🔹 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: Pattern Sound Example a-e /eɪ/ cake ai, ay /eɪ/ rain, day closed syllable /æ/ cat ar (BrE) /ɑː/ car unstressed /ə/ about special cases /ɔː/, /eə/ water, care