The Long Vowels

The long vowels are literally longer than the short vowels. See the
difference in the length of the vowels in the two words: grin and green. / I /
ee.
The long vowels are roughly twice the length of the short vowels; this is such
a significant phonetic difference that it is the basis of one important grouping
of vowels in English: short, and long vowels.

short vowels have to be followed by a consonant in English /grin/

long vowels can occur at the end of a word unchecked. /gri:/

The vowel in green, appears at the end of the word agree, without the
necessity of a consonant following. (A consonant may follow, of course, as in
agreed, but it is not required as in the case of short vowels.)
Long vowels are themselves divided into two groups according to how steady
the tongue is while they are being pronounced. If the tongue is relatively
steady, they are monophthong (or pure vowels); if there is a degree of
movement by the tongue, they are diphthongs.
The length of the monophthongal long vowels is symbolised in the IPA by two
points, for instance, the vowel in green is / i: /. The length of the diphthongal
long vowels is symbolised by a double vowel symbol in which the starting
and ending points of the tongues movement are represented; for instance,
the vowel in I (eye) is transcribed as / aI /, where the / a / represents the
position of the tongue before it begins to move, and the / I / its position when
it finishes.
It is important to think of the diphthongs as an essential part of a
single vowel system in English, and not as a separate system. When
languages and accents are compared, it may be tempting to treat

the monophthongs and diphthongs separately, for convenience; but

to do so would be highly misleading, as the short vowels and the
long vowels both monophthongs and diphthongs form a single
system. In fact, what is a diphthong in one accent may correspond
to a monophthong in another, and vice versa. And what is a
monophthong in one language may have a diphthong as its nearest
equivalent in another and vice versa.
We will present the 5 monophthongal long vowels first because they can
each be compared with a short vowel.