Long and Short Vowels
A long vowel takes about twice as long to say as a short one.
How It Works
Latin has five vowels, and each one can be long or short. A long vowel is held about twice as long. Dictionaries show it with a macron: puellā, amāre, rēx. A vowel with no bar is short.
| With bars | Plain text | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| puella | puella | girl (subject) |
| puellā | puella | by the girl |
| venit | venit | he comes |
| vēnit | venit | he came |
| malum | malum | evil |
| mālum | malum | apple |
Length also decides which syllable is stressed. Church Latin does not hold long vowels longer, but it stresses the same syllable, so the bars still help a church reader find the stress.
Examples (4)
- Puella in horto est.
The girl is in the garden.
The last a of puella is short. In horto the o is long (hortō).
- Marcus cum puella ambulat.
Marcus walks with the girl.
After cum, puella is the ablative and ends in a long a (puellā).
- Marcus venit.
Marcus comes.
With a short e, venit means comes. With a long e, vēnit means came. The bar is invisible, so the story decides.
- Marcus malum portat.
Marcus carries an apple.
Mālum with a long a is an apple. Malum with a short a is an evil. The situation shows which one.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Vowel length is not written in this course, so the spelling rules come first.
Related Patterns
Practice Long and Short Vowels in Bubblegum
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