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Guide to English Spelling
Why is English spelling exceptionally irregular?
It is well known that English words derive mainly from old German and Norman French, and that its alphabetof 26 letters makes it impossible to represent its 43 speech sounds with just one symbol. But that is not why
many English spellings, such as daughter, brought and people, are now irregular, while their German and
French relatives have much better spellings (Tochter, brachte, peuple).
The pronunciations of all three languages have changed since 1066. But only in English have numerous
spellings become highly unreliable guides to pronunciation (sound, southern, soup), and spellings for identical
sounds have ended up exceptionally varied (blue, shoe, flew, through, to, you, two, too, gnu).
The consistency of English spelling was first seriously corrupted during the reinstatement of English as the
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official language of England in 15th
century. It suffered even more at the hands of foreign printers during the
bible wars of the 16th century. Sadly, there has never been a serious, co-ordinated attempt to remedy the
various accidental and deliberate corruptions of the alphabetic principle (of representing speech sounds in a
regular manner) in English.
The English spelling system
As explained by Masha Bell March 2011
English has 43.5 sounds: 43 as shown in bold letters in the words below
At, rain, air, car, sauce, bed, chip, dog,
egg, eel, herb, fish, garden, house,
ink, pie, jug, kite, lips, man, nose, ring,
pot, toe, coin, food, wood, order, out,
pin, rug, sun, shop, tap, this, thing,
up, cue, van, window, yak, zip, television
and an unstressed, often barely audible, variously spelt half-vowel
which occurs mainly in endings and prefixes (fatten, abandon, grammar; decide, divide).
If English had a completely regular spelling system, as Finnish and Korean do, it would have no more than 44
spellings, and learning to read and write English would be as easy as those two languages. Most alphabetic
writing systems, however, do not have a completely one to one relationship between their sounds andspellings, with a few more spellings than sounds.
The European average is around 50. Learning to read and write English is exceptionally difficult because it
has 185 spellings for 44 sounds.
The basic English spelling system has 91 patterns, as shown in bold letters below:
80 main spellings, 8 for unstressed endings, 2 prefixes and the consonants doubling rule:
Cat; plate, play; air; car; sauce, saw; bed;
c/at/ot/ut, crab/ clap, kite/kept, comic, pick, seek, risk; pocket;
chat, catch;
dog; end; eel, funny; herb; fish; garden; house;
ink; bite, by; jug, bridge, oblige;
lips; man; nose, ring;
pot, want, quarrel; bone, toe; old; coin, toy;
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food; good; order, wart, quarter, more; out, now;
pin; quick; rug;
sun, face, emergency;
shop, station, cautious, facial, musician;
tap, delicate; this; thing;
cup; cube, cue;
van, have, river; window;
fix; yes; zip, wise; vision, treasure.
8 unstressed endings (doable fatal, single, ordinary,
flatten, presence, present, other),
2 prefixes (decide, invite)
and the consonant doubling rule for keeping stressed vowels short
(bitter biter).
It can be seen that one reason why English has more spellings than sounds is because many sounds are spelt
differently in different positions of words (e.g. plate/ play; ship /station). The main reason for the great
number of spellings, however, is that English also has a further94 unpredictable alternative spellings (e.g.
plate wait, straight, eight, great).
Only 11 of the 91 main English spellings have no exceptions:
bed, jug/ jog/ jab, gorge, ring, single, pin, musician, this, thing, van, television.
80 English spelling patterns are undermined by one or more alternatives
Cat - plait meringue
plate - wait weight straight great vein reign table
dahlia champagne fete
play - they weighballetcafe matineeair - care bear aerial theirthere questionnaire
carare + (Southern Engl. bath)
sauce - caught bought always tall crawl
saw - (UK also: or, four, more)
C/at/ot/ut - character, kangaroo, queue
crab/ clap - chrome
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lilac - stomach, anorak
neck- cheque
Chat - picture
clutch much
Dad blonde
End - head any said Wednesday friend leisure leopard bury
her - turn bird learn word journey
Eel - eat even ceiling field police people me key skidebris quay
jolly - trolley movie corgi
Fish - photo stuffrough
Garden - ghastly guard
House who
Ink - mystery pretty sieve women busy build
bite - might style mild kind eider height climb island indict sign
my - high pie rye buy I eye
Jelly, jig gentle, ginger
fidget - digit
Kite/ kept - chemistry
seek- unique
risk- disc mosque
Lips - llama
Mum - dumb autumn
Nose - knot gonegnome mnemonic
On - cough sausage; want wont; quarrel - quod
mole - bowl roll soul oldmould boast most goes mauve
toe - go dough sew cocoa pharaoh oh depot
Oil oyster toy - buoy
food - rude shrewd move group fruit truth tomb manoeuvre
blue do shoe throughgood - would put woman courier
Order board court
wart, quart worn quorn
more - soardoorfourwarswore abhor
Out town; now - plough
Quick - acquire choir
Rug - rhubarb write
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Sun - centrescene
face - case
fancy - fantasy
Shop - chutesure moustache liquorice
ignition - mission pension suspicion fashion
ambitious - delicious luscious
facial- spatial
Tap, pet -pterodactyl two debt
delicate - democrat
Up - front some couple blood
cute - you newt neutral suit beauty Tuesday nuclear
cue - few view menu
have - spiv
river - chivvy
Window - whichfix - accept except exhibit
Yak - use
Zip xylophone, rose - froze
measure - azure
Endings and prefixes:
loveable - credible
vertical - novel anvilpetrol
ordinary - machinery inventory century carpentry
fasten - abandon truncheon orphan goblin certain
absence - balanceabsent - pleasant
father - authorarmournectarcentre injure quota
decide - divide
indulge - endure
Consonant doubling:
merry very - serrated
(regular missing - surplus)
372 - 384 158)
The listing above gives just one example of the different ways in which each spelling pattern is undermined;
and a few patterns have no other exceptions (e.g. cat - plait meringue), but some have very many. The
ee-sound of beef, for example, is not spelt ee in at least 320 words (e.g. leaf, grief, even). Between them, all
the different exceptions create a rote-learning list of at least 3700 common words. They are the reason
why speakers of English take an average of 10 years to become proficient spellers. Some manage it in less
time, but many also get totally defeated by this learning burden.
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English spelling makes learning to read harder too
This is partly because children have to learn to pronounce 185 spellings, instead of just around 50. The
greatest English reading difficulties, however, are caused by the 69 spellings which have more than one
pronunciation, shown in the next table. They make at least 2000 English words not completely decodable.
69 English spellings have more than one pronunciation
a: and apron, any, father
a-e: came camera
ai: wait plait, said
al: always algebra
all: tall - shall
are: care - are
au: autumn - laugh, mauve
-ate: to deliberate - a deliberate act
ay: stays - says
cc: success - soccer
ce: centre - celtic
ch: chop chorus, choir, chute
cqu: acquire - lacquer
e: end english
-e: he - the
ea: mean - meant, break
ear: ear early, heart, bear
-ee: tree - matinee
e-e: even seven, fete
ei: veil - ceiling, eider, their, leisure
eigh: weight - height
ost: lost - post
-o: go - do
oa: road - broad
o-e: bone done, gone
-oes: toes does, shoes
-oll: roll - doll
omb: tombola - bomb, comb, tomb
oo: boot - foot, brooch
-ot: despot - depot
ou: sound - soup, couple
ough: bough - rough, through, trough
ought: bought - drought
oul: should - shoulder
our: sour - four, journey
ow: how - low
qu: queen bouquet
s: sun sure
sc: scent - luscious, molusc
-se: rose - dose
ss: possible - possession
th: this - thing
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eo: people - leopard, leotard
ere: here there, were
-et: tablet - chalet
eau: beauty beau
-ew: few - sew
-ey: they - monkey
ge: gem - get
gi: ginger - girl
gy: gym gynaecologist
ho: house - hour
i: ink kind
-ine: define engine, machine
ie: field - friend, sieve
imb: limb climb
ign: signature - sign
mn: amnesia - mnemonic
-ture: picture - mature
u: cup push
ui: build fruit, ruin
wa: was wag
wh: what - who
wo: won - woman, women, womb
wor: word worn
x: box - xylophone, anxious
-y-: type - typical
--y: daddy - apply
z: zip azure.
All common English words with phonically unreliable letters
can be seen below, listed in alphabetical order of the spellings with variable sounds.
At the very end is a list of the 103 English words which have different pronunciations in different contexts,
followed by 190 high frequency words which most impede the reading progress of beginners.
Some spellings, a for example, have so many exceptional pronunciations that all the words with them really
have to be learnt as sight words (rather than by decoding). Such words are therefore listed together with thecommon words in which they have a regular pronunciation.
* Words marked with an asterisk have variable pronunciation.
A is particularly tricky for learners ofstandard UK English because in this accent it is often
pronounced ah/ar; other pronunciation problems of the lettera, when it is pronounced like ai in aim, au
in haul, o in not, e in bed, affect all readers.
