TYPICAL SPELLING PATTERNS FOR CONSONANT SOUNDS

TYPICAL SPELLING PATTERNS FOR CONSONANT SOUNDS Consonants are easier than vowels in terms of spelling A consonant sound is often represented by the same consonant letter in writing: bed [bed], pin [pin], kind [kaind], take [teik], mark [ma:rk], false [fo:ls], first, joke, government, skeleton, distribute, tremble, inventive, horrible, wonderful SOUND [s]: letters s, c, sc, ps SOUND [z]: letters s, z The letter S represents two common English sounds [s] and [z] The letter S is pronounced [s] at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the word before or after a vowel or a consonant: same, seem, sit, sore, suit, sky, slim, sneak, stray, swim; sausage, master, absent, answer, listen; case, loose, sense, glimpse, serious, basis Double S is pronounced [s] and is found in the middle or at the end of the word: lesson, assume, pessimist, oppressive; class, cross, address, hopeless Exceptions: dessert [di'zərt], possess [pə'zes], scissors ['sizərz] (See Double Consonants in the section Writing.) The letter C represents the sound [s] in the position before E, I, Y: center, ceremony, circus, civil, cylinder, cyber Students often have a problem choosing between C and S in this case, because C and S occur in the same positions before the vowels E, I, Y and have the same pronunciation Compare: cent – sent, cell – sell, sense – absence, assess – excess, cinema – sing, privacy – fantasy Write such words in two columns for comparison, with pronunciation and meaning, and it will help you to memorize their spelling Also, many words of Latin origin with the letter C exist in Russian: center, circus, cycle The combination SC is pronounced [s] before E, I, Y: scent, science, fascinate, scythe In several words, the sound [s] is represented in writing by the combination PS, where P is a silent letter: psalm, pseudonym, psychology The sound [z] is usually represented by the consonant S: rose, cause, always, his, wise, was, present, poison, reason, clumsy, organism, realism, advertise, advise, comprise, raise But the letter S is never pronounced [z] at the beginning of the word, so expect the letter Z there: zone, zero, zip (The consonant Z is described at the end of this article.) The ending S/ES The ending S/ES of nouns and verbs has three different variants of pronunciation depending on the sound or letter after which it stands (The mute letter E at the end of the word is not taken into consideration in this rule.) [s] after a voiceless consonant: parks, takes, streets, writes, cuffs, myths, jumps, laughs; [z] after a voiced consonant or a vowel: kids, rides, legs, girls, rooms, chairs, robs, leaves, learns, clothes, boys, cows, goes, ties, studies; [iz] after the letters s, z, x, ch, tch, ge, dge, sh: classes, roses, prizes, quizzes, matches, oranges, bridges, dishes, fixes In this case, the ending ES is added if the word doesn't have the mute letter E at the end, and the ending S is added if mute E is there Compare: rise, rises; kiss, kisses; cage, cages; flash, flashes COMBINATION TH The combination TH may sometimes present a problem because it represents the voiced sound [ð] and the voiceless sound [θ], and there is no rule on where and which of the two sounds to pronounce But if you just write words with these sounds in two columns, look at them attentively, and read them aloud several times, it will take care of the problem The sound [ð]: the, this, that, these, those, then, they, their, there, though, other, mother, father, brother, weather, neither, bathe, breathe, clothes, soothe, northern, southern The sound [θ]: thin, thick, thank, think, thought, theater, theory, therapy, thermometer, thorough, thunder, three, through, method, author, bath, breath, cloth, teeth, truth, health, north, south (See more examples of words with the sounds [ð] and [θ] inPractice for Consonants in the section Phonetics.) SOUND [k]: k, ck, c, ch, que The sound [k] is represented in writing by the letters and combinations k, ck, c, ch, que Initial letter K representing the sound [k] is not very common in English words: keep, keen, kerchief, kernel, kettle, key, kick, kid, kill, kind, king, kiss, kit, kitchen, kitten Some of the words beginning with the letter K are of foreign origin: kaleidoscope, Kabul, kangaroo, karma, kerosene, kilogram, kinetic, kleptomania, Korea In some words, initial K is silent: knee, knife, knit, knock, knot, know A number of English names begin with the letter K: Kathleen, Karen, Kimberly, Keith, Kenneth, Kent, Kevin, Kelvin Some of the names beginning with the letter K are variants of the names with the letter C: Catherine, Katherine; Caroline, Karoline; Chris, Kris; Carl, Karl (SeeEnglish Names and the other materials about names in the section Vocabulary.) The letter K in English words is often found after another consonant: skate, skeleton, skill, skin, sky, bank, pink, blanket, napkin, mask, park The letter K stands alone after a long vowel sound, a diphthong, or a combination of vowel letters: duke, Luke, eke, Topeka, seek, break, take, joke, soak, like, look Single K at the end of the word after a short vowel sound is rare in English: sputnik, beatnik, trek, Nikky The letter combination CK is used instead of K in such cases: pack, track, sick, neck, Nick, jacket, rocket, cracker In several words, the final sound [k] is represented by QUE in writing: unique, technique, antique, physique, clique, grotesque The combination QU is pronounced [kw] at the beginning and in the middle of many English words: queen, quarter, quite, quiet, question, squad, squirrel, require, inquire LETTER C: sounds [s], [k] The letter C represents two sounds: [s] and [k], and there are strict rules on where and which of the two sounds is pronounced Letter C: sound [s] The letter C is pronounced [s] before the vowels E, I, Y The sound [s]: celebrate, center, certainly, ceremony, cemetery, receive, race, price The sound [s]: cider, cigarette, civil, circus The sound [s]: cycle, cylinder, Cyprus Letter C: sound [k] The letter C is pronounced [k] before the vowels A, O, U and before consonants The sound [k]: cat, cabin, cake, call, care, carry, cancel, cast, delicate, intricate The sound [k]: come, complete, cord, cost, country, acoustic, decorate The sound [k]: cut, custom, cute, current, curious, cucumber, calculate The sound [k]: clean, clip, claim, cloud, craft, cream, credit, crown Combination SC The combination SC follows the same rule: SC is pronounced [s] before the vowels E, I, Y, but SC is pronounced [sk] before the vowels A, O, U and before consonants The sound [s]: scent, science, fascist, scythe, miscellaneous The sound [sk]: scan, scale, escape, scope, scorch, scuba, school Exception: sceptic ['skeptik], sceptical, scepticism (In AmE, mostly skeptic, skeptical, skepticism.) Combination CC The combination CC follows the same rule: CC is pronounced [ks] before the vowels E, I, Y, but CC is pronounced [k] before the vowels A, O, U and before consonants The sound [ks]: accent, access, accept, eccentric, succeed, accident, coccyx The sound [k]: accommodations, accordingly, account, accuse, occur, acclaim Letter C in the suffixes The letter C in the suffix -ic is pronounced [k]: panic, traffic, magic, static, systematic, democratic, economic, economical, historic, historical, practical, politics The letter C in the suffixes -ice, ence, ance, cy is pronounced [s]: notice, practice, service; competence, audience, silence; resistance, reluctance, arrogance; agency, democracy, efficiency, policy COMBINATION CH The combination CH represents the sound [ch] in typically English words: chair, chess, child, chief, choke, achieve, reach, rich, which, church, such, bunch The combination CH represents the sound [k] in words of Greek or Latin origin: chemistry, chaos, charisma, chlorine, chorus, archaeology, archaic, archive, archipelago, architect, echo, mechanic, monarchy, anarchy, synchronize, psychologist, school, scholar The combination CH represents the sound [sh] in words of French origin: champagne, chandelier, charlatan, chef, chevron, chic, chiffon, cache, moustache, machine, parachute At the end of the word the sound [ch] is also represented by TCH in writing: catch, match, watch, pitch, pitcher, butcher The sound [ch] is also represented by the combination TU in the suffix: departure, feature, furniture, literature, picture, lecture, adventure, adventurous, nature, torture, signature, gesture, sculpture, century LETTER G: sounds [g], [j] The letter G before vowels represents either the sound [g] as in "go" or the sound [j] as in "just" Letter G: sound [g] The letter G is pronounced [g] before the vowels A, O, U and before consonants The sound [g]: gain, again, game, gate, gap, Gary, gas, gather, gaunt, gay, legal, pagan The sound [g]: go, goal, gold, gone, good, goose, gourd, gourmet, govern, gown, dragon The sound [g]: gull, gum, gun, gust, gut, guy, argue, argument, regular, singular, angular, disgust The sound [g]: glare, glide, global, glow, grand, grim, grip, gross, pygmy, enigma, ugly, stagnant Letter G before E, I The letter G before the vowels E, I can represent the sound [g] or [j] There is no rule that could help us to decide which of the two sounds to pronounce in such cases, so you have to memorize such words The sound [g]: get, geyser, gear, geese, eager, anger, finger, linger, target The sound [j]: gentle, gender, general, gelatin, genius, geology, gesture, German, legend, sergeant, vegetable, gorgeous, carriage, marriage, passage, language, voyage, college, change, manage, huge, urge, urgent, danger, stranger The sound [g]: give, gift, giddy, gimmick, girl, girdle, giggle, gilded, begin The sound [j]: giant, gin, gist, gigolo, giraffe, magic, engine, imagine, region, religious The letter G before Y is pronounced [j]: gym, gypsy, gyro, Egypt, energy Single G at the end of the word is pronounced [g]: bag, rag, lag, dig, fig, log, beg, Meg, rug Double G is usually pronounced [g]: egg, giggle, wriggle, toggle, struggle, aggressive, reggae But GG is pronounced [j] in the words exaggerate, suggest Sound [j]: j, ge, dge The sound [j] at the beginning and in the middle of the word is often represented by the letter J: jet, jumbo, just, Jane, John, jelly, jealous, jury, majority, pajamas For studying, it would be helpful to arrange words with the sound [j] represented by the letters G and J in two columns on one page: gin, jinx; gene, jeans; Gene, Jean; gym, Jim The sound [j] at the end of the word is often represented in writing by the combination DGE: bridge, edge, hedge, judge, knowledge, cartridge, badger, budget, fidget But there are many words in which the sound [j] is represented by GE at the end of the word (see above: Letter G before E, I) It may help to know that DGE is part of the root and occurs after a short vowel sound (compare: hedge – huge), while GE occurs in various positions in the word and is also part of the noun-forming suffix AGE (marriage, postage) But the best way to memorize words ending in GE and DGE is to arrange them in two columns on one page for comparison Note: Sound [zh] The combination GE is pronounced [zh] at the end of some words of foreign origin: beige, garage, mirage, montage, prestige, rouge The sound [zh] is also represented by the combinations SI and SU in the suffix: erosion, explosion, vision, leisure, pleasure, seizure, usually, visual COMBINATION GH The combination GH at the beginning of the word is pronounced [g]: ghost, ghastly, Ghana, ghetto, ghoul The combination GH at the end of some words is pronounced [f]: enough, rough, tough, laugh, cough The combination GH at the end of some other words is silent: though [ðou]; bough [bau]; plough (BrE), plow (AmE) [plau]; through [θru:] The combination GH at the end of the word before T is usually silent: bought [bo:t], caught [ko:t], thought [θo:t], drought [draut], night [nait], height [hait], weight [weit], straight [streit], daughter But GH is pronounced [f] before T in the words draught, laughter COMBINATION GU The combination GU at the beginning of the word before a vowel is usually pronounced [g]: guard, guardian, guarantee, guess, guest, guide, guilt, guitar; disguise, misguide, unguarded The combination GUE is pronounced [g] at the end of the word: catalogue, dialogue, fatigue, league, vague, rogue In American English, some of these words have two variants of spelling: catalogue, catalog; dialogue, dialog; monologue, monolog; prologue, prolog The combination GU is pronounced [gw] in some words of Latin and Spanish origin: language, lingua, linguistics, guava, Guatemala, Nicaragua, distinguish SOUND [f]: f, ff, ph, gh The sound [f] is usually represented by the consonant F: file, full, faint, flame, flick, flight, fly, free, fry, prefer, defend, after, safe, scarf, half, beef, roof Double F is usually found in the syllable with a short vowel sound: puff, cuff, cliff, riff, traffic Double F is also found in cases where the prefix ends in F, and the root starts with F: affair, affirm, afford, differ, effect, offend, offer, suffer, suffix The combination PH is pronounced [f]: photograph, physics, phonetics, philosophy, alphabet, symphony, apostrophe The combination GH represents the sound [f] at the end of the word: enough, rough, tough, laugh, cough 10 SOUND [sh] In English words, the sound [sh] is usually represented by the combination SH: she, shine, shark, shoe, rush, fish The combination CH is pronounced [sh] in words of French origin: champagne, chandelier, charlatan, chef, chevron, chic, chiffon, cache, machine There are several consonant + vowel combinations that are pronounced [sh], namely, TI, CI, SI, SU, and they are usually in the suffix or before it The combination CI: appreciate, associate; social, official, special, financial; musician, politician, magician; ancient, efficient; delicious, suspicious, precious, vicious, conscious The combination SI: extension, expansion, comprehension; discussion, expression, fission, mission The combination TI: negotiate, initiate, substantiate; essential, confidential, initial, martial; patient, ambitious, cautious; condition, section, organization The combination SU: sugar, sure, sensual, assure, censure, fissure, pressure, issue, tissue 11 LETTER X and COMBINATION XH The letter X and the combination XH represent the sounds [ks]: exercise, exclaim, exclude, expect, experiment, explain, extreme, exhibition The letter X and the combination XH represent the sounds [gz]: exact, example, execute, exempt, exert, exist, exhaust, exhibit, exhilarate Some words with X or XH have two variants of pronunciation: exile ['egzail], ['eksail]; exhale [eks'heil], [ig'zeil]; exhume [ig'zu:m], [eks'hyu:m] In some words, there is C after EX: exceed, excellent, except, excite, excuse, Excalibur, excavate In such cases, the pronunciation follows the rules of C before vowels: [ks] exceed, excellent, except, excite; [ks+k] excavate, Excalibur, excuse In some words of Greek origin, the letter X is pronounced [z]: xenon ['zenon], ['zi:non]; xenophobia, Xerox ['zi:roks], xylophone 12 LETTER Z The sound [z] is often represented by the consonant S in writing: rose [rouz], wise, was, always, his, present, resist, music, poison, reason, busy, clumsy, organism, realism, advertise, advise, comprise, raise, surprise But the letter S is never pronounced [z] at the beginning of the word, so when you hear [z] as the first sound of the word, you can be practically sure that this word is spelled with initial Z The letter Z is usually pronounced [z]: zebra, zeal, zenith, zero, Zeus, zinc, zip, zipper, zombie, zone, zoo; dozen, citizen, horizon, razor, enzyme, ozone, plaza, lazy, crazy, quiz; seize, organize, realize, apologize, modernize Double Z is pronounced [z]: drizzle, sizzle, puzzle, mezzanine; buzz, jazz, fuzzy The letters Z and ZZ are pronounced [ts] in some words of foreign origin: pizza ['pi:tsə]; mezzo ['metsou], ['mezou]; Mozart ['moutsa:rt]; mozzarella [motsə'relə]; Nazi ['na:tsi:] In several foreign borrowings the sound [ts] is represented by the letters TZ: waltz, chintz, blitz, blitzkrieg, Fitzgerald Note the following spelling and pronunciation variants of the word "tsar": tsar, tzar [za:r] or [tsa:r]; czar [za:r] 13 SOUND [y] as in YES The consonant sound [y] is represented by the letter Y before a vowel, mostly at the beginning of the word: yacht, Yale, Yankee, yarn, yard, yawn, year, yearn, yeast, yell, yellow, yelp, Yemen, yen, yes, yesterday, yet, yield, yoga, yogurt, yoke, yolk, New York, you, young, Yukon, yule; beyond, canyon, Tanya, Tonya, lawyer