SOUND LESSON

How to pronounce /eɪ/: the vowel in day

Glide from a mid-front position up toward /ɪ/ for /eɪ/ in day and name. Separate late from let and learn spellings such as ea and eigh.

/eɪ/

American English: /eɪ/ · diphthong · mid-front → high-front · unrounded
British English: /eɪ/ · diphthong · mid-front → high-front · unrounded

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Pronunciation model

Try it in a word

They came late on a rainy day.

Mouth & tongue

Enable JavaScript to view the 3D panda. Pronunciation steps remain available below.

Vocal folds: vibrating

TongueTeethUvula

Simplified human pronunciation. The small uvula hangs from the palate; it is not the vocal folds. The wave indicates voicing.

Voice settings

The mouth starts slightly open. Movement is slowed for observation; the synthetic sound plays once at its original speed. Pause holds the current mouth shape; reset returns to the relaxed position. The panda is a symbolic teaching aid for human pronunciation, not animal anatomy.

What your mouth is doing

This diphthong starts with the tongue mid-high at the front, then glides upward within one syllable. The jaw closes slightly, and the first part carries most of the length.

Comparing with Mandarin and Spanish

The spelling a-e, as in name, is the common pattern, but ai, ay, ea in great, and eigh also occur. Read the sound from a dictionary rather than guessing from these letters.

Mandarin ei and Spanish ei, as in peine, are close starting points. Spanish readers should also avoid reading the a in name as Spanish a.

Build the sound, step by step

Start from the vowel in bed, with your tongue forward.
Raise your tongue smoothly toward /ɪ/ as your jaw closes a little.
Say day, then name and great, keeping each word as one syllable.

What to watch for

Without the glide, gate turns into get. Move the tongue upward.
Reading ea uniformly fails: great has this vowel, while bread and meat do not.

Hear the difference in your own voice

Alternate late and let, then pain and pen. Glide in the first word of each pair, and stay steady in the second. Then compare day and die to feel a different starting point.

References & editorial notes

PronounceKit wrote this lesson as practical guidance. The references below describe the sounds; the comparisons with other languages are editorial teaching suggestions. It describes common American and British patterns, not every accent, and it has not been independently reviewed by a pronunciation specialist. The mouth model is a simplified teaching aid, not a validated simulation.

Published 3 November 2026