be pronounced and I'll help you make all the different sounds and give you some practice words and sentences. And as always, I've created a cheat sheet that you can download below that will show you how to make all the sounds. Ready? Then come with me. The first way we're going to pronounce the letter I is the short I sound, as in the word if. Let me show you how to make the I sound. Put your tongue high in the center of your mouth with your jaw fairly closed
0:48 and your lips spread. I. Your turn. I. Now say the word If. Now repeat these practice words after me. First try these three letter words where I is in the middle of the word. Six. Hit. Bit. These are easy to remember as this is how the letter I is pronounced with all three letter words when I is in the middle. And now when I is followed by two consonants that are the same. like ill kill cliff
1:37 stiff mirror irrational then there are words with ing endings like going doing playing and then there's this word build with the unusual spelling of ui for the i sound. Try this practice sentence with the words ship, build, list and sink. Repeat after me. The ship took three years to build but it soon began to list and sink.
2:24 The ship took three years to build but it soon began to list and sink. So the next way the letter I is pronounced is E. It's shorter than E but longer and softer than I. It's somewhere in the middle like this. E, E, E. E E. Can you hear the difference? Now you try. Good. So to make the sound correctly, make the sound
3:11 as before but make it slightly longer and softer like this. The sound is like this when the letter I is at the end of words and therefore Unstressed. Say ee. Now try these words. Mini. Taxi. Anti. Semi. Sushi. Here's the practice sentence. Repeat after me. When he'd finished his sushi, he called a taxi.
3:58 When he'd finished his sushi, he called a taxi. So now it's when the letter I is pronounced as the long E sound, as in the word ski. Let's get the sound right. Place your tongue high and at the front of your mouth with your jaw fairly closed and your lips spread. E. Now say ski. Now repeat these words after me. You'll notice that the spellings are mostly spelt I, E and EI. Peace, brief,
4:44 belief believe and receive, receipt, sealing protein And lastly, the word police. Oh, by the way, I have a spelling rule that applies to most EI and IE words. It's I before E except after C. Try this practice sentence. The police didn't believe it when they received a report of a man skiing on the ceiling.
5:38 police didn't believe it when they received a report of a man skiing on the ceiling. Are you ready for this? As are quite a few, it's when I is pronounced the same as its name in the alphabet. I. As in the word ice. Okay, so sound first. I is known as a closing diphthong because for the final I sound the mouth closes. Now for the first sound. I will say A and join it to I with a glide like this. I. So start with your tongue low and
6:26 central in your mouth, lips neutral and jaw open. Say A. Then closing your jaw to fairly closed, your tongue moves up with it and your lips should finish in a slightly spread position. I. Now say the word ice. Good. Now for some practice. Repeat after me these magic E words where the E at the end softens the hard I sound to I. This occurs when you have I followed by a consonant followed by the magic E.
7:12 Say these words after me. Nice, fine, price time arrive bike or bicycle. Now I say these words ending in IE. die, pie lie tie. And say after me these I-G-H-T spellings of the same sound. Right tight night fight, frightened. And of course the exception
8:03 there's always an exception e-i-g-h-t in the word height and now these ind word endings find mind kind and now for some more interesting ones titanic gigantic good And it's practice time. Repeat after me. The Titanic was gigantic and sank in the night. The Titanic was gigantic and sank in the night.
8:52 Okay, ready for the next one? So the next way that the letter I is pronounced is the E sound, as in the I-E spelling of the word, friend. This is an exception. I can't find any more like this. Maybe you can. Let me know if you do. Let's get the sound right. Place your tongue at the front of your mouth at mid height with your jaw neutral and your lips spread. Now say, E. Great. Now say after me, Friend. Friend. I expect you already knew that one anyway. On to the next
9:39 one. Next up is when the letter I is pronounced as er, as in the word bird. This IR spelling of the sound is very common. Okay, so place your tongue at mid-height and in the centre of your mouth. your jaws and lips in a neutral position. Say, er. Now say, bird. Listen and repeat these words after me with IR spellings. Be prepared, there are quite a few. Dirt stir skirt first
10:52 Now let's practice with a sentence. Repeat after me. The girl confirmed her date of birth by circling her birth. The next one is when the letter I is pronounced at the schwa sound. This sound is often used for unstressed vowel sounds in words and syllables. As in the letter I, in April. So to make the uh sound, your tongue is low and central, jaw is neutral and lips
11:42 relaxed and neutral. Like this. Uh. Now repeat these practice words where unstressed I is pronounced as uh. Ready? Giraffe. Recipe. Possible. Confirmation. Did you notice here how confirmation has two schwa's? One for the IR and the other for the ION spelling at the end. So IR becomes UH and ION becomes N. Now practise these words with ION at the end of words. Caution. Attention.
