A – letter and its sounds

🔹 1. Long A /eɪ/ — sounds like “ay” in day

Usually appears when:

• “A” is at the end of a syllable or followed by a single consonant + silent E

• Spelling patterns: a-e, ai, ay

Examples:

• cake, name, game (a-e pattern)

• rain, train, paint (ai pattern)

• day, say, play (ay pattern)

🔹 2. Short A /æ/ — sounds like “a” in cat

Usually appears when:

• “A” is in a closed syllable (followed by a consonant)

Examples:

• cat, hat, map, apple, sad

🔹 3. Broad A /ɑː/ (British) or /ɑ/ (American) — sounds like “ah”

Often appears in:

• Words with “ar”, especially in British English

• Some borrowed or older words

Examples:

• car, father, calm, aunt (in some accents)

🔹 4. Schwa A /ə/ — an unstressed, soft “uh” sound

Happens when:

• “A” is in an unstressed syllable

Examples:

• about, sofa, alone, banana

🔹 5. Other less common pronunciations:

• /ɔː/ (British English) in some words: water, call, talk

• /eə/ (British English) in rare cases like: care, bare

🔁 Summary Table: