Sorting Short Vowels in Everyday Words — A1 English Pronunciation Practice Test
About this practice test
Practise A1 English pronunciation by saying familiar words and sorting their short vowel sounds into clear groups.
What you’ll practice
Hear the difference
Recognise vowel and consonant contrasts in clear recordings.
Stress and rhythm
Identify strong syllables and emphasized words.
Listen and review
Replay each recording and learn from answer explanations.
What to expect:
8 questions with explanations to review after submission.
Study the questions and tasks
Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.
- Practice level
- A1. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.
- Question formats
- Sorting into categories
How to approach this practice
Read the instructions and work through the questions before opening the answers.
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Question 1 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their vowel sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /æ/ as in cat
- /ɛ/ as in bed
Word bank
- hat
- cat
- bed
- red
Check answers and explanations
- 1. hat
- /æ/ as in cat
- 2. cat
- /æ/ as in cat
- 3. bed
- /ɛ/ as in bed
- 4. red
- /ɛ/ as in bed
Sound groups: /æ/ as in cat: cat, hat; /ɛ/ as in bed: bed, red.
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Question 2 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their vowel sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /ɪ/ as in sit
- /æ/ as in cat
Word bank
- sit
- bag
- fish
- hand
Check answers and explanations
- 1. sit
- /ɪ/ as in sit
- 2. bag
- /æ/ as in cat
- 3. fish
- /ɪ/ as in sit
- 4. hand
- /æ/ as in cat
Sound groups: /ɪ/ as in sit: sit, fish; /æ/ as in cat: bag, hand.
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Question 3 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their vowel sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /ʌ/ as in cup
- /ɛ/ as in bed
Word bank
- bus
- ten
- pen
- cup
Check answers and explanations
- 1. bus
- /ʌ/ as in cup
- 2. ten
- /ɛ/ as in bed
- 3. pen
- /ɛ/ as in bed
- 4. cup
- /ʌ/ as in cup
Sound groups: /ʌ/ as in cup: cup, bus; /ɛ/ as in bed: pen, ten.
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Question 4 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their vowel sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /ɪ/ as in sit
- /ɛ/ as in bed
Word bank
- big
- leg
- milk
- egg
Check answers and explanations
- 1. big
- /ɪ/ as in sit
- 2. leg
- /ɛ/ as in bed
- 3. milk
- /ɪ/ as in sit
- 4. egg
- /ɛ/ as in bed
Sound groups: /ɪ/ as in sit: big, milk; /ɛ/ as in bed: leg, egg.
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Question 5 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their vowel sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /æ/ as in cat
- /ʌ/ as in cup
Word bank
- apple
- lunch
- black
- sun
Check answers and explanations
- 1. apple
- /æ/ as in cat
- 2. lunch
- /ʌ/ as in cup
- 3. black
- /æ/ as in cat
- 4. sun
- /ʌ/ as in cup
Sound groups: /æ/ as in cat: black, apple; /ʌ/ as in cup: sun, lunch.
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Question 6 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their vowel sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /ɑ/ as in hot
- /ɪ/ as in sit
Word bank
- swim
- six
- hot
- shop
Check answers and explanations
- 1. swim
- /ɪ/ as in sit
- 2. six
- /ɪ/ as in sit
- 3. hot
- /ɑ/ as in hot
- 4. shop
- /ɑ/ as in hot
Sound groups: /ɑ/ as in hot: hot, shop; /ɪ/ as in sit: six, swim.
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Question 7 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their vowel sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /ʌ/ as in cup
- /æ/ as in cat
Word bank
- mum
- sad
- up
- map
Check answers and explanations
- 1. mum
- /ʌ/ as in cup
- 2. sad
- /æ/ as in cat
- 3. up
- /ʌ/ as in cup
- 4. map
- /æ/ as in cat
Sound groups: /ʌ/ as in cup: mum, up; /æ/ as in cat: map, sad.
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Question 8 · Sorting into categories
Sort each word or phrase into its correct category.
Say and sort the words by their vowel sound. Use American English pronunciation.
Categories
- /ɛ/ as in bed
- /ɑ/ as in hot
Word bank
- box
- desk
- yes
- sock
Check answers and explanations
- 1. box
- /ɑ/ as in hot
- 2. desk
- /ɛ/ as in bed
- 3. yes
- /ɛ/ as in bed
- 4. sock
- /ɑ/ as in hot
Sound groups: /ɛ/ as in bed: yes, desk; /ɑ/ as in hot: box, sock.
What to review next
Review the feedback and revisit the topics you found difficult before trying again.
A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.