Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

short a

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.33 in modern English

Syllables
short- a
IPA
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The vowel sound in the English words cat and rack, usually represented by /æ/ or /a/. (The presence of a short vowel is sometimes signaled in spelling by the doubling of a consonant after it, such as in batting as contrasted with bating.)

noun

The vowel sound in the English words grass and castle when pronounced with a near-open front unrounded vowel (/æ/); associated with northern England accents.

British usage

Usage

Inflected Forms

short a's (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

long e short e long i short i long o short o long u short u

Synonyms

flat a

Antonyms

long a broad a

Questions

What does short a mean?
The vowel sound in the English words cat and rack, usually represented by /æ/ or /a/. (The presence of a short vowel is sometimes signaled in spelling by the doubling of a consonant after it, such as in batting as contrasted with bating.)

How to pronounce short a

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “short a”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “short a”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “short a” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.