IELTS Pronunciation Practice: Diphthongs /eɪ/, /aɪ/ and /ɔɪ/

Technique

How to say it

1
Start /eɪ/ with your tongue mid-high and glide your jaw upward towards a relaxed /ɪ/ sound.
2
Form /aɪ/ by opening wide into an open vowel /a/ before smoothly raising your jaw to finish near /ɪ/.
3
Produce /ɔɪ/ by rounding your lips slightly for the first element and gliding towards an unrounded, raised /ɪ/ position.
4
Place most of the length and vocal emphasis on the starting sound, keeping the closing glide short and light.

7 pairs

Minimal pairs

Say each pair aloud. If the two words sound the same when you record yourself, slow down and go back to the steps above.

bay/buy
buy/boy
late/light
pain/pine
tie/toy
file/foil
laid/lied

12 sentences

Practice lines from IELTS-style answers

1
I enjoy cycling to my local library on bright sunny days.
/ɔɪ/ in enjoy; /aɪ/ in cycling, my, library, bright; /eɪ/ in days
2
Taking a daily train ride gives me time to create fresh designs.
/eɪ/ in taking, daily, train, create; /aɪ/ in ride, time, designs
3
My flatmate decided to buy an expensive oil painting for his room.
/aɪ/ in my, decided, buy; /ɔɪ/ in oil; /eɪ/ in painting
4
I made a great choice when I applied for that overseas placement.
/eɪ/ in made, great, placement; /ɔɪ/ in choice; /aɪ/ in I, applied
5
Finding the right place to live took quite a long time.
/aɪ/ in finding, right, quite, time; /eɪ/ in place
6
I like to stay hydrated while running five miles every day.
/aɪ/ in like, hydrated, while, five, miles; /eɪ/ in stay, day
7
The local noise made it hard to focus on my private study.
/ɔɪ/ in noise; /eɪ/ in made; /aɪ/ in my, private
8
They claim that avoiding crowded trains saves a high amount of time.
/eɪ/ in claim, trains, saves; /ɔɪ/ in avoiding; /aɪ/ in high, time
9
I try to maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating whole grains daily.
/aɪ/ in try, lifestyle, by; /eɪ/ in maintain, grains, daily
10
A noisy dining room destroys the calming atmosphere of an evening meal.
/ɔɪ/ in noisy, destroys; /aɪ/ in dining
11
My primary goal is to gain valuable employment in foreign trade.
/aɪ/ in my, primary; /eɪ/ in gain, trade; /ɔɪ/ in employment
12
We raised eight white sails on our family voyage last May.
/eɪ/ in raised, eight, sails, May; /aɪ/ in white; /ɔɪ/ in voyage

Say it in a real answer

Record an IELTS Speaking answer and get a Pronunciation band from the AI examiner, with the exact words that were hard to understand.

Watch out

Common mistakes

→Monophthongising the sound by failing to complete the glide towards /ɪ/, turning words like 'late' or 'boy' into flat single vowels.
→Confusing /eɪ/ and /aɪ/, which can lead examiners to hear words like 'paper' as 'piper' or 'mate' as 'might'.
→Over-lengthening the final /ɪ/ element rather than sustaining the prominent initial vowel sound.

In the exam: Clearly distinguishing vowel glides in evaluative words such as 'amazing', 'exciting', and 'enjoyable' will immediately make your descriptions sound more natural and expressive.

Frequently asked questions

How much does pronunciation count in IELTS Speaking?+

A quarter of your Speaking band. Examiners judge how easy you are to understand and how well you use features like stress, rhythm and intonation, not whether you sound British or American.

Do I need a native accent for Band 8?+

No. An accent is fine at every band. What matters is that individual sounds are clear, stress falls on the right syllables and your intonation helps the listener follow you.

How should I practise these lines?+

Read each line slowly, then at natural speed, then record yourself and compare. Say the sentences in a real answer next, because examiners hear your pronunciation while you think, not while you read.

Keep practising

More vowel sounds practice

© 2026 BandLadder. Written and checked by the BandLadder team. You may quote or cite this page with credit to BandLadder and a link to it; republishing it in full needs our written permission. Content use policy