long a

Rain's middle sound

The long a is the vowel sound in words like *make*, *rain*, and *day*—the sound that matches the letter's name when you recite the alphabet.

It contrasts with the short a heard in *cat* or *hat*.

English represents the long a through various spellings: a-consonant-e (*bake*), *ai* (*wait*), *ay* (*play*), *ei* (*vein*), and *eigh* (*weigh*).

Related

vowel · cake · front vowel · name · sound · reading · ale · ace · stress patterns · speech · weigh · rain · rainy day · say · day · blame · education · great ape

Categories
Opposites
vowel length/quality

long ashort a

Unshifted A sound

short vowel · schwa · short e · short i

vowel identity

long along e

Stretched vowel sound

long i · long o · long u · short e · short i

Phrases
Family

long, longs, longer, longest, longish, longing, longingly, elongate, elongated

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Rated G