ai

In American English

Explore the English multigraph 'ai,' examining its various pronunciations in different words and contexts. Discover how 'ai' shapes English phonology.

'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/

Pie Chart of Digraph 'ai' Pronunciation in American English

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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