How to Pronounce "A" in English

When we use "a" as a word in English, as in a word or a friend, we pronounce it as "uh," vowel schwa /ə/.

Letter "A" is pronounced as "ay," /eɪ/, with a long stretched vowel.  In words, the letter a can represent many different vowel sounds.  Here are some rules for the most common pronunciations of letter A:

• In a stressed syllable when letter A is by itself, in is usually vowel /æ/, as in black cat.  
• In a stressed syllable when letter A is with another letter (ai, ay, or a + e at the end), it is usually vowel /eɪ/, as in gray day.
• In a unstressed syllable, such as the first syllable in words like about and across, letter A is usually vowel schwa /ə/.

See more about spelling rules for vowels here.

In other contexts, letter A can represent many other vowel sounds.  Learn even more about letter sounds vs. spelling, and how to pronounce all of the letters and sounds in our online course, the Sounds of American English.