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A, able, advance, after, aghast, ah, almond, almost, also, altar, alter, alternative, always, amble, ample,
an, and, angle, answer, ant, antler, any, apple, April, apron, armada, ask, at, await, awake, award, aware,
away, awe, awful, awkward, awning, axle, baffle, bag, bald, ban, banana, band, bang, bash, bask,
bastard, bat, bath,battle, black, blank, blast, bra,brag, bramble, branch, brand, cable, cackle, calf, calm,
camp, can, canal, candle, cap, cash, cask, cast, caste, castle, cat, catch, cattle, chalk, chance, chant,
chasten, chastity, chat, clam, clamp, clan, clang, clank, clap, clash, clasp, crab, crackle, craft, cramp,
crank, crash, dab, dabble, daft, dahlia, dam, damp, dance, dangle, dank, dappled, dazzle, disaster, drab,
draft, drag, drama, drank, dwarf, enhance, example, expanse, fable, fact, fad, falter, fan, fang, fast,
fasten, fat, father, flabbergast, flag, flan, flank, flap, flash, flask, flat, frank, gabble, gable, gag, gala, gang,
gash, gasp, ghastly, glad, glance, grab, graft, gram, gran, grand, graph, grapple, grasp, hack, had, half,
halfpenny, halt, halve, ham, hand, handle, hang, hank, has, haste, hat, hatch, instalment, jab, jack, jam,
jangle, khaki, la, lab, lack, lag, lamp, lance, land, lap, lash, last, latch, lather, ma, mad, mama, man,
mangle, many, map, mash, mask, mass*, mast, mat, match, maths, pa, pack, pact, pad, paddle, palm,
paltry, pan, panorama,pants, papa, past, paste, pasty x 2 [paisty, pasty], pastry, pat, patch, path,patrol,
piano, plan, plank, plant, pram, prance, prank, prattle, psalm, pyjamas, quack, quadrangle, qualify,
quality, quantity, quarrel, quarry, quarter, quartz, quay, rack, raffle, raft, ramble, ran, rang, rank,
rascal, rash, rat, rather, rattle, reward, sack, sad, saddle, sag, salami, salt, sand, sang, sank, sap, sat, scald,
scalp, scan, scramble, scrap, scratch, shaft, shah, shambles, shrank, slack, slam, slang, slant, slap, slash,smack, smash, snack, snap, snatch, soprano, spa, span, spangle, spank, spat, sprang, sprat, squabble,
squad, squander, squash, squat, stab, stable, stack, stag, stalk, stamp, stance, stand, straggle, strangle,
strap, strata, swag, swagger, swallow, swam, swamp, swan, swap, table, tack, tackle, tag, talk, tan, tangle,
tank, tap, task, tax, than, thank, that, thatch, thrash, track, tract, tram, tramp, trample, trance, trap, twang,
van, vast, waddle, waft, wag, wagon, walk, wallow, walnut, walrus, waltz, wan, wand, wander, wangle,
want, wanton, war, warble, ward, warm, warn, warp, warrant, warren, warrior, wart, was, wash,
wasp, watch, water, wattle, wax, yap, zap.
Au A few words do not have the main sound of au, as in daub, gaudy, autum.
Assault, aunt, Australia, because, cauliflower, chauffeur, draught, fault, gauge, hydraulic, laugh, laureate,
laurel, mauve, restaurant, sausages, vault;
Ch is not always as in chat. It can spell k, sh and a few other sounds.
Ache, anchor, archaeology, architect, architecture, avalanche, bronchial, bronchitis, chalet,
chameleon, chamois, champagne, chaos, character, charade, chasm, chef, chemical, chemistry,
chivalrous, choir [quier], cholesterol, chorus, christen, Christmas, chrysalis, chute, crochet, echo,
lichen* [litchen or liken], machine, mechanical, mechanism, microfiche, monarch, orchestra, orchid,
parachute, psychology, richochet, schedule, scheme, spinach [spinnage], stomach, technique, yacht
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[yot].
Ea spells mostly ee. The other sound for it is mainly a short e, with a few exceptions,
the ai of air or train, silent in beauty, the a in art, eeya in linear and eea in theatre
Already, appeal, appear, area, beach, beacon, bead, beak, beam, bean, bear, beard, beast, beat,
beauty, beaver, beneath, bleach, bleak, bleat, bread, breadth, break, breakfast, breast, breath,
breathe, cease, cheap, cheat, clean, cleanliness, cleanse, clear, colleague, conceal, congeal, creak,
cream, crease, create, creature, dead, deaf, deal, dealt, dean, dear, death, decrease, defeat,
disease, dread, dream, dreamt, dreary, each, eager, eagle, ear, earl, early, earn, earnest, earth,
ease, Easter, east, eat, eaves, endeavour, fear, feast, feat, feather, feature, flea, freak, gear,
gleam, glean, grease, great, head, heal, health, heap, hear, heard, heart, hearth, heat, heath,
heathen, heather, heave, heaven, heavy, hydrangea, increase, instead, jealous, jeans, knead,
laureate, leach, lead x 2 [leed, led], leaf, league, leak, lean, leant, leap, leapt, learn, lease, leash,least, leather, leave, linear, meadow, meagre, meal, mean, meant, measles, measure, meat, near,
neat, nuclear, ordeal, pageant, peace, peach, peak, peal, peanut, pear, pearl, peas, peasant, peat,
pheasant, plea, plead, pleasant, please, pleasure, pleat, preach, queasy, reach, read x 2 [leed, led],
ready, real, reality, really, realm, reap, rear, reason, rehearse, release, repeat, retreat, reveal,
scream, sea, seal, seam, sear, search, season, seat, sheaf, shear, sheath, smear, sneak, speak, spear,
spread, squeak, squeal, squeamish, steady, steak, steal, stealthy, steam, streak, stream, swear,
sweat, tea, teach, teak, team, tears x 2 [teers, tairs], tease, theatre, thread, threat, treacherous,
treacle, treadmill, treason, treasure, treat, treaty, veal, weak, wealth, wean, weapon, wear,
weary, weasel, weather, weave, wheat, wreak, wreath, year, yearn, yeast, zeal, zealous.
Ge, gi and gy mostly have the sounds je and ji, as in gentle,gingerandgym.
In the words below the g is hard, as ingap andgot.
Anger, bogey, eager, finger, fishmonger, forget, gear, geese, get, geyser, hamburger, hunger,
linger, target, tiger, together;
begin, corgi, giddy, gift, giggle, gild, gills, gilt, girder, girdle, girl, give, given, forgive,
longevity, longitude; gymkhana.
Ie spells the ee sound, but several other sounds too:
ie oftie, e ofend, -ye ofdryer, ee-ye, i ofsitand je.
The phonic overlap with ei (shown next) adds to the reading problems caused by this
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spelling.
Achieve, alien, amplifier, ancient, anxiety, barrier,belief, believe, brief, carrier, cavalier, chandelier,
chief, client, conscience, convenient, crier, die, diesel, diet, field, fiend, fierce, friend, frontier, glacier,
glockenspiel, grief, grieve, handkerchief, hygiene, ingredient, interview, lenient, lie, lieutenant
[leftennant], medieval, mischief, movie, niece, obedient, oriental,pannier, patient, pie, piece, pier,
pierce, pliers, premier, priest, proprietor, quiet, relief, relieve, review, science, series, shield, shriek,
siege, sieve, society, soldier, soviet, spaniel, species, thief, thieve, tie, tier, twentieth, variety, vie, view,wheelie, wield, yield.
Ei can also spell the ee sound and several others: ai of rain, e ofbed, ie oftie, iofbit.
Ceiling, conceit, conceive, deceit, deceive, deign, eight, either*, Fahrenheit, feign, foreign, forfeit,
freight, heifer, height, heir, kaleidoscope, leisure*, neigh, neither*, protein, receipt, receive, reign,
reindeer, reinforce, reins, seize, sheikh, skein, sleigh, sleight, sovereign, their, veil, vein, weigh,
weight, weir, weird.
Eo The few word with eo have highly variable sounds.
Geography, geology, theology, jeopardy, leopard, people, leotard.
I followed by two consonants is normally short (mint), but in words listed below it has a long sound as in
line.
Align, behind, benign, bible biblical, bind, blind, child, climb, consign, design, find, grind, idle,
indict, kind - kindle, kindred, mild, mind, ninth, pint, resign, rind, sign; rifle, stifle, title, trifle -
triple, whilst, wild - wilderness.
Missing or misleading doubled consonants
Vowels followed by one consonant and another vowel are supposed to be long,
e.g. game, legal, time, bone, tune,
Short vowels, in words of more than one syllable, should be followed by doubled consonants,
e.g.grammar, beggar, imminent, bonny, button,
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or ck and dge, as in chicken and badger;
but manny words with a short vowel do not have a doubled consonant,
have irregular spellings for their consonants (e.g. acid - cf. massive) and
sometimes have irregular spellings for their short vowels too (e.g. any).
These irregularities help to obscure vowel length and make learning to read English harder.
Cabinet, cabaret, cabin, elaborate, fabulous, habit, nebula, liberal, liberty, tribute, probable, robin.
Vacuum, decade, executive, recognise, record (noun), second, secular, liquor, liquorice, crocodile,
documents.
Academy, adequate, radical, radish, already credit, dedicated, edible, edit, educate, federal,
medal, medical, meadow, pedal, pedigree, ready, steady, hideous, video, body, modern, modest,
produce (noun), study.
Caf, refuge, refuse (noun), heifer, magnificent, significant, profit,
Agony, dragon, flagon, hexagonal, wagon, negative, brigand, frigate;
magic, tragic, legend, legislate, regiment, register, vegetable, pigeon, religion, rigid, logic;
Analysis, balance, calendar, chalet, galaxy, italic, morality, palace, palate, palette, reality, salad,
salary, salon, talent, talon, valentine, valiant, valid, value, vitality, celery, delegate, delicacy,
deluge, develop, element, eligible, helicopter, jealous, melody, melon, pelican, relevant, relic,
skeleton, telescope, zealous, ability, bilious, military, ventriloquist, polythene, cylinder, abolish,colony, column, demolish, holiday, olive, knowledge, policy, politics, quality , solemn, solid,
tolerate, volume , voluntary, colour.
Amateur, camel, camera, damage, dynamic, enamel, famine, famished, laminate, cemetery,
chemical, democrat, emerald, epidemic, memory, remedy, lemon, feminine, premise, semi, criminal,
eliminate, limit, timid, image, abominable, comet, comic, dominate, domino, economic, prominent,
promise, vomit.
Animal, anorak, banish, banister, canopy, manage, manor, organic, panel, panic, spaniel, vanish,
manual, benefit, any, enemy, energy, menace, many, penetrate, venison, lieutenant, aluminium,
cinema, clinical, cynical, synagogue, synonym, continue, finish, linear, minimal, minister,
minute*, opinion, sinister, spinach, vinegar, anonymous, astonish, conifer, economy, electronic,
mnemonic, monastery, monarch, monument, supersonic, tonic, honey, money, onion.
