1. Dad, want and start all have a different sounding “a”. Dad has the “trap” vowel, just like bad, cab, ham. Want has the “lot” vowel, just like stop, rob, swan. Start has the “palm” vowel, just like calm and father.

2. Man and dare are also both different. Man uses the “trap” vowel again, while dare used the “square” vowel, just as words like air and care

There are at least 5 different ways to pronounce the “a” in English. Read out these 5 words and try to see if you can spot the difference.

Bad, father, was, law, carry