WAEC 2021 English Language · Question 92

/æ/ — choose the word that contains the sound represented by the given phonetic symbol

Question

From the words lettered A to D, choose the word that contains the sound represented by the given phonetic symbol. /æ/

A.early
B.dragon
C.bread
D.card

Answer: B. dragon

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question You are asked to find the word that contains the vowel sound /æ/. This is the short "a" sound, as in cat, man and bad.

Explain the concept /æ/ is a short front vowel. Your mouth opens fairly wide and the sound is short. Don't confuse it with these sounds:

/ɑː/ as in car, card, father (long, back "ah")
/e/ as in bed, bread (short "eh")
/ɜː/ as in bird, early (long, central)

Solve step by step

A. early is /ˈɜːli/. The vowel is /ɜː/, so it is not /æ/.
B. dragon is /ˈdræɡən/. The first vowel is /æ/, so it matches.
C. bread is /bred/. The vowel is /e/ even though it is spelled "ea", so it is not /æ/.
D. card is /kɑːd/. The vowel is the long /ɑː/, so it is not /æ/.

Answer: B. dragon

Tip: Say the target sound aloud first. /æ/ is the "a" of cat, bad, map. Spelling can mislead you: "ea" in bread is /e/, and "ar" in card is a long /ɑː/. Always match by sound, not by letters.

AI can make mistakes. Report anything that looks wrong.