Do you know that if an E appears at the end of an English word, it is silent? The preceding vowel (separated from the e by one or more consonants) will be pronounced as a long vowel. Silent e is one of the first spelling rules children learn in school, and no wonder since it is so common in English
Make your English better by understanding and learning some basic rules of English
1. Make your English better by understanding and learning some basic rules of
English
Do you know that if an E appears at the end of an English word, it is silent? The
preceding vowel (separated from the e by one or more consonants) will be
pronounced as a long vowel. Silent e is one of the first spelling rules children
learn in school, and no wonder since it is so common in English. If you are
learning phonics at English spoken classes in East Delhi, your teacher would
ask you tounderline or cross out the silent e and mark the preceding vowel as
long. You might see words which follow this rule represented in this way. You
can find examples throughout the English language, but some of them are hate,
care, note, flute, bite, nice, and ape. Similarly, if two vowels appear next to each
other in one syllable, the second vowel is silent and the first vowel is pronounced
as a long vowel. We see vowel combinations all the time in English. A general
rule as to their pronunciation is to say the first vowel and ignore the second.
These vowel combinations come in all kinds of match ups. You might see words
which follow this rule represented this way. For example, true, beat, train, leaf,
and load.
One thing to keep in mind when discussing consonant pronunciation is
consonant blends. A consonant blend is two or more letters that are pronounced
as one sound in English. Some blends are clearly two sounds which become one
complex sound (for example bl in black, tr as in atrophy). They often include the
letters l, r, or s but not always. Other “blends” are actually only one English
sound which is spelled by using two or more consonants. These sounds include
sh (wish), ch (chair), tch (watch) and others. Now, if one consonant follows a
vowel in the middle of a word, it is pronounced as the first sound in the next
syllable. Where a consonant is pronounced in a word does make a difference in a
student’s pronunciation, particularly if they speak slowly. Think about the
difference between pap-er and pa-per. Clearly the second is the correct
pronunciation while the first sounds, at best, strange, and at worst like a
different word entirely. Then, when two consonants follow a vowel in the middle
of a word, one consonant is pronounced at the end of the first syllable and the
other is pronounced at the beginning of the next vowel. Of course, consonant
blends act as one consonant sound, but non-blend neighbouring consonants will
follow this rule. When a consonant is doubled in the middle of a word, it also
follows this rule. Some examples include sub-ject, tal-ly, ab-ject, top-ple, and
haz-mat.
Once you understand and learn all these rules, you will not have any difficulty in
pronouncing English words.