12:33 emotion confusion recession cushion religion region. And one exception of this word with A-I-N ending, certain. Now this next word is a very common word, but the pronunciation is not as it's spelt, like most English words. It's the word foreign. Did you hear the schwa sound for the spelling of E-I-G? Foreign. Another spelling of this sound are
13:19 words ending in I-B-L-E. Instead of saying Ible, we say Uble, like this. Edible, possible. Terrible. Audible. And then there's the I-T-Y ending, which we pronounce as utty. Not itty, utty. Practice these words. Vanity. Quality. Reality. Ability. Charity. Then there are
14:05 words ending in IL, IL. But it sounds like IL. Like this. Pupil. Pencil. Lentil. And one more. It's the word tortoise. The OI spelling is pronounced U like this. Tortoise. Here's the practice sentence. Repeat after me. It's possible she lost concentration when she focused her attention on the tortoise eating lentils for charity.
14:55 It's possible she lost concentration when she focused her attention on the tortoise eating lentils for charity. Now listen to these word endings spelt with I-O-N where there is a Y sound before the schwa sound, a. It sounds like Y. Here goes. Million. Billion. Opinion. Now for the letter I when it sounds like A. In AI spellings, as in the word aim. Let's get the sound right. A
15:42 is a diphthong where the E and I glide together. For E, your tongue should start at mid-height in the front of your mouth and your jaw should be in a neutral position. Then move the tongue to a low central position for the I sound with your jaw finishing in a fairly closed position with the lips slightly spread like this. A. Your turn. Not bad. Now repeat after me these practice words spelt with AI. Notice that AI is always stressed in these words. Repeat after me. Rain, Spain, Maine,
16:54 There are lots more words with these AI spellings that sound like A, so feel free to look them up in a dictionary. The EI spelling also takes on the sound of A. Try these. Vein, rain, rain. Now E-I-G-H as in eight. Wait, neighbor. Here's the practice sentence. Her rain was in vain. after she fainted with pain.
17:40 Her rain was in vain after she fainted with pain. Or this well-known one. The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain. Again. The rain in Spain lies mainly in the plain. Again. The rain in Spain lies mainly in the plain. I think she's got it. I think she's got it. Now this next one is when the letter I is pronounced as air. As in the word air. You know, the stuff we breathe in. Again, this is a diphthong, meaning there are
18:28 two sounds that glide into one. For eh, Start with your tongue in the front of your mouth at mid height, and then move it to a low position for . Your jaw and lips close at the end of the schwa sound to a relaxed and neutral position. Glide the two together like this. Now practice these words with AI spellings. Fair, hair, chair. and the EI spelling of the word there. Now for the much awaited practice sentence. Their fair hair moved through the air.
19:18 Their fair hair moved through the air. So now it's time for the letter I when it's pronounced as ear, as in the word weird. This is a diphthong, meaning there are two sounds that glide into one. For I start with your tongue high in your mouth. Your jaw are fairly closed and your lips spread. I and then move it to a low position for U. Your jaw and lips close at the end of the schwa sound to a relaxed and neutral position with your tongue low. Glide the two together like this. Your turn.
20:07 Great. Did you notice that that first word, weird, did you notice the spelling? People always get it wrong. It's not as it sounds. It isn't spelt with an IE, as you would think it would be, being weird. It's spelt with an EI. Now repeat these practice words with the ear sound. With I-E-R. And now for words ending in
20:53 IOR. inferior superior now practice this sentence with me the courier was busier than the junior hotelier the courier was busier than the junior hotelier the next one is the sound oi in words spelt with the letter as in the word oil. So first of all start with your tongue back
21:40 and in the middle of your mouth. Jaw open and lips slightly rounded forward. Now to glide to move the tongue high towards the palate moving your jaw to fairly closed and your lips slightly spread. Now glide it like this. Oy, oy, making the or sound shorter than the second sound, ih. Oy, now say oil. Good. Practice saying these words after me. Boil, foil,
22:27 soil join coin choice Moisturiser. Toilet. Invoice. Paranoid. And the practice sentence. Having no choice, he boiled the coins he found in the soil in foil. Having no choice, he boiled the coins he found in the soil in foil. Okay then, it's time for a trip thong. I-A.
23:13 This is three sounds as in the word fire. So for this sound, say I, as we did before. The tongue is low in the centre of the mouth, jaw open, lips neutral. For I, moving the tongue upwards. For I, jaw fairly closed, lips slightly spread. And then for I, your tongue moves to a low and central point with your jaw and lips ending in a relaxed and neutral position like this. Aya. Now you try. Aya. Now say fire. Fire! Now say these words with I-R-E spellings.
24:00 Hire. Wire. Here's an exception with the OI spelling. It's choir. Now, as if you weren't already completely confused, there are words spelt with I-O which take on the same sound like lion, violin violence prior.
24:47 So here we go, practice sentence time. The umpire was tired, so he retired to listen to the choir prior to his violin lesson. The umpire was tired, so he retired to listen to the choir prior to his violin lesson. Hmm, a bit like me after this lesson. Until next time, love and peace.
