English Diphthongs
A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds pronounced together, for
example, /eɪ/ as in play /pleɪ/ and /əʊ/ as in cold /kəʊld/.
The first vowel sound is always longer than the second. There are eight diphthongs
in English, but one of them is hardly ever used. Many native speakers use /ɔ:/
instead of /ʊə/. For example, poor is usually pronounced /pɔ:/instead of /pʊə/.
Here you have the 8 English diphthongs and two examples of each so that you
can recognize and remember how they sound:
/ ɪə / real, clear / əʊ / coat , zero
/ eɪ / say , table / eə / where , bear
/ ʊə / tour , cure / aɪ / five , ride
/ ɔɪ / boy , noise / aʊ / how , sound
1 .Track 60 Listen and write the example word for each diphthong. Then listen again and repeat.
1 /eɪ/ PLACE 5 /eə/ CHAIR
2 /aɪ/ LIFE 6 /ʊə/ TOUR
3 /ɔɪ/ BOY 7 /əʊ/ HOME
4 /ɪə/ CLEAR 8 /aʊ/ HOUSE
2. Read words 1–7 aloud and write the correct diphthong for each word. Then match words 1–7 to
a rhyming word a–g.
1 / aʊ / crowd
2 / əʊ / phone a grey
b hair
3 /aɪ / try
c here
4 /eɪ / day d high
5 /ɔɪ / noise e loud
6 / eə / wear f shown
7 / ɪə / year g toys
3. Track 61 Listen and check your answers to exercise 2.Then listen again and repeat.
4. Track 62 Complete the sentences with a rhyming pair of words in exercise 2. Then listen and
check.
1 The child had some TOYS…………...that made a lot of NOISE……………………
2 It was a cloudy DAY…………… , and the sky was GREY……………….
3 My grandparents have SHOWN …………….. that they hate their new PHONE………………….
4 The boys wanted to TRY……………………… to jump very HIGH……………….
5 There was a big ,CROWD………………. so the party was LOUD……………………
6 It’s been a YEAR…………………… since we moved HERE……………….
7 I’ll do my HAIR………………….. and find something nice to WEAR……………………
4. Track 77 . Listen and choose the diphthong that matches the sound of the underlined letters.
1 overweight /eɪ/ /aɪ/
2 emotional /aʊ/ /əʊ/
3 here /ɪə/ /eə/
4 noisy /ɔɪ/ /əʊ/
5 blonde-haired /ɪə/ /eə/
6 foreground /aʊ/ /əʊ/
7 stylish /eɪ/ /aɪ/
8 tour /əʊ/ /ʊə/
Now read and pronounce carefully the following words and classify them according
to the diphthong they contain.
flow , beer , there , my , wait , noise , jury , cloud , taste , nearly , where , client ,
radio , during , employ , height , doubt , flour , take , high , brown , window , ghost ,
bold , severe , scary , hotel , poor , usually , range , deny , about , only , lawyer ,
cow , medium , oyster , coin , tour , deny, chair , crowd , towel , visual , trainers.
/eɪ/ wait , taste , take , range , trainers
/aʊ/ cloud , doubt , flour , brown , about , cow , crowd , towel ,
/aɪ/ my , client , height , high , deny ,
/əʊ/ flow , radio , window , ghost , bold , hotel , only ,
/ʊə/ jury , during , poor , usually , tour , visual ,
/ɪə/ beer , nearly , severe , lawyer , medium ,
/eə/ there , where , scary , chair ,
/ɔɪ/ noise , employ , oyster , coin ,
