Which set represents pure vowel sounds?

• A. A, E, I, O, U
• B. A, E, I, O
• C. A, E, I, O, U, Y
• D. A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y

Answer: (A)

Pure vowels are the basic, steady vowel sounds that stay the same in a syllable (monophthongs). In standard teaching, these are represented by the five letters A, E, I, O, U. Y is a flexible letter that can act as a vowel in some words, but it isn’t consistently a vowel and isn’t counted among the pure, steady vowel sounds. That’s why the set of pure vowel sounds is the five vowels A, E, I, O, U. The other options either include Y or omit one of the five, which doesn’t fit the idea of the basic pure vowels.