- 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.