There are eight English diphthongs altogether. It is useful to distinguish them between centring andclosing diphthongs:
The first three diphthongs are centring diphthongs. They have the neutral “shwa” vowel sound /ə/, which occurs in grunting noises and the weak forms of “the” and “a”, as the finishing position.
Foreign learners ought to be extra careful in articulating the “shwa” and NOT a full vowel!
