Pronunciation rules for the vowel combination ei & ey

Combination of vowels Pronunciation Example words Example word pronunciation My own example words
ei/ey /ē/ re·ceive /rǐ-‘sēv/
mon key /’mǔng-kē/
/ě/ lei·sure /’lě-zhər/
their /thěr/
/ā/ eight /āt/
they /thā/
/ī/ height /hīt/
/ǐ/ for eign /’för-ǐn/
weird /wǐrd/

We divide the five pronunciations of the vowel combination ei/ey into three groups for discussion: /ē/ and /ě/ are the first group; /ā/ are the second group; /ī/ and /ǐ/ are the third Group.

The first group, the vowel combination ei, can produce the long vowel /ē/ of the vowel e, as in the words re·cēive, pro·tēin and sēize. At the end of a word, it is necessary to change ei to ey, as in the words mon kēy and kēy. It can also pronounce the short vowel /ě/ of the vowel e, as in the words lěi sure and thěir.

The second group, the vowel combination ei, can produce the long vowel /ā/ of the vowel a, as in the words eight and veil (ā). At the end of a word, it is necessary to change ei to ey, as in the words they, gray and hey (ā).

The third group, the vowel letter combination ei produces the long vowel sound /ī/ of the vowel letter i, as in the words heīght, eī·ther and ne·īther①; it can also produce the short vowel sound of the vowel letter i /ǐ /, as in the words for·eǐgn and weǐrd.

The letter combination ei can sometimes have different pronunciations in the same word. For example: in the word lei·sure, its pronunciation can be /ē/, /ě/ or /ā/, that is, in leii·sure (ē, ě, ā). For another example, in the words ei·ther and nei·ther, its pronunciation can be /ē/ or /ī/, that is, ei·ther and nei·ther (ē, ī).

The following sentence includes five pronunciations of the vowel combination ei and ey, namely /ē/, /ě/, /ā/, /ī/ and /ǐ/, please memorize this sentence: