Compare with English "a" as in "baby, which has two sounds: "bEIbi"
or English "o" as in "post": "pOUst"
or, finally, English "i" as in "bike": "bAIk."
In this sense Filipino vowels are pure
like vowels in Spanish or Italian.
Pronounce every vowel as a separate sound.
There are no diphthongs in Filipino; diphthongs are vowel combinations pronounced as one syllable.
| Pronounce | as in English | Example |
| a | father | Magandang umaga, good morning |
| e | egg | Nene |
| i | each | ibig, want |
| o | long | totoo, true |
| u | food | kukunin, will take |
Ethnolinguistic Note
The languages of the pre-Hispanic Filipinos only had three vowels: "a," "e/i" and "o/u." Even today you may hear many Filipinos interchange "e" and "i," and "o" and 'u."
Click here to listen and practice speaking.