Capital, capitol, chapel, rapid, tapestry, epic, leper, tepid, separate, typical, copy, opera,
operate, proper, property, topic, popular, tropics;
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Arab, arable, arid, asparagus, baron, caramel, caravan, caricature, carol, chariot, charity,
clarity, comparison, garage, parasol, parish, transparent, America, beret, bury, ceremony, cherish,
derelict, herald, heritage, heroine, heron, merit, peril, perish, sincerity, sterilise, therapist, very,
,conspiracy, empirical, lyric, miracle,pyramid, spirit, syrup, tyranny, authority, coral, florist,
forest, historic, horoscope, laurel, majority, minority, moral, orange, priority, quarantine,
thorough, courage, nourish;
Acid (cf. massive) capacity, pacifist, recipe, specify, specimen, decimal, chrysalis, electricity,explicit, municipal, participate, precipice, publicity, simplicity, solicitor, velocity, sausage;
Atom, baton, catalogue, catapult, category, compatible, lateral, latitude, matinee, platinum,
platypus, satin, strategy, athletic, magnetic, metal, petal, tetanus, veteran, yeti, competitive,
analytic, British, citizen, city, critical, literally, obliterate, pity, botany;
Hazard, hesitate, desert, designate, desolate, hesitate, present, president, resident, lizard,
miserable, prison, risen, scissors, visible, visit, wizard, wizened, closet, deposit, lozenge, positive.
Some words have doubled consonants which do not follow a short , stressed vowel
They make words longer (and thereby automatically more difficult for beginners) and they undermine the
reliability of doubled consonants that serve a phonic function, as in
accurate, daffodil, rebellious, comment, annual, opposite, tomorrow, professor, forgotten.
They also mislead inexperienced readers to place stress on the wrong syllable, instead of the vowel which
carries it (underlined):
Accommodate, accommodation, accompany, accomplish, accord, accordion, account, accumulate, accuse,
accustom, occasion, occupation, occurrence, succumb;
affection, afford, paraffin, affair, affect, effect, efficient, differential, diffusion, offend, official, sufficient,
chauffeur;
llama, parallel, really, excellent, hello, jewellery, marvellous, satellite, constellation, caterpillar, illegible,
illiterate, illusion, illustration, illuminate, pastille, tonsillitis, collage, collapse, collect, collide;
ammunition, programme, immediate, immense, immortal, immune, command, commemorate, commence,
commercial, commit, commodities, commotion, communication, communion, community, commuter,committee, recommend;
anniversary, announce, annoy, connect, personnel, mayonnaise, questionnaire;
appal, apparatus, apparent, appeal, appear, appendix, applaud, apply, appoint, appreciate, apprentice,
approach, appropriate, approve, approximate, hippopotamus, opportunity, oppose, supply, support,
suppose;
arrange, array, arrest, arrive, barricade, erratic, interrupt, serrated, terrific, irregular, irrigation,
torrential, correspond, correct, correlation, hurrah, curriculum, surrender, surround;
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assail, assassin, assault , assemble, assert, assessment, assign, assist, associate, assort, assume, cassette,
embassy, dessert, essential, necessary, possess, possibility;
battalion, tattoo, mattress, attach, attain, attempt, attend, attention, attorney, attract, attributed, omelette,
palette, settee.
O is often not as in spot.
It can sound like the u in cup, oa in toast, oo as in bookor oo in boot and e as in herb
Among, block, blond, blot, bob, bog, bomb, bond, boss, both, bottle, box, brother, clock, cobble, cock,
cod, comfort, control, cop, cot, crop, cross, dock, dodge, dog, doll, don, dot, drop, enrol, fishmonger,
flock, flog, flop, fog, folk, fond, fox, frog, from, front, ghost, gloss, gobble, god, goggle, golf, gong, got,
gross, hobble, hog, hop, host, hot, job, jog, jostle, jot, lob, lock, loft, log, long, lop, lot, mob, mock,
Monday, mongrel, monk, monkey, month, mop, moss, most, mother, nod, not, nothing, nozzle, off, on,
once [wunce], only, other, ox, patrol, plot, pod, pond, post, poster, pot, prod, prop, rob, rock, rod, roll,
romp, rot, scroll, slog, slot, smock, smother, snob, sob, sock, soft, solve, son, song, sponge, spot, stock,
stop, stroll, strong, sword, sworn, throttle, to*, today, tomb, ton, tongs, tongue, top, topple, toss, tot, trod,
troll, trot, whom, wobble, wolf, womb, won, wonder, word, work, world, worm, worn, worry, worse,
worship, worst, worth.
O-e is often not as in bone, solo orso, but like u ofcup, o ofhot, short oo ofwood,
long oo ofsoon, er ofher, i ofbit)
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Above, adolescence, alcove, alone, altogether, anemone [anemmony], antelope, approve, arose,
beloved, benevolent, bone, broke, choke, chose, chosen, close*, closet, clover, code, colonel,
colour, come, comedian, comedy, comet, component, compose, composer, cone, cope, cove,
covenant, cover, covet, covey, devote, discover, discovery, dispose, doe, does, dole, dome,
domestic, done, dose, dove, doze, dozen, drone, drove, elope, envelope, expose, froze, frozen,
globe, glove, goes, gone, govern, grocer, grope, grovel, gruesome, handsome, hole, holey, home,
honest, honey, hope, hose, hover, impose, improve, insolence, insolent, joke, Joseph, lone, lonely,
lose, love, lozenge, mode, model, moderate*, modern, modest, mole, moment, monetary, money,move, node, none, nose, note, novel, November, October, omelette, omen, one [wun], open,
opera, operate, operation, oven, over, phone, poke, pole, pope, pose, postpone, poverty, primrose,
process, procession, profession, professor, promenade, promote, proper, property, propose, protein,
prove, proven, proverb, pullover, purpose, quote, recover, remote, rhinoceros, robe, rode, role,
rope, rose, scone, scope, shone, shove, shovel, slope, slovenly, smoke, sober, sole, solemn, some,
somersault, sovereign, spoke, spoken, stoke, stole, stolen, stone, stove, strode, stroke, suppose,
syndrome, tadpole, those, throne, together, tomorrow, token, tolerate, tone, trombone, vote,
whole, whose, woke, woman, women, wove, wrote, yodel, yoke, zone,
do, to, two, who.
OO is short, notlong as inspoon, in:
Book, brook, cook, cookie, foot, good, hood, hook, look, rook, shook, stood, took, understood, whoosh,
wood, wooden, wool, woollen.
In blood, floodand brooch oo has other sounds [blud, flud, broach].
Ou is often not as in out - but with long oo ofboot, aw of saw, o-e ofsole,
short oo ofwood, u ofcup, o of for, e ofher.
Abound, about, account, acoustic, aloud , amount, announce, around, arouse, astound, bivouac,
blouse, bough*, bought, boulder, bounced, bound, boundary, bouquet, boutique, brought,
camouflage, choux, cloud, compound, couch, cough, could, council, counsel, count, counter,
country, county, coup [coo], couple, coupon, courage, courier, course, court, courtesy, cousin,crouch, double, doubt, dough, douse, drought, encounter, encourage, enough, favourite, flounder,
flour, fought, foul, found, foundation, fountain, four, fourth, ghoulish, ground, group, hiccough
[hickup],
honour [onnor], hound, hour [our], house, journal, journey, loud, lounge, lout, mould, moult,
mound, mount, mountain, mourn, mouse, mousse, moustache, mouth, neighbour, nought, nourish,
ought, ounce, our, out, outer, plough, pouch, poultry, pounce, pound, pour, pout, profound,
pronounce, proud, rebound, resource, rough, round, rouse, route, routine, savour, scoundrel,
scout, should, shoulder, shout, silhouette, slouch, slough x2 [sluf, slou], smoulder, snout, sought,
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soul, sound, soup, sour, source, south, southern, souvenir, spout, sprout, stout, surround,
tambourine, thorough, thou, though, thought, thousand, through, toucan, touch, tough, tour,
tourist, tournament, trouble, trough, trousers, trout, voucher, would, wound x2 [wound/ woond],
you, young, your.
Ow can sound like o in so or ou in thou
Blow, blown, bow x 2 [bo/bou], bowl, brow, brown, brownie, browse, clown, cow, coward, crow,
crowd, crown, down, drown, drowse, eider-down, flow, flower, flown, frown, glow, gown, grow, growl,
grown, growth, how, howl, know, knowledge [nollege], known, low, mow, mown, now, owe, owl, own,
powder, power, prowl, row x 2 [ro/rou], rowan, rowdy, scowl, show, shower, shown, slow, snow,
sow x 2 [so, sou], sown, stow, throw, thrown, tow, toward [tuward], towel, tower, town, vow, vowel,
wow;
and allow is not like shallow orwindow [shallo, windo].
-qu In the following words qu does not spell its main sound(quickquestion),
but the k sound. A few pose other pronunciation dif ficulties as well.
Cheque, conquer, liquor, liquorice, marquee, mosque, opaque, picturesque, quoit, turquoise. Antique,
croquet, parquet, queue, unique.
Sce/ sci Sc has mainly an s sound (scene, scenery, scent, science, convalesce, crescent,
descend, disciple, discipline, fascinating, muscle)
but sh in conscience, conscientious andfascism and skin mollusc.
se When -se follows a vowel, it is pronounced mainly z (erase, cheese, rise, rose, fuse),
but in the following words it has a s-sound:
Base, case, chase, purchase, cease, crease, grease, increase, release, geese, these, practise, precise,
premise, promise, tortoise, dose, goose, loose, noose, purpose, douse, mouse.
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Silentletters make learning to read English more difficult too.