The consonant sound [y] is also represented by the vowel I in certain positions in the word after a consonant before another vowel: billiards, billion, familiar, milliard, million, onion, junior, senior, union In a number of cases, the consonant sound [y] is not represented by any letter in writing, for example, in the case of the vowel U when it is pronounced [yu:]: use [yu:z], unit ['yu:nit], cube [kyu:b], music, human, few, fuel, feudal, view ADDING -S/-ES TO NOUNS AND VERBS Adding the Ending s/es to Nouns and Verbs The material below describes the rules of adding the ending s/es to the final consonants and vowels of nouns and verbs The ending s/es is added to nouns to form the plural form of nouns (a book – books) The ending s/es is added to verbs to form the third person singular in the Simple Present Tense (he / she / it works) The rules of adding s/es to nouns and verbs are mostly the same In most cases, the ending S is added The choice of the ending S or ES depends on the sound or letter to which the ending is added Pronunciation of s/es The ending s/es has three variants of pronunciation depending on the sound or letter after which it stands (Mute letter E at the end of the word is not taken into consideration in this rule.) After a voiceless consonant: [s] – parks, takes, lacks, streets, writes, cats, sits, myths, jumps, laughs, safes, cuffs, puffs After a voiced consonant or a vowel: [z] – legs, reads, robs, leaves, saves, girls, rooms, tons, chairs, clothes, boys, keys, cows, toes, ties, studies After the letters s, z, x, ch, tch, sh, dge, ge: [iz] – classes, gases, releases, loses, prizes, quizzes, boxes, fixes, churches, matches, dishes, bridges, oranges, garages Adding the ending S In most cases, the ending S is added to nouns and verbs without any change of the letter to which it is added Nouns: table – tables rug – rugs; Verbs: street – streets; give – (he) gives; cloth – cloths; take – (he) takes; cow – cows; care – (he) cares; toe – toes; see – (he) sees; tie – ties; lie – (he) lies; camera – cameras; sit – (he) sits; flea – fleas; pick – (he) picks; name – names; puff – (he) puffs Adding the ending ES After s, z, x, ch, tch, sh, the ending ES is added If the word ends in mute E after the above letters (or ends in dge, ge), the ending S is added (pronounced [iz]) (Or one can say that the final mute letter E is dropped in this case, and the ending ES is added.) Nouns: church – churches; class – classes; match – matches; price – prices; dish – dishes; quiz – quizzes; bridge – bridges; rose – roses; orange – oranges; fax – faxes; garage – garages ax / axe – axes; Verbs: teach – (he) teaches; kiss – (he) kisses; catch – (he) catches; release – (he) releases; wash – (he) washes; buzz – (he) buzzes; judge – (he) judges; lose – (he) loses; manage – (he) manages; choose – (he) chooses; rouge – (he) rouges relax – (he) relaxes; Note: If names or family names end in s, z, x, ch, tch, sh, the ending ES (pronounced [iz]) is added to form the plural For example: Morris – two Morrises; Max – three Maxes; the Douglases (family members whose last name is Douglas); the Joneses (members of the Jones family); the Foxes; the Hooches; the Nashes Usually, the surname in the plural is used when referring to husband and wife Adding S to final Y If final Y doesn't form a syllable (Y stands after a vowel letter), Y doesn't change, and the ending S is added play – plays; say – says; ray – rays; boy – boys; toy – toys; key – keys Adding ES to final Y If final Y forms a syllable (Y stands alone after a consonant letter), the ending ES is added, and Y changes to I Nouns: Verbs: story – stories; study – (he) studies, lady – ladies; copy – (he) copies; family – families; try – (he) tries; sky – skies; fry – (he) fries; try – tries; deny – (he) denies; fly – flies rely – (he) relies Note: In the case of names or family names ending in Y, the ending S is added to form the plural, and the letter Y doesn't change For example: Mary – two Marys; Tony – two Tonys; the Crosbys (family members whose last name is Crosby); the Rileys (members of the family by the name Riley) Adding s/es to