When you read the letter "a" in a sentence ?

[MellowYellow]

This might sound silly, but I have heard it pronounced different ways.

 

When you read a sentence with the letter "a" all by itself how do you pronounce it?

 

ex. The boy is wearing a hat.

 

Do you say:

 

long "a" sound

 

short "a" sound

 

or short "u" sound

[boscopup]

When teaching my child to read, it says /ay/ because it's an open syllable. When actually speaking, I usually say /uh/, which is similar to how we get lazy with other words' pronunciations.

 

I can't think of any reason to use the short sound. That'd be weird. :)

[hsmom]

long a. My son reads this way also. So, when we hear it another way on computer games, starfall, etc it always brings up "mom why do they say it that way?".

[LizzyBee]

I say /u/ if the next sound is a syllable and long a if the next sound is a vowel. That's what we were taught in school, and as far as I know, that rule is still the same. So I'd say /u/ before hat.

[MellowYellow]

So there is no set rule?

 

I want to make sure I am teaching my son right, lol.

 

I was taught to say "uh", but now it looks as though this might just be the lazy way.

 

My son always says "ay" and I find myself correcting him. It looks like he might be the right one after all.

[MellowYellow]

Thanks Elizabeth for that rule!

[Princess Peach]

I say /u/ if the next sound is a syllable and long a if the next sound is a vowel. That's what we were taught in school, and as far as I know, that rule is still the same. So I'd say /u/ before hat.

 

Wouldn't one say "an" before a word beginning with a vowel?

[Snowfall]

I say /u/ if the next sound is a syllable and long a if the next sound is a vowel. That's what we were taught in school, and as far as I know, that rule is still the same. So I'd say /u/ before hat.

 

If the next sound is a vowel, you are supposed to use the word 'an', not the word 'a'. In American English, the word 'a' is typically pronounced as a short u sound, 'uh', unless you are emphasizing the word for some reason.

 

"You see some cars in the driveway?"

 

"No, I see a car in the driveway." (pronounced as long a).

 

That's how people talk, so that's how I read it. DD reads it as long a because she's still getting used to all that. She reads 'the' with a long e, too, even though we only say it with a long e when the next word begins with a vowel or we're saying it for emphasis.

[Snowfall]

So there is no set rule?

 

I want to make sure I am teaching my son right, lol.

 

I was taught to say "uh", but now it looks as though this might just be the lazy way.

 

My son always says "ay" and I find myself correcting him. It looks like he might be the right one after all.

 

Neither of you are right or wrong, and that rule given by LizzyBee is inaccurate. You say 'an' before a word beginning with a vowel. :) The open syllable rule says it would be pronounced 'ay' but we do not speak that way anymore, and haven't for a long time. Let your son read it however he wants. He'll start saying 'uh' when he gets older. lol It's just a developmental thing when they're learning how to read.

[lovemy9kids]

I say "ay". Does that mean I'm developmentally challenged? :001_smile:

[Gooblink]

Back in the day when I was in Foresics, my coach said to pronounce it "uh." I take direction well, and speak it that way to this day. :)

[Mimm]

When speaking, I say uh, unless I'm emphasizing something.

 

"I said you could have AY cookie, not four!"

 

Same with reading. I say the short u sound when reading quickly but if I'm reading word for word (teaching a kid to read) or I'm listing article or something, then I usually say the long a sound. I'm not sure where this inconsistency comes from. :)

[JustGin]

Short u - The boy is wearing uh a hat.

[5knights3maidens]

long a. :001_smile:

[LizzyBee]

Wouldn't one say "an" before a word beginning with a vowel?

 

Duh. Yes. /u/ and an, not /u/ and long a. Blame it on a senior moment.

[Cranberry]

I'm a lector at Mass (for non-Catholic's, it's just a fancy way of saying I do the Bible readings up front). I had a priest once tell me that I shouldn't say "ay" because it sounded like I was trying to be pretentious. So I shouldn't say "ay reading from the letter of St. Paul to the...." rather "ah reading from..."

 

Frankly I thought he was being weird, I always thought that saying "uh" for a was just more common and "ay" was a little more proper, something you'd say in a speech or whatever. Just like we often say "gonna" instead of "going to" but we wouldn't say that if we are reading something out loud.

[Paige]

I say both. I have no rhyme or reason to when I would use one or the other. I do use "ay" for emphasis, but other than that I use "ay" and "uh" randomly.

[DarlaS]

I say /u/ if the next sound is a syllable and long a if the next sound is a vowel. That's what we were taught in school, and as far as I know, that rule is still the same. So I'd say /u/ before hat.

 

Whoops - never mind. I see it's been cleared up.

[justamouse]

long a

[MerryAtHope]

When speaking, I say uh, unless I'm emphasizing something.

 

"I said you could have AY cookie, not four!"

 

Same with reading.

 

This is also what I do. I don't think there's a right or wrong--I think the word "a" is just an example of the schwa sound we tend to lapse into with unaccented syllables. Sentences have a meter as well, where some syllables are accented and some are not. The word "a" is typically not accented. When we DO accent it, then we tend to say long A.

 

Merry :-)

[MellowYellow]

Thanks everyone!

 

I will continue to say uh and let him say what he feels more comfortable with.

[kchara]

I tend to say both, but when I'm reading, I use the long "a." We're using Funnix for my 4 yo, and it says "uh." It's driving him batty, and he's getting really confused, so I might just tell him to read it as the long "a."

[Mrs.W]

I say both. I have no rhyme or reason to when I would use one or the other. I do use "ay" for emphasis, but other than that I use "ay" and "uh" randomly.

 

Me too. :)

 

Funny, I was just wondering about this topic earlier this week.

[twoforjoy]

I say both. I have no rhyme or reason to when I would use one or the other. I do use "ay" for emphasis, but other than that I use "ay" and "uh" randomly.

 

I think I do the same thing.

[Homeschooling6]

I say 'ay'. The cat has /ay/ hat. I never felt comfortable using the /uh/ sound.

[kpnick in nc]

In speaking, we use /uh/ mainly. I used long a when we first began reading sentences. Eventually, DS changed to /uh/ during reading on his own.

 

I say /u/ if the next sound is a syllable and long a if the next sound is a vowel. That's what we were taught in school, and as far as I know, that rule is still the same. So I'd say /u/ before hat.

 

This sounds like the rule I use for the word 'the' - as to whether I say 'thee' or 'thuh.'

[TracieT]

Cranberry - That is exactly why I normally don't say the long a sound....I feel like I sound pretentious. I find myself speaking differently depending on the person I'm talking to. I know the proper way to say things. (like, I probably should have said 'depending on to whom I am speaking'...hahaha) I just totally change how I speak based upon my audience. Maybe that makes me pretentious?! I don't know! I don't think I do it purposefully. That's just funny that came up.

 

The Funnix thing drives me batty, too! I do say "uh," but I guess I expected a reading program to speak properly!!!

[Snowfall]

Duh. Yes. /u/ and an, not /u/ and long a. Blame it on a senior moment.

 

You know, I figured you were thinking of 'the', where you pronounce 'thuh' before a consonant word and 'thee' before a vowel word. I figured that was what you meant, but was hurrying.

[Snowfall]

I say "ay". Does that mean I'm developmentally challenged? :001_smile:

 

If you took offense, I'm sorry it sounded offensive. lol In my next post I stated that neither was right or wrong. However, given that in his family people say 'uh', it is highly unlikely he will continue to read it as 'ay' as he grows. Right now it's just too much to remember that he normally pronounces it 'uh' in everyday speech. Once he's a better reader, he will almost certainly pronounce it the same way he does in his everyday speech, unless someone tells him not to.

[deanna1949]

I don't know about "ay" or "uh," but it's "thee" before a word starting with a vowel and "thuh" before a word starting with a consonant. At least it's that way when you're singing. That may have been where the confusion was on an earlier post.

[newlifemom]

What about where the stress in the sentence is? Perhaps it is like the schwa that we have in a word?

 

If for some reason the accent in the sentence is on the a, then we say ay. If it is on another word then uh.

 

Or is that really stupid?:D