ai In American English
'ai' as a digraph has five sounds that we are going to talk about here.
Digraphs are a set of two letters that stand together and produce a new sound.
Digraph | ai |
|---|---|
Name | ai (pronounced /ˈeɪ ˈaɪ/) |
Common Sound(s) | /eɪ/, /ɛ/, /aɪ/, /ə/ |
The Digraph 'ai'
Sound 1: /eɪ/
'ai' standing in the middle of a word mainly sounds /eɪ/:
snail /sneɪl/
train /treɪn/
plait /pleɪt/
rain /reɪn/
claim /ˈkleɪm/
obtain /əbˈteɪn/
Tip!
'ai' can also stand at the beginning of these two words and sounds /eɪ/
aid /eɪd/
aim /eɪm/
Sound 2: /ɛ/
'ai' can also sound /ɛ/:
again /əˈɡɛn/
said /sɛd/
chair /tʃɛɚ/
fair /fɛɚ/
Tip!
The beginning digraph 'ai' in the word air in American English sounds /ɛɚ/:
air /ɛɚ/
Sound 3: /aɪ/
'ai' also produces the sound /aɪ/:
bonsai /ˈbɑnsaɪ/
aisle /aɪl/
jai alai /ˈhaɪlaɪ/
Thailand /ˈtaɪlænd/
Sound 4: /ə/
'ai' in 'ain' can sound /ə/. Note that 'ain' must be positioned in the second syllable of words:
curtain /ˈkɝːtən/
certain /ˈsɜːtən/
villain /ˈvɪlən/
mountain /ˈmaʊntən/
Tip!
'ai' in the word 'plaid' is pronounced /æ/:
plaid /plæd/
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