Determining whether a single vowel is long or short, requires a good knowledge of the rules for breaking up a word into its
[syllables](#/lesson/SpellingAndPronunciation.04).
If a syllable ends in a vowel, the vowel is always long.
In the examples below, the words are divided into syllables.
a | [a]
ma-ken (to make)
wa-ter (water)
na (after)
dra (soon)
e | [e]
we-ten (to know)
be-ter (better)
we-zen (creature)
be-zig (busy)
i | [i]
a-li-bi (alibi)
po-li-tie (police)
mi-nis-ter (minister)
fi-na-le (final)
o | [o]
ko-men (to come)
dro-gen (to dry)
bo-ten (boats)
But: when _o_ precedes the letter _r_, it is pronounced as when _oo_ precedes the letter _r_: [ɔː]
sto-ren (to disturb)
ho-ren (to hear)
vo-ri-ge (previous)
u | [y]
bu-ren (neighbours)
Tu-ne-si-e, Tunesië (Tunisia)
tri-bu-ne (tribune)
y | [i]
In originally foreign words:
baby
derby
lyceum
No open double vowel
The no-open-double-vowel rule is an important spelling rule you are advised to learn as soon as possible. Although adults can and do make many spelling mistakes, disregarding this rule will make your text look a bit childish.
a syllable never ends in a double vowel
This is not necessary because a single vowel at the end of a syllable is already long. It does not need to be doubled.
As you will learn later, the letter _e_ is an exception to this rule ( [double e](#/lesson/SpellingAndPronunciation.18)). Indeed, one of those nasty little exceptions, but you will appreciate that the reason for this is quite sensible.
maken, water, dra, na weten, beter, wezen, bezig alibi, politie, minister, finale komen, drogen, boten storen, horen, vorige buren, Tunesië, tribune baby, derby, lyceum