front vowels

There are five front vowels in English.  A front vowel refers to the fact that a front part of the tongue (actually really a mid part of the tongue) is the highest part of tongue used to articulate the vowel, rather than a back part of the tongue.

These are the five front vowels of English (with examples):

/i:/ – bead, beat, meat

/i/ – bid, bit, mitt

/e:/ – bade, bait, mate

/e/ – bed, bet, met

/æ/ – bad, bat, mat

These front vowels differ with respect to how open the mouth is.  /i:/ has the least open mouth.  /i/ is more open than /i:/.  /e:/ is more open than /i/.  /e/ is more open than /e:/ and /æ/ has the most open mouth.

Please watch the video below to see the difference in the openness of the mouth for these vowels.