Acquaint, acquire, acquit, adjacent, adjoin, adjust, aisle, anaesthetic, apostle, are, blue, board, bogey, bristle
, bruise, build, built, bustle, buy, bye, campaign, caught, clue, coarse, composite, conscious, controlled,
copse, corps, creosote, cruise, cupboard, daughter, debris, debt, definite, dense, depot, determine, devalue,
dialogue, diaphragm, doctrine, dumb, dungeon, dye, eclipse, elapse, else, empty, engine, epilogue, examine,exceed, excel, except, excite, exhaust, exhibit , expense, exquisite, forehead, forgive, geese, genuine *,
geyser*, ghastly, ghost, give, given, glimpse, glisten, glue, gnarled,gnash,gnat,gnaw,gnu, gorse, granite,
gristle, guarantee, guard, haughty, hoarse, hustle, imagine, impulse, infinite, intense, island, isle , jostle,
juice, knack, knacker, knave, knee, knew, knickers, knife, knight, knit, knob, knock, knot, knuckle, lapse,
listen, live*, luncheon, luscious, masculine, medicine, meringue, midday, mnemonic, mortgage, naughty,
nestle , nuisance , nurse, often , parliament, pharaoh, phlegm,pneumatic, proboscis,pseudonym,
pterodactyl, purchase, raspberry, response, reverse, rheumatism, rhubarb, rhyme , rhythm , rinse, roller,
rustle , rye, salmon, scholar, school, schooner, scissors, seven, several, shepherd, slaughter, straight, subtle,
suggest, suicide, suitable, surgeon, suspense, swollen, scythe, taught, tense, thistle, tortoise , trestle ,
truncheon, verse, vineyard, Wednesday, were, whack, whale, wharf, what, wheedle, wheel, wheeze, whelk,
when, whether, whey, which, while, whimper, whine, whip, whir, whirl, whisk, whiskers, whiskey, whisky,whisper, whistle, white, whiz, why, wore, wrangle, wrap, wreck, wren, wrench, wrestle, wretch, wriggle,
wring, wrinkle, wrist, writ, write, writhe, written, wrong, wrote, wrung, wry, yoghurt.
U In the following words u does nothave the short u sound ofcup, but
short oo sound ofbook, i ofbig and long oo ofspoon
Bush, busy, butcher, cushion, pudding, push, put, shush, sugar, truth.
Ui has several unpredictable pronunciations: short i, i-e, yoo, yoo-i/oo-i, oo, wi, wee.
Anguish, biscuit, bruise, build, built, circuit, cruise, disguise, distinguish, fluid, fruit, genuine,
guidance, guide, guillotine, guilt, guinea-pig, guitar, intuition, juice, nuisance, penguin, pursuit,recruit, ruined, sluice, suicide, suit, suitable, suite, tuition.
Words ending inture
are usually stressed on the first syllable (fracture, furniture, nature), apart from:
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adventure, departure, expenditure, manufacture, mature.
Words ending inure have variable stress and pronunciation.
Assure, conjure, cure, endure, exposure, failure, figure, fissure, injure, insure, lure, manure, measure,
obscure, pleasure, pressure, procedure, procure, pure, secure, sure, treasure.
Words with v nearly all pose problems in learning to read English, because this letter is usually not doubled
after a short vowel (e.g. never) and a finalv is usually followed by e, making it difficult to tell if a vowel
before a v is long orshort (gave have) or which vowel is stressed (severe several). Words with o before v
are especially tricky.
Above, alcove, alive, approve, arrive, avenue, average, aviary, aviation, avoid,behave , beloved,brave,
cavalry, cave, cavern, cavity, chivalrous, civic, civil, civilian, clever, clover, cove, covenant, cover,
covet, covey, crave, crevice, deliver, derive, devil, devise, devote, discover, divan, dive, dove, drive,
drivel, driven, driver, drove, eleven, eve, even, event, ever , every, evict, evidence, evident, evil,
evolution, evolve, fever, five, flavour, gave, give, given, glove, govern, governor, grave, gravel, gravity,
gravy, grovel, have, havoc, hive, hover, improve, ivory,javelin,jive, jovial, juvenile, knave, lava,
lavender, level, lever, live, lively, love, move, movie, naval, nave, navigate, navy, never, novel,November,
novice, olive, oval, oven, over, pavement, pavilion, poverty, previous, private, privilege, prove, proverb,
provide, quiver, rave, raven, ravenous, revive, rival, river, rivet, savage, save, scavenge, seven, several,
severe, severity, shave, shiver, shove, shovel, shrivel, slave, slovenly, snivel, sovereign, soviet, stove,
survive, swivel, thrive, travel, wave, waver, wives, wove.
A few more letters have reading problems in a small number of words.
Said, plait; says; here, there, were; hi, hi-fi - prix, kiwi, ski; board, broad;
clerk, poignant, wrath,
103 English words which have
different pronunciations in different contexts.
Most just change stress; but those withate endings change their vowel length too.
Lead, read, tear; bow, row, sow; abuse, excuse, use, close, house; mass bass;
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buffet, live, minute, mouth, pasty, Polish/ polish, pussy, second, slough, wind, wound;
content, frequent, invalid, perfect, attribute, commune, compact, compound, concert, conduct,
conflict, conscript, console, consort, construct, contest, contract, contrast, converse, convert,
convict, defect, desert, digest, discharge, entrance, escort, export, extract, fragment, impact, incense,
insert, object, permit, present, produce, progress, project, prospect, protest, rebel, rebound, recall,
record, refund, refuse, reject, relay, subject, survey, suspect, torment, transfer, transport;
advocate, alternate, appropriate, approximate, articulate, associate, co-ordinate, degenerate, delegate,
deliberate, designate, desolate, dictate, duplicate, elaborate, estimate, graduate, intimate, laminate,
moderate, separate, subordinate, syndicate, triplicate.
Young childrens reading progress is most impeded by 190 very common words in which the which the
spellings a, ea, o, o-e, ou, ow and oo are not pronounced in their usual way, as shown below. Allcommon words with reading problems are listed after them.
A after all an and answer any anyway asked at bad bag bananas band basket bath call calm
camp can can't cash castle cat catch change chap chat clamp clap class crab crash dad dancing
danger drag fall family fast father flag flap flat glad grab had half hand happy hat lamp lap last
many mash match nasty pass past pat path quack rash sand sat scratch slam snatch splash stamp
stranger strap tall than thank that trap wall wander want was wash watch water
Already beach beard beast beat beautiful bread breakbreakfast breath breathe clean cream
creature dead deaf dear dream dreamt each ear early earn earth easy eat great head healthy
hear heard heave heavy instead jealous jeans leap leapt learned learnt least leave meadow mean
meant measure meat near peach peanut please reach read/read ready real scream sea seal search
seat speak spread steady tea teach tear / tear thread treasure wear year
Anotherblockboth box brother clock clop colour cot dog don't dot flop fog fox front got hot
job jog jot lock lost lots Monday most mother nod not nothing oh once only otherplop pop pot
pots programme sock somersault son spots stop strong tongue won wont worried worry
do go no so to into onto two who
Alone above broke bone choke come cone covered done drove gone home joke love loved lovely
money move over poke pole prove one rode rope some stone today tomorrow
About blouse bought bounce brought cloud could country couple crouch double enough famous
fought found ground group house loud mountain mouse moustache mouth ouch out pouch rough
round should shouldershout snout sound soup spout thought thousand through touch tough trouble
trousers without would you young course court four favourite flour our souryour
Blow blown bow / bow brown clown cow crow crown down flown frown glow grow growl grown
how know known low mow mown now owl own row / row show shown slow snow town wow
Balloon blood boo bookboot coo cook door droopy flood floor food foot good hook hoop hoot
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kangaroo look mood roof room root school shampoo shook soon spoon too took tooth wood wool
zoo
English spellings A-Z and their exceptions
Listed below are all English spelling patterns in alphabetical order, accompanied by the words which disobey
them. When words with irregular spellings almost equal or outnumber those with regular ones, all common
words are listed.
Words marked withx2 have two pronunciations,
e.g. tearx2 [teer/tair].
A - (bad, cat, rang) - except:
plaid, plait, meringue, have (cf. gave).
-able /-ible (notable, audible) - (27 able, 17 ible):
Abominable, adorable, amiable, arable, available, capable, comparable, constable, desirable, doable,
formidable, inevitable, inflammable, irritable, liable, miserable, notable, portable, probable, reliable,
remarkable, respectable, suitable, syllable, valuable, variable, vulnerable.
Audible, compatible, edible, eligible, feasible, f lexible, horrible, illegible, incredible, invisible,permissible, possible, responsible, sensible, terrible, visible, tangible.
a-e / ai - (late, lain)
The main spelling for this sound inside words is a-e (made),
but before l and n it is more often ai (rail, rain),
or both (male/mail):
Ail/ale, bale/bail, male/mail, pale/pail,
sale/sail, tale/tail, whale/wail,dale, female, gale, inhale, scale, stale,
assail, cocktail, detail, fail, hail, jail, nail, prevail, rail, retail, snail, trail.
Main/mane, pain/pane, plain/plane,
rain/reins(reindeer)/reign, vain/vein,
abstain, again, ascertain, attain, brain, chain, chilblain, complain, contain, detain, drain, explain, gain, grain,
obtain, refrain, remain, retain, slain, sprain, stain, strain, sustain, train;
acquaint, aint, faint, paint, quaint, saint;
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Crane, lane, sane, membrane.
Skein; deign, feign; campaign; champagne.
There are also 55 other unpredictable spellings
for the a-e/ai sound:
Made/maid, aid, braid, laid, paid, raid, afraid.
Brake/break, stake/steak.
Aim, claim, exclaim, maim, proclaim.
Place/plaice. Haste, paste, taste, waste/waist;
Daisy, praise, raise, raisin. Traitor, waiter.
Ate/eight, bate/bait, grate/great, straight/straits, wait/weight. Fte, freight.
Faith. Halfpenny, neighbour. Able, cable, cradle, fable, gable, ladle, sabre, stable, table (cf. label).
Air / are / ear (hair, care, swear...)
Fairly unpredictable:
Air/heir, fair/fare, flair/flare, hair/hare,
pair/pare/pear, stair/stare,
chair, hair, lair, stairs, dairy, prairie, affair, despair, clair, repair, questionnaire.
Bare/bear, blare, care, dare, glare, mare, rare, scare, share, snare, spare, square, area,
aware, compare, declare, parent, prepare;
canary, hilarious, malaria, Mary, various, vegetarian, wary.
Swear, tearx2[tair / teer],
Aerial, aeroplane, aerobatics.
There/their, ware/where/wear.
-al - (actual, admiral, animal ...) - in at least 200 words,
but -el/ -il/ -ol in 31 others:
Caramel, cockerel, colonel, cruel, diesel, drivel, duel, easel, fuel, gravel, hazel, hostel, jewel, label, novel,
spaniel, towel, vowel, weasel.
Civil, devil, evil, pupil.
Capitol, carol, cholesterol, idol, parasol, petrol, pistol, symbol.
-ar - (far) - has just one exception: are.
For speakers of standard British English,
the following have an ar/ah sound too:
Ask, bask, blast, cask, cast, caste, clasp, contrast*, fast, flabbergast, flask, gasp, ghastly, grasp, last, mask,
mast, past, rascal, task, vast, brass, class, glass, grass, pass, mass*.
Advance, avalanche, banana, branch, chance, dance, chant, enhance, glance, lance, plant, prance, slant,
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soprano, stance, trance.
After, craft, daft, draft, giraffe, graft, raft, shaft, staff.
Almond, calf, calm, half, halve, palm, gala.
Drama, example, panorama, salami.
Bath, path, father, lather, rather.
Bra, la, ma, pa, spa, ah, hurrah, shah, baa,
armada, fuselage, promenade, strata, vase.
Graph, draught, laugh. Aunt. Clerk.
-ard - (coward, forward) - only one exception: shepherd.
-ary / -ery / -ory / -ry - unpredictable:
(37 ary / 58 others):
Adversary, anniversary, arbitrary, aviary, boundary, burglary, commentary, contemporary, contrary, diary,
dictionary, elementary, estuary, February, January, library, literary, military, monetary, necessary, ordinary,
planetary, preliminary, primary, pulmonary, reactionary, revolutionary, salary, secondary, secretary, solitary,
stationary, summary, temporary, veterinary, vocabulary, voluntary.
Archery, artery, artillery, blustery, celery, cemetery, colliery, crockery, delivery, discovery, drudgery,
every, gallery, jewellery, lottery, machinery, monastery, mystery, nursery, pottery, recovery, robbery,
scenery, stationery, surgery.
Category, dormitory, factory, history, inventory, ivory, laboratory, memory, observatory, satisfactory,
territory, theory.
Carpentry, chemistry, country, entry, gantry, industry, infantry, paltry, pantry, pastry, poetry, poultry,
symmetry, tapestry.
Century, injury, luxury, Mercury, mercury, treasury.
Savoury.
Au / aw /...(autumn, awful, all, alter) - unpredictable:
Auburn, auction, audible, August, authentic, author, authorise, automatic, autonomy, autumn, daub, gaudy,
sauce, saucer, haul, maul, Paul, assault, cauldron, fault, tarpaulin, somersault, vault,haunt, jaunt, launch, launder, staunch, taunt,
applause, cause, pause, Santa-Claus, exhaust,
astronaut, cosmonaut, nautical, taut, caution.
Awe,
awful, awkward, awning, bawdy, dawdle, hawk, squawk.
Bawl, brawl, crawl, drawl, scrawl, shawl, sprawl, trawl.
All, almost, already, also, altogether, always,
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ball, call, recall, fall, gall, hall, pall, small, squall, stall,
install, tall, wall, instalment,
appal, bald, scald, chalk stalk, talk,
altar, alter, (alternate, alternative), falter, halt, salt;
poultry.
Brawn, dawn, drawn, fawn, lawn, pawn, prawn, sawn, spawn, yawn .
Caught, daughter, haughty, naughty, slaughter, taught.
Bought, brought, fought, nought, ought, sought, thought.
Broad.
Walnut, walrus, waltz; water.
War/wore, warble, ward (award, reward), wardrobe, warm, warn/worn, warp, wart, dwarf.
ay /-ey /-eigh - (say, they, weigh) - (30 ay, 19 others):
Bay, bray, clay,
day (Monday Sunday, midday, today, yesterday),
fray, gay, hay, lay, may, okay, pay, play, pray, ray, say, slay, spray, stay, stray, sway, tray;
array, astray, away, betray, decay, delay, dismay, display.
They, grey, hey, convey, obey, survey.
Neigh, sleigh, way/whey/weigh.
Ballet, beret, bouquet, buffet, duvet, chalet, crochet.
Caf, matine.
B - (bib, bob) no exceptions, but sometimessilent
(bomb, crumb, dumb, lamb, limb, numb, thumb, succumb,
debt, doubt, subtle)
or put to other use
(climb [clime], tomb [toom], womb [woom]).
- bb- / -b- - (bobbin robin) - unpredictable.
See Doubled Consonants.
Ca-, co-, cu- - (cat, cot, cut) - with 19 exceptions:
Chameleon, chaos, character, chasm, mechanical;
kaleidoscope, kangaroo, karate, kayak, skate;
Anchor, cholesterol, chorus, psychological, school;
Bouquet[bookay], quoit, turquoise; queue [cue].
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-cc- / -c- / -ck- (occupy document- rocket) - unpredictable.
See Doubled Consonants.
cl-, cr-... - (clip, crib, picnic, doctor)
for k-sound before consonants except:
Chlorine, chocolate.
Christmas, chrome, chrysalis, chrysanthemum; mackerel.
Technical, cockney, cocktail.
-c- - (cancel) -Inside words c is the main spelling
for an s-sound before e and i,
but with exceptions.
Absent, advertisement, arsenic, consent, consequence, conservative, insect, insert, morsel, persevere,
prosecute.
Analysis, basic, basin, consider, consist, crisis, emphasis, insist, oasis, persistent, responsible, tonsil,
university, utensil. Capsize, prehensile.
Abscess, ascend, ascertain, descend, descent, condescension, crescent, disciple, discipline, fascinating,
proboscis.
Ancestors, cancel, cancer, concentrate, concept, conception, concern, concert, December, decent, grocer,
innocent, license, licentious, magnificent, necessity, parcel, percent, perception, pincer, porcelain, princess,
process, procession, reception, recent, recess, rhinoceros, saucer.
Conceal. Conceit, conceive, deceit, deceive, receipt, receive.
Facetious, precede, procedure. Proceed, proceedings, proceeds. Plasticine.
Council/counsel, criticism, deciduous, decision, facilities, hyacinth, incident, medicine, narcissus, Pacific,
participation, pencil, precision, principal, principle, specific, stencil.
Coincide, decide, decisive, decipher, docile, exercise, precise, recite, suicide; society,
-c - (lilac) - for k-sound at the end of longer words,
except:
Anorak, kayak; attack, barrack, ransack; stomach.
-ce / -se - (face /case) - for final s-sound after long vowels,
38 ce , 21 se:
Ace, brace, embrace, face, grace, lace, pace, place/plaice, race, space, trace. Peace/piece, fleece, niece,
police.
Dice, ice, mice, nice, price, rice, slice, twice, vice, advice, device, sacrifice. Choice, rejoice, voice.
Introduce, juice, reduce, truce, sluice. Sauce.
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Base, case, chase.
Cease, crease, grease, increase, release, geese, these.
Concise, precise. Dose. Goose, loose, noose, mouse.
Close x2, house x2, excuse x2, use x2.
[too cloce to cloze; too good a houce to houze...,
no uce, to uze]
-ce - (practice, promise, fortress) - In unstressed endings,
the spelling of the final s-sound and the vowel before it
are both unpredictable:
A practice/to practise(in UK), apprentice, armistice, coppice, crevice, justice, notice, novice, office,
precipice, service.
Menace, necklace, palace, surface, terrace.Lettuce.
Premise, promise.
Analysis, axis, basis, bronchitis, chrysalis, crisis, emphasis, hypothesis, iris, oasis, pelvis, proboscis,
synthesis, tennis, tonsillitis, trellis.
Purchase.
Atlas, canvas, Christmas, pampas, pyjamas.
Carcass, compass, embarrass, trespass.
Abscess, access, congress, cypress, fortress, mattress, process, progress, recess, harness, witness.
Purpose, tortoise.
-ce - (fence, force, else)
- final s-sound after consonants.
After -n- mainly -ce (mince), except:
Dense, expanse, expense, immense, intense, license,
nonsense, response, rinse, sense, suspense, tense.
Afterl orp, always -se:
Else, pulse, impulse.
Collapse, copse, corpse, eclipse, elapse, glimpse, lapse.Afterr - 13 se, 8-ce:
Coarse, course, curse, gorse, hoarse, horse, nurse, purse, rehearse, reverse, universe, verse, worse.
Commerce, divorce, enforce, fierce, force, pierce, reinforce, source.
Ch - (chip) regular,
with tch (catch) after short vowels:
Catch, hatch, latch, match, patch, scratch, snatch, thatch, dispatch; sketch, stretch, wretch; ditch, hitch, itch,
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pitch, stitch, switch, twitch, witch; notch, watch; hutch, Dutch.
Except: which, much, such, touch, attach, detach.
-cian - (musician) regular ending
for adjectives formed
from nouns ending with ic (music - musician)
-ck- (back, pocket) - for a k-sound after short vowels,
except:
Mac, sac, rec (short for recreation ground). Yak.
Crocodile, decade, documents, executive, recognise, record, second, secular, vacuum.
Accurate, occupy, piccolo, soccer, succulent, tobacco.
Cheque, chequered, lacquer, liquor.
Echo, mechanism. - (See also Doubled consonants).
-cy - (fancy) - main spelling for a see-sound in word endings:
Accuracy, delicacy, aristocracy, conspiracy, democracy, diplomacy, policy, juicy.
Agency, emergency, fancy, frequency, vacancy, tendency, urgency. Mercy.
Except:
Controversy, courtesy, fantasy, gypsy, topsy-turvy. Embassy.
D - (dad) completely regular
-dd- / -d- - (shoddy body) - unpredictable.
See Doubled Consonants.
