Pronunciation Course Pure vowel 2: /e/
Course introduction How to use this course
An introduction to phonemes Vowels Pure vowels Pure vowel 1: /i/ Pure vowel 2: /e/ Pure vowel 3: /u/ Pure vowel 4: /o/ Pure vowel 5: /a/ Pure vowels recap Vowel combinations Vowel combinations part 1 Type 1 diphthongs Type 2 diphthongs Type 2 diphthongs – /w/ + vowel Hiatus Vowels review Consonants An introduction to Spanish consonants /p/, /b/, /m/ /f/, /t/, /d/ /s/, /n/, /l/ /tʃ/, /ɲ/, /ʎ/, /j/, and /w/ /k/ and /g/ /x/ /r/
Intonation An introduction to Spanish intonation Introduction to Spanish stress Word stress Sentence stress Spanish rhythm Spanish pitch Pitch patterns Allophones An introduction to allophones /i/ and its allophones /u/ and its allophones /o/ and /a/ allophones /b/ and its allophones /d/ and its allophones /g/ and its allophones /s/ and its allophones /n/ and its allophones
Syllabication Introduction to syllabication The rules of syllabication Spanish linking Spanish accents Spanish around the world Mexican Spanish Argentinian Spanish Colombian Spanish Caribbean Spanish Chilean Spanish Castillian Spanish
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Pure vowel 2: /e/

Next, we look at the pure vowel /e/.

How it sounds

/e/ is a shared vowel sound with English. It is the same vowel sound that we use in “vet”:

Mouth position

The lips should be spread, although are not as wide as for the /i/ sound. The tongue is also placed forward in the mouth, and about halfway up:

vowel-e

What to avoid

This sound is similar in part to the “ey” sound we find in words such as “they”. In this case, we are adding an additional sound to the vowel (turning it into a “diphthong” – we’ll cover these later). We need to make sure that the vowel stays pure. Here’s the sound to avoid (represented by /ei/):

Listen and Repeat

Listen and repeat

Exercise

Listen to the following words. Some of them use the Spanish pure /e/ sound, whereas others use the “ey” (represented by /ei/) sound that we described above. Choose which of the sounds the words use:

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