final O If a verb ends in O, the ending ES (pronounced [z]) is added in all cases go – (he) goes; – (he) does; veto – (he) vetoes; echo – (he) echoes If a noun ends in O, the ending S (pronounced [z]) is added in a number of cases kilo – kilos; radio – radios; kimono – kimonos; scenario – scenarios; logo – logos; silo – silos; metro – metros; solo – solos; photo – photos; soprano – sopranos; piano – pianos; studio – studios portfolio – portfolios; If a noun ends in O, the ending ES ([z]) is added in some other cases echo – echoes; embargo – embargoes; hero – heroes; Negro – Negroes; potato – potatoes; tomato – tomatoes; torpedo – torpedoes; veto – vetoes In some cases, both spelling variants are considered standard cargo – cargoes / cargos; halo – halos / haloes; motto – mottoes / mottos; tornado – tornadoes / tornados; volcano – volcanoes / volcanos; zero – zeros / zeroes Note: If a verb or a noun ends in OO, the ending S (pronounced [z]) is added in all cases: boo – boos, moo – moos, cuckoo – cuckoos Nouns ending in F, FE Some nouns that end in F or FE in the singular form the plural by changing F, FE to "ves" (pronounced [vz]) leaf – leaves; elf – elves; loaf – loaves; thief – thieves; half – halves; sheaf – sheaves; calf – calves; life – lives; wolf – wolves; wife – wives; self – selves; knife – knives shelf – shelves; But some nouns that end in F, FE form the plural in the regular way by adding the ending S (pronounced [s]) belief – beliefs; proof – proofs; chief – chiefs; roof – roofs; handkerchief – handkerchiefs; safe – safes; dwarf – dwarfs; gulf – gulfs goof – goofs; Several nouns have two plural variants scarf – scarfs / scarves; wharf – wharves / wharfs; hoof – hoofs / hooves; turf – turfs / turves Nouns that end in FF add the ending S to form the plural: sheriff – sheriffs, tariff – tariffs, cliff – cliffs, cuff – cuffs, puff – puffs Exception: staff (in the meaning stick, rod, pole) – staves / staffs Note: Verbs ending in F, FE, FF not change when adding the ending S: (he) knifes, (he) loafs, (he) wolfs, (he) surfs, (he) bluffs Adding s/es to compound nouns In most cases, the plural ending s/es is added to the last component of the compound noun according to the rules described above greenhouse – greenhouses; mailbox – mailboxes; stepmother – stepmothers; grown-up – grown-ups; take-off / takeoff – take-offs / takeoffs; fruit juice – fruit juices; train station – train stations; computer monitor – computer monitors But in some hyphenated compounds and in some compound nouns written as two words, the plural ending s/es is added to the first component (i.e., to the main noun in these compound nouns) aide-de-camp – aides-de-camp; attorney general – attorneys general; commander-in-chief – commanders-in-chief; coup d'etat – coups d'etat; court martial – courts martial; governor-general – governors-general; man-of-war – men-of-war; mother-in-law – mothers-in-law; passer-by – passers-by Some compound nouns have a peculiar way of forming the plural woman doctor – women doctors; still life – still lifes [...]... in F, FE Some nouns that end in F or FE in the singular form the plural by changing F, FE to "ves" (pronounced [vz]) leaf – leaves; elf – elves; loaf – loaves; thief – thieves; half – halves; sheaf – sheaves; calf – calves; life – lives; wolf – wolves; wife – wives; self – selves; knife – knives shelf – shelves; But some nouns that end in F, FE form the plural in the regular way by adding the ending... – gulfs goof – goofs; Several nouns have two plural variants scarf – scarfs / scarves; wharf – wharves / wharfs; hoof – hoofs / hooves; turf – turfs / turves Nouns that end in FF add the ending S to form the plural: sheriff – sheriffs, tariff – tariffs, cliff – cliffs, cuff – cuffs, puff – puffs Exception: staff (in the meaning stick, rod, pole) – staves / staffs Note: Verbs ending in F, FE, FF do... d'etat; court martial – courts martial; governor-general – governors-general; man-of-war – men-of-war; mother-in-law – mothers-in-law; passer-by – passers-by Some compound nouns have a peculiar way of forming the plural woman doctor – women doctors; still life – still lifes