De- / di- - (devise, divide) - as unstressed prefix,
56 de-, 28 di-:
Decay, deceive, December, decide, (decision, decisive), deciduous, decipher, declare, decline, deduct, defeat,
defect, defend, defiant, define, definite, degree, delay, delicious, delight, deliver, demand, democratic,demolish, deny, depart, department, depend, deport, deposit, depress, derive, descend, describe, deserve,
design, despair, despatch, despise, despite, destination, destiny, destroy, detach, detain, detect, detention,
detergent, determine, detest, devalue, develop, devise, devote, devour.
Dictate, diffusion, dilapidated, dilemma, diploma, diplomatic, disappear, disaster, discharge, disciple,
discover, discuss, disease, disguise, disgust, dismantle, dismay, displace, display, dispose, dispute, distinct,
distribute, disturb, divide, (division), divine, divorce.
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-dge - (bridge) for thej-sound in short words,
after a short vowel, to differentiate from long vowels,
(e.g. badge cage) - regular:
Badge, bridge, cadge, dodge, dredge, edge, fridge, grudge, hedge, judge, ledge, lodge, nudge, ridge, sledge,
smudge, trudge.
In longer words dg / g is less predictable
(e.g. fidget digit)
Badger, budgie, budget, fledgeling, fidget, midget, dodgems, dodgy, podgy, drudgery.
Digit, legend, legislate, logic, pigeon, regiment, register, religion, rigid, vegetable ;
Exaggerate; suggest(can be [sugjest] in US).
Doubled Consonants
Schoolchildren learn to double the final consonant of one-syllable words before the suffixes -ing, -ed,
-en, -er, -y or-ish
(e.g. bat - batting, batted, batty, batter) to show that the preceding stressed vowel is short, rather than long,
as in
bate - bated, bating.
With one-syllable words this rule is used consistently, but some longer verbs have doubled consonants
before -ed and -ing, even when the preceding vowel is not stressed:
benefitted, travelled (cf. preferred, permitted).
In longer root words, English consonant doubling
aftershort, stressedvowels is very inconsistent:
373 words (e.g. mellow) obey the doubling rule
384 words (e.g. melon) disobey it and
158 words (e.g. satellite) have needlessly doubled
consonants after unstressed vowels.
The lists below show, consonant by consonant, and vowel by vowel, the words with regularly doubled
consonants after short vowels, with undoubledconsonants (or other letters, e.g. 'dizzy prison') and with
needlessly doubled letters.
Abbey, cabbage, jabber, rabbit, Sabbath, shabby; ribbon; hobby, lobby; chubby, rubber, rubbish, stubborn,
stubby.
Cabinet, cabaret, cabin, elaborate, fabulous, habit; nebula, treble; liberal, liberty, tribute; probable,
robin.
Abbreviate.
Bracken (ckis the main spelling for a k-sound after a short vowel), bracket, jacket, packet, package, racket;
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beckon, reckon, bicker, chicken, cricket, flicker, rickety, sticky, ticket, wicked, wicker, wicket, cockerel,
crockery, hockey, jockey, locket, pocket, rocket, rocky, socket, stocking, bucket, sucker, cuckoo.
Vacuum, decade, executive, recognise, record (noun), second, secular; crocodile, documents.
Accurate, tobacco; piccolo; occupy, succulent.
Echo, mechanism;
chequered, liquor, liquorice; lacquer.
Accommodate, accommodation, accompany, accomplish, accord, accordion, account, accumulate,
accuse, accustom, occasion, occupation, occurrence, succumb.
Adder, caddie, caddy, daddy, ladder, eddy, teddy, wedding, giddy, hidden, ridden, shoddy, sodden, rudder,
shudder, sudden, pudding.
Academy, adequate, radical, radish, credit, dedicated, edible, edit, educate, federal, medical, pedal,
pedigree, meadow, ready, already, steady, hideous, video, body, modern, modest, produce (noun),study.
Add, odd.
Daffodil, scaffold, traffic, effigy, effort, different, difficult, jiffy, coffee, coffin, offer, office, buffalo, buffer,
buffet, chuffed, ruffian, suffer, suffocate.
Caf, refuge, refuse (noun), heifer, magnificent, significant, profit.
Affair, affect, affection, afford, paraffin, effect, efficient, differential, diffusion, offend, official, sufficient,
chauffeur.
Baggage, jagged, maggot, scraggy, stagger, swagger, beggar, snigger, trigger, soggy, luggage, nugget, rugged.
Agony, dragon, f lagon, hexagonal, negative, brigand, frigate.
Aggressive. Egg.
Alley, alligator, ally, ballast, ballet, ballot, challenge, gallant, gallery, gallon, gallop, gallows, mallet, rally,
shallow, stallion, valley, bellow, belly, cellar, cello, cellophane, fellow, intelligent, jelly, pellet, rebellion,
sellotape, trellis, umbrella, yellow, armadillo, artillery, billiard, billion, billow, billy, brilliant, frilly, gorilla,
guerrillas, guillotine, illustrate, milligrams, million, pillar, pillow, silly, syllable, vanilla, villa, village, villain,
collar, colleague, collie, colliery, dollar, follow, hollow, holly, jolly, lollipop, lolly, mollusc, pollen, pollinate,trolley, volley, college, swallow, wallaby, wallet, wallop, wallow, lullaby, sullen, bullet, bulletin, bullion,
bullock, bully, pulley, pullover.
Analysis, balance, battalion, calendar, chalet, galaxy, italic, morality, palace, palate, palette, reality,
salad, salary, salon, talent, talon, valentine, valiant, valid, value, vitality, celery, delegate, delicacy, deluge,
develop, element, eligible, helicopter, jealous, melody, melon, pelican, relevant, relic, skeleton, telescope,
zealous, ability, bilious, military, ventriloquist, cylinder, abolish, colony, column, demolish, holiday, olive,
policy, politics, polythene, solemn, solid, tolerate, volume, voluntary, knowledge, quality, colour.
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With long, instead of short vowels: controlled, roller, swollen.
Parallel, excellent, hello, jewellery, marvellous, satellite, constellation, caterpillar, illegible, illiterate,
illusion, illustration, illuminate, pastille, tonsillitis, collage, collapse, collect, collide.
Ammonite, clammy, hammer, inflammable, mammal, mammoth, stammer, dilemma, glimmer, simmer,
symmetry, comment, commentary, commerce, common, communism, communist, dummy, mummy, rummage,
summary, summer, summit, summon, tummy.
Amateur, camel, camera, damage, dynamic, enamel, famished, laminate, cemetery, chemical, democrat,
emerald, epidemic, memory, remedy, lemon, feminine, premise, semi, criminal, eliminate, image, limit,
timid, women, abominable, comet, comic, dominate, domino, economic, prominent, promise, vomit, stomach,
plumber.
Ammunition, programme, immediate, immense, immortal, immune, command, commemorate, commence,
commercial, commit, commodities, commotion, communication, communion, community, commuter,
committee, recommend.
Annual, banner, cannot, granny, manner, nanny, pannier, savannah, spanner, uncanny, antenna, pennant,
tennis, penny, dinner, inner, innocence, innocent, spinnaker, bonnet, sonnet, bunny.
Animal, anorak, banish, banister, canopy, granary, manage, manor, manual, organic, panel, panic,
spaniel, vanish, benefit, enemy, energy, menace, penetrate, venison, lieutenant, any, many, aluminium,
clinical, continue, finish, linear, minimal, minister, opinion, sinister, spinach, vinegar, cinema, cynical,
synagogue, synonym, minute [minnit], astonish, conifer, economy, electronic, monastery, monarch,
monument, supersonic, tonic, honey, money, onion, punish.
Anniversary, announce, annoy, connect, personnel, mayonnaise, questionnaire.
Appetite, happen, happy, nappy, pepper, flipper, kipper, skipper, slipper, copper, coppice, opposite, poppy,
sloppy, puppet, puppy, supper, upper.
Capital, capitol, rapid, tapestry, capita, epic, jeopardy, leper, leopard, tepid, separate, weapon, copy,
opera, operate, proper, property, topic, popular, tropics.
Appal, apparatus, apparent, appeal, appear, appendix, applaud, apply, appoint, appreciate, apprentice,
approach, appropriate, approve, approximate, hippopotamus, opportunity, oppose, suppose, supply, support.
Arrow, barren, barrier, barrister, barrow, carrot, carry, garret, marrow, marry, narrative, narrow, parrot,
sparrow, merry, sherry, terrace, terrible, territory, terror, irritable, mirror, squirrel, stirrup, borrow, corridor,
horrible, lorry, porridge, sorrow, sorry, tomorrow, torrent, quarry, warrant, warren, burrow, current, furrowed,
hurricane, hurry, scurry, turret, worry, furry.
Arab, arable, arid, asparagus, baron, caramel, caravan, caricature, carol, chariot, charity, clarity,
comparison, parasol, parish, transparent, America, beret, ceremony, cherish, derelict, herald, heritage,
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heroine, heron, merit, peril, perish, sincerity, sterilise, therapist, very, bury, conspiracy, empirical, lyric,
miracle, spirit, syrup, tyranny, authority, coral, florist, forest, historic, horoscope, majority, minority,
moral, orange, priority, laurel, quarantine, thorough, courage, nourish.
Arrange, array, arrest, arrive, barricade, erratic, interrupt, serrated, terrific, irregular, irrigation,
torrential, correspond, correct, correlation, curriculum, surrender, surround, hurrah.
Asset, ambassador, casserole, classic, massacre, massive, passage, passenger, delicatessen, essay, essence,
lesson, message, necessity, professor, missile, narcissus, rissole, blossom, colossal, fossil, gossip, possible.
Acid, capacity, pacifist, glacier (US glaishier), decimal, precipice, necessary, recipe, specify, specimen, ,
electricity, explicit, municipal, participate, publicity, simplicity, solicitor, velocity. Chrysalis, sausage.
Fascinate, adolescent, convalescent, crescent, discipline.
Assail, assassin, embassy, assault, assemble, assert, assessment, assign, assist, associate, assort, assume,
cassette, dessert, essential, possess, possibility.
