Build a useful vowel comparison sheet with the IPA chart.

Open the Vowels chart and begin with an empty practice editor. If you already have work there, save it before clearing anything. Switch off Smart IPA suggestions for this exercise so that the brackets, spaces and line breaks remain literal. You will select the vowel symbols themselves from the diagram.

Read the diagram as a set of reference qualities. Height runs from close toward open; backness runs from front toward back. Where a pair is shown, rounding distinguishes the right member from the left. These dimensions give the sheet an organizing principle: each line should change a stated property rather than merely juxtapose unfamiliar shapes.

Type an opening bracket, select i, type a space and select y, then close the bracket. Press Enter and repeat with ɯ and u. The first row compares close front vowels, while the second compares close back vowels. Both rows put the unrounded member before the rounded member.

The second pair is particularly useful for checking your reading of the chart. It prevents the shortcut that all back vowels must be rounded. It also encourages attention to ɯ as its own symbol rather than a distorted ordinary letter. These reference comparisons do not claim that every language contrasts these pairs or that a speaker's realizations occupy identical points.

Start a third bracketed line with e and ɛ, selecting both from the front unrounded region. This row concerns close-mid versus open-mid height rather than lip rounding. On the fourth line, select ə and ɐ. Their difference gives you a central-vowel comparison without introducing a claim about the stress pattern of any word.

Use a separate line because the dimensions being compared have changed. If you distribute this sheet, explain those dimensions beside it. In particular, ə describes a vowel quality; it is not an instruction to replace all unstressed sounds with schwa. Stress and reduction depend on the language and context, and some languages permit stressed ə.

Read each row against its original purpose before using Download text. Check that you selected ɯ rather than u twice, that ɛ is not another e, and that the final line contains two different central symbols. A familiar-looking result can still contain the wrong vowel. The diagram and the button descriptions provide complementary checks.

Choose Download text and open the saved file in a Unicode-capable editor. The verified output retains all four lines and the distinct symbols shown here. This file stores characters, not a recording of a pronunciation or a measurement of vowel space. If you later add real-language examples, identify the language, accent and transcription convention in the document.