What Are Some Examples of Short Vowel Words?

By Staff Writer | Last Updated August 4, 2015

Some short vowel words include “bad,” “bed,” “bid,” “bod” and “bud.” Other examples are “tad,” “tell,” “tid,” “tot” and “tuck.” Short vowel sounds usually precede a hard consonant, which prevents the vowel from having its “long” sound.

The designations “short” and “long” do not refer to the length of the word or to the length of the vowel sound. There is a simple way to remember which is which: Long sounds are similar to what you hear if you say the names of the vowels aloud. Examples of long vowels words for each vowel are “bane,” “bean,” “bind,” “bone” and “dune.” Unlike the short vowels, these words rhyme with the pronunciation of the letters “A,” “E,” “I,” “O” and “U.” Another common feature of long vowel words is that they often have an “e” at the end. For example, “bit” is a short vowel word, whereas “bite” is a long vowel word.

Other examples of short vowel words include “gas,” “men,” “hip,” “hop” and “hug.” Although short words commonly have short vowel sounds, many longer words contain short vowel sounds as well; for example, “illustrate” contains two short vowels and a long vowel at the end. Most long words in English contain both kinds of vowels.