Attic, attitude, batter, battery, chatter, clatter, fatty, matter, patter, pattern, regatta, scatter, shatter, tatter,
latter, better, confetti, jettison, jetty, letter, lettuce, spaghetti, bitten, bitter, glitter, kitten, litter, mitten, pretty,
sitter, titter, twitter, written, bottom, cottage, cotton, forgotten, lottery, motto, otter, potter, butter, button,
clutter, gutter, mutter, mutton, putty, shutter, splutter, stutter, utter.
Atom, baton, catalogue, catapult, category, compatible, lateral, latitude, platinum, platypus, satin,
strategy, athletic, magnetic, metal, petal, tetanus, veteran, yeti, competitive, Brit ish, citizen, city, critical,
pity, literally, obliterate, botany .
Attach, attain, attempt, attend, attention, attorney, attract, attributed, battalion, tattoo, mattress, omelette,
palette, settee.
Blizzard, dizzy, buzzard.
Hazard, lizard, wizard, wizened, lozenge.
Desert, designate, desolate, hesitate, peasant, pheasant, pleasant, present, president, resident, miserable,
prison, risen, visible, visit, closet, deposit, positive .
Scissors.
Doubled consonants in word endings
(pebble, muddle, ruffle..., cliff, well, fuss)
Several dozen words with a short vowel end with a doubled consonant, followed by -le (apple) or ckle
(tickle), but many others do not use this pattern; mm, nn and rr are always followed by -el instead (channel)
and -ssle is spelt mainly -stle (bristle) The basic patterns also have several exceptions.
Bubble. -Double, treble, trouble .
Toddle. Model.
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Tickle. -Nickel.
Apple. - Chapel, triple, couple.
Scuttle. - Subtle.
Fizzle. Chisel.
Trammel. - Camel.
Channel. -Panel.
Barrel. -Laurel.
Hassle. - tassel,
vessel - trestle, wrestle, bristle, gristle, thistle, whistle,
apostle, jostle,
bustle, hustle, rustle. -Muscle/mussel.
-ff, -ll, -ss - (cliff, well, fuss) are used at the end of
many short words, except:
Chef, clef, if, of. Cough, rough, slough, tough, trough;
graph, laugh; bus, gas, plus, us, yes.
E - (bed, bend) - has 64 exceptions, mainly ea:
Bread/bred, breadth, breast, breath, dead, deaf, dealt, death, dread, dreamt, head, health, lead
x2[leed/led], leant, leapt, meant, readx2[reed/red], realm, spread, sweat, thread, threat, wealth. Breakfast,
cleanliness, cleanse, endeavour, feather, heather, heaven, heavy, instead, leather, measure, stealthy,
treacherous, treadmill, treasure, weather.
Friend. Leisure, lieutenant[lesure, leftennant in UK].
Against, said, says, every, Wednesday.
The following are also without a doubled consonant after their short e-sound (as in 'jelly, teddy, penny'):
Jealous, meadow, peasant, pheasant, pleasant, ready, (already), steady, weapon, zealous.
Any, many. Jeopardy, leopard. Berry/bury. Heifer.
Ee / ea / e-e ... (deed, lead, concede, siege, conceive, police,
people, key, ski)
Spelling of the ee-sound ispredictable only when it is
a stressed ending (agree, chimpanzee).
In other words the spellings for it are highly unpredictable,
and 48 words have two spellings.
Bee/be, beech/beach, been/bean, beet/beat, breech/breach, cheep/cheap, creek/creak, deer/dear,
discreet/discrete, eerie/eyrie, eve/eaves, feet/feat, flee/flea, freeze/frieze, jeans/genes, Greece/grease,
heel/heal, hear/here, key/quay, leech/leach, leek/leak, meet/meat, need/knead, pee/pea, peace/piece,
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peek/peak, peel/peal, peer/pier, reed/readx2[reed/red], reek/wreak, reel/real, sealing/ceiling,
seamen/semen, see/sea, seem/seam, seen/scene, serial/cereal, sheer/shear, sheikh/chic, steel/steal,
sweet/suite, tee/tea, teem/team, wee/we, week/weak, wheel/weal.
In UK English also: geezer/geyser, leaver/lever.
The other 360 words with an ee-sound are spelt as follows.
Beef, beer, beetle, between, bleed, bleep, breed, breeze, career, cheek, cheer, cheese, cheetah, creep,
deed, deep, eel, exceed, feeble, feed, feel, fleece, fleet, geese, greed, green, greet, indeed, jeep, jeer, keel,
keen, keep, kneel, meek, needle, peep, pioneer, preen, proceed, proceedings, proceeds, queen, queer, reef,
screech, screen, seed, seek, seep, seesaw, sheep, sheet, sleek, sleep, sleet, sleeve, smithereens, sneer, sneeze,
speech, speed, squeeze, steep, steeple, steer, street, succeed, sweep, sweet, teeth, teetotal, thirteen, tweed,
tweezers, weed, weep, wheedle, wheeze, wildebeest.
Appeal, beacon, bead, beak, beam, beard, beast, beaver, beneath, bleach, bleak, bleat, breathe, cease,
cheat, clean, clear, colleague, conceal, congeal, cream, crease, creature, deal, dean, decrease, defeat,
disease, dream, dreary, each, eager, eagle, ear, ease, east, Easter, eat, fear, feast, feature, freak, gear,
gleam, glean, heap, heat, heath, heathen, heave, increase, leadx2, leaf, league, lean, leap, lease, leash,
least, leave, meagre, meal, mean, measles, near, neat, ordeal, peach, peat, plead, please, pleat, preach,
queasy, reach, really, reap, rear, reason, release, repeat, retreat, reveal, scream, seal, sear, season, seat,
sheaf, sheath, smear, sneak, speak, spear, squeak, squeal, squeamish, steam, streak, stream, teach, teak,
tearx2, tease, theatre, treacle, treason, treat, treaty, veal, wean, weary, weasel, weave, wheat, wreath, year,
yeast, zeal.
Open e (eve, evil, zero): Adhesive, arena, cafeteria, cedar, chameleon, Chinese, comedian, compete,
complete, concrete, convene, convenient, decent, demon, equal, era, even, evil, experience, exterior,
extreme, female, fever, frequent, genie, genius, hero, hyena, imperial, inferior, ingredient, intermediate,
legal, legion, lenient, material, medium, mere, meteor, meter, millipede, mysterious, obedient, period, peter,
polythene, precede, previous, query, recent, recess, region, relay, scheme, sequence, sequin, series, serious,
serum, species, sphere, stampede, strategic, superior, supreme, swede, tedious, theme, theory, these, torpedo,
trapeze, vehicle, Venus, zero.
He, me, she.
Open i:Albino, antique, aubergine, bikini, clementine, fatigue, guillotine, machine, magazine, margarine,
marine, mosquito, plasticine, police, prestige, ravine, regime, routine, sardine, suite, tambourine, tangerine,
trampoline, unique, vaseline, pizza.
Achieve, belief, believe, brief , chief, diesel, field, fiend, fierce, grief, grieve, hygienic, medieval, niece,
pierce, priest, relief , relieve, shield, shriek, siege, thief , thieve, tier, wield, yield.
Caffeine, codeine, protein, seize, weir, weird,
conceive /coneit, deceive /deceit, receive /receipt.
Assorted other variants: People; cathedral, secret; pizza, ski, souvenir; debris.
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-en / -on / -an /-ain /-in - (fasten, certain, apron...)
The unstressed vowelin endings, beforen is spelt mainly e,
but with many exceptions:
Abdomen, alien, awaken, barren, batten/baton, bitten, bracken, brazen, brighten, chicken, children, chosen,
christen, citizen, delicatessen, dozen, driven, eleven, even, fallen, forgotten, frighten, frozen, garden, given,
glisten, golden, happen, heathen, heaven, hidden, hydrogen, kindergarten, kitchen, kitten, laden,
lessen/lesson, lichen, listen, loosen, madden, mitten, often, omen, open, oven, oxygen, pollen, raven, ridden,
ripen, risen, rotten, sadden, seven, sharpen*, sodden, specimen, spoken, stamen, stolen, strengthen, sudden,
sullen, swollen, taken, threaten, token, vixen, warren, women, wooden, woollen, written.
Abandon, apron, bacon, badminton, baron, beacon, beckon, bison, carbon, carton, cauldron, common,
comparison, cordon, cotton, coupon, crayon, crimson, damson, demon, dragon, electron, flagon, gallon,
heron, horizon, iron, jettison, lemon, mason, matron, melon, mutton, nylon, octagon, pardon, pentagon,
person, phenomenon, piston, poison, prison, pylon, python, reason, reckon, ribbon, salmon, salon, Saxon,
season, sermon, siphon, skeleton, summon, talon, treason, venison, wagon, wanton, weapon.
Chameleon, dungeon, luncheon, pigeon, surgeon, truncheon.
Alsatian, amphibian, cardigan, Christian, civilian, comedian, Dalmatian, historian, hooligan, Indonesian,
magician, metropolitan, musician, ocean, optician, organ, orphan, partisan, pedestrian, pelican, republican,
Roman, rowan, ruffian, slogan, suburban, tartan, toucan, turban, urban, utopian, vegetarian, veteran,
woman.
Hurricane.
Bargain, captain, certain, fountain, mountain, porcelain, villain.
Aspirin, basin, bulletin, cabin, catkin, coffin, cousin, dolphin, gherkin, goblin, javelin, origin, paraff in,
penguin, pumpkin, raisin, robin, satin, sequin, tarpaulin, urchin, vermin.
-ence/-ance (commence / ambulance) The spelling of this
unstressed endings is unpredictable:
Absence, adolescence, circumference, commence, competence, conference, confidence, consequence,
difference, essence, evidence, existence, experience, independence, indifference, influence, innocence,
insolence, intelligence, interference, licence, occurrence, offence, presence, providence, reference, science,
sentence, sequence, silence, violence, conscience, patience.Abundance, acceptance, accordance, alliance, allowance, ambulance, appearance, appliance, assurance,
balance, distance, endurance, finance, fragrance, guidance, ignorance, importance, instance, insurance,
maintenance, nuisance, performance, resistance, significance, substance, vengeance.
