Name two English vowels that are typically tense.

• A. /ɪ/ and /æ/
• B. /iː/ and /uː/
• C. /ə/ and /ʌ/
• D. /eɪ/ and /oʊ/

Answer: (B)

Tenseness of vowels in English refers to vowels produced with greater muscular tension and typically longer duration. The two vowels that are classically described as tense are the long high vowels /iː/ and /uː/ (as in beat and boot). These vowels are held longer and require more tongue and jaw tension than their lax counterparts, which is why they’re grouped as tense.

The other options involve vowels that are either lax (short and less tense), like /ɪ/ and /æ/, or central vowels /ə/ and /ʌ/ that aren’t characterized as tense in this framework. The pair /eɪ/ and /oʊ/ are diphthongs, which are glide vowels formed by movement from one position to another; they aren’t typically labeled as the simple tense category in basic vowel-height/tour distinctions.

So, the best answer is the long versions /iː/ and /uː/.