-ent / -ant - (competent/ protestant)
The main spelling for this unstressed ending is -ent,
in at least 107 words,
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with 35 exceptions:
Assistant, brilliant, covenant, defiant, distant, elephant, fragrant, gallant, giant, ignorant, important, infant,
instant, jubilant, lieutenant, merchant, pageant, peasant, pheasant, pleasant, protestant, relevant, remnant,
restaurant, sergeant, sextant, truant, tyrant, valiant, warrant.
Applicant, descant, signif icant, vacant. Extravagant.
er /ur / ir / ear ... - (berth, burst, bird, earn, worth)
The stressed er-sound is spelt very unpredictably.
Berth, fern, her, herb, herd, jerk, nerve, perch, serve, stern, swerve, term, verb, verge, verse, were.
Advertisement, alert, alternative, anniversary, assert, certain, commercial, concern, confer, conserve,
conversion, deserve, dessert, detergent, determine, emerge, eternal, exert, expert, external, fertile, germinate,
hermit, impertinent, insert, interpret, jersey, kernel, merchant, mercury, mercy, observe, perfect, perfume,
permanent, permit, person, pertinent, preserve, refer, reserve, reverse, sermon, serpent, terminate, termite,
thermal, transfer, universal, university, verdict, vermin, version, versus, vertical.
Blur, burden, burglar, burgle, burly, burn, burr, burst, church, churn, curfew, curl, curlew, curse, curt,
curve, disturb, excursion, fur, furnish, furry, further, gurgle, hurdle, hurl, hurt, hurtle, incursion, lurch,
lurk, murder, murmur, nasturtium, nurse, nursery, occur, purchase, purple, purpose, purr, purse, return, slur,
spur, spurn, spurt, sturdy, suburb, surf, surface, surge, surgeon, surgery, surname, surplus, survey, Thursday,
topsy-turvy, turban, turbine, turf, turkey, turmoil, turn, turnip, turquoise, turtle, urban, urchin, urge, urn,
yurt.
Birch, bird, birth, chirp, circle, circuit, circular, circumstances, circus, confirm, dirt, encircle, fir, firm,
first, flirt, girder, girdle, girl, mirth, shirk, shirt, sir, skirmish, skirt, smirk, squirm, squirt, stir, swirl, third,
thirst, thirteen, thirty, twirl, virtually, virtue, whirl, whirring.
Earl, early, earn, earnest, earth, heard, learn, pearl, rehearse, search, yearn.
Word, work, world, worm, worse, worship, worst, worth.
Attorney. Courtesy, journal, journey.
-er /-or /-our... - (after, actor, nectar, armour;
butcher, culture)
The unstressed -er ending is spelt -er in at least 315 commonwords, but over 200 words use other spellings:
The different endings sound very much alike in ordinary speech, but it helps to exaggerate their pronunciation
when learning to spell them. This leaves many people believing that they sound different too, but very few
really do.
Center, fiber, oger, saber, theater, kilometer are spelt
centre, fibre, ogre, sabre, theatre, kilometre
in UK English, where there is also differentiation between
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metre (measure of 100cm) and meter(measuring device).
Actor, advisor, alligator, ambassador, ancestor, anchor, assessor, author, boaconstrictor, calculator, castor,
conductor, conveyor, corridor, decorator, demonstrator, director, doctor, editor, elevator, emperor, equator,
error, escalator, factor, gladiator, governor, indicator, interior, inventor, investors, junior, juror, legislators,
liquor, major, manor, mayor, minor, mirror, monitor, motor, navigator, operator, orator, prior, professor,
proprietor, radiator, razor, rector, refrigerator, respirator, rotor, scissors, senator, senior, sensors, solicitor,
spectator, sponsor, successor, superior, supervisor, surveyor, survivor, tailor, tenor, terror, tractor, traitor,
tutor, victor, visitor, warrior.
In American English the following are also with or, but our in UK:
Armour, behaviour, colour, favour, flavour, glamour, harbour, honour, humour, labour, neighbour, odour,
parlour, rumour, saviour, savour, splendour, tumour.
Angular, burglar, caterpillar, cellar, circular, collar, dollar, familiar, grammar, jaguar, liar, lunar,
muscular, nectar, particular, peculiar, pillar, polar, poplar, popular, regular, scholar, secular, similar, solar,
spectacular, sugar, vicar, vulgar.
Answer, chauffeur, jodhpurs, martyr.
Badger, danger, endanger, ginger, manager, manger, merger, passenger, stranger, teenager.
Conjure, exposure, injure, leisure, measure, pleasure, treasure, procedure.
Butcher, catcher, pitcher.
Adventure, agriculture, architecture, capture, caricature, creature, culture, departure, expenditure,
feature, fracture, furniture, future, gesture, lecture, legislature, literature, manufacture, miniature, mixture,
nature, picture, puncture, scripture, signature, structure, temperature, torture, venture, vulture .
In UK English an unstresseda ending is pronounced much like aner one too:
Algebra, antenna, area, arena, armada, asthma, banana, cafeteria, camera, capita, china, cinema, cobra,
dahlia, data, dilemma, diploma, drama, era, extra, formula, gala, gondola, gorilla, gymkhana, hydrangea,
hyena, idea, larva, lava, llama, malaria, militia, nebula, opera, orchestra, panda, panorama, peninsula,
piazza, piranha, pizza, pneumonia, propaganda, pupa, quota, regatta, replica, soda, sofa, stigma, tarantula,
tiara, tuba, tundra, umbrella, utopia, vanilla, veranda, via, villa, yoga, zebra. Cheetah.
F (
fun; sni
ff),
but not in the following:
Phantom, pharaoh, phase, pheasant, phenomenon, philosophy, physics, physiological, phone, photograph,
phrase;
alphabet, amphibian, asphyxiate, apostrophe, catastrophe, cellophane, decipher, dolphin, elephant,
emphasise, nephew, orphan, pamphlet, prophet, sapphire, siphon, sophisticated, sphere, symphony, trophy,
typhoon;
Graph, Joseph, nymph, triumph.
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Laugh, draught.
Cough, trough, enough, rough, sloughx2 [slou/sluf], tough.
Chef, clef , if, of.
-ff- / -f- (offer profit) - unpredictable.
See Doubled Consonants.
G - (garden; get, gift) - Some words have extra letters after g
to show that it should be pronounced as in
garden, and not with the j-sound, of gentle giant:
Gherkin; spaghetti. Guess, guest, guerrillas.
Guillotine, guilt, guinea-pig, guitar, disguise, guide; dinghy, guy.
Hard g before e, i and y without extra letters:
Gear, geese, get, geyser, anger, eager, finger, hunger, linger, tiger, hamburger, forget, target.
Giddy, giggle, gild, gills, gilt, girder, girdle, girl, give; begin, corgi, gymkhana.
With totally surplus extra letters after g (cf. got big):
Ghastly, guarantee, guard, ghost, ghoulish, yogurt/yoghurt.
Catalogue, dialogue, epilogue, synagogue. Colleague, fatigue, league. Meringue, tongue .
-ge, -gi- - (age, engine, revenge) - are the main spellings for a
j-sound inside words and in endings, except in:
Adjective, inject, object, objection, project, reject, subject. Majesty, majestic.Spinach, sandwich (in UK pronunciation).
(For gentle/jester see J.)
-gg- / -g- - (shaggy dragon) unpredictable.
See Doubled Consonants.
H (hot, hoot) with very few exceptions:
Who, whom, whose, whooping. Whole, wholly.
H can cause reading problems by being silent(school, ghastly, when), as shown under C, G and W.
I (sit)) with at least 53 exceptions,
mainly y which has a variable sound (typical type)
except:
Build, built, busy, English, pretty, sieve, vineyard, women.
Abyss, crypt, crystal, cyclical, cygnet, cymbals, cyst, eucalyptus, gym, hymn, hypnotise, lynch, lynx,
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mystery, myth, Olympics, rhythm, syllable, symbol, symmetry, sympathy, symptom, synchronise, syndicate,
syndrome, synthesis, system.
The following words should really have a doubled consonant too (like syllable and symmetry)
Chrysalis, cylinder, cynical, lyric, physics, synagogue, synonym, syrup, typical, tyranny .
With y for an unstressed i-sound:
Analysis, bicycle, chrysanthemum, hysterical, pyjamas, platypus, synopsis, syringe.
i-e - (bite) - with quite a few exceptions:
I /eye.
Bite/bight(bay), knight/night, lite/light, mite/might, rite/right/write, slight/sleight(of hand), sight/site/cite,
alight, blight, bright, delight, fight, flight, fright, frighten, lightning, mighty, tight.
Height; indict.
Behind, bind, blind, find, grind, hind, kind, mind, ninth, pint, rind, windx2;
Bible, bridle, disciple, idle, rifle, stifle, trif le. (cf. libel, idol - biblical).
Child, mild, wild, whilst; island; climb (cf. children, mildew)
Tire/tyre, asylum, cycle, cypress, dyke, dynamic, dynamite, dynamo, hyacinth, hydrangea, hydrogen, hyena,
hygrometer, hypothesis, nylon, paralyse, psychology, pylon, python, rhyme, scythe, style, thyroid, type,
tyrant.
Eider-down, Fahrenheit, kaleidoscope.
Either, neither(UK pronunciation). Choir. Resign, sign.
In- / en- - (increase, enquire) - mostly in-,
but:
Enable, enamel, encamp, enchant, encircle, enclose, encounter, encourage, encrusted, endanger, endeavour,
endure, engage, enforce, engrave, engulf, enjoy, enlarge, enlist, enquire, enrage, enrol, entangle, entertain,
enthusiastic, entire, entitled, environment.
Some people make an effort to pronounce the unstresseden- prefix as en- rather than in-, but in most
peoples normal speech they sound the same:
Inevitable, infect, inferior, inflate, inform, infuriate, inhabit, inhale, inject, inoculate, inquire, insane, insist,
insolent, insult, intact, intend...
J (jam,job,jug)
Before a, o and u the spelling is completely regular,
but unpredictable before e, i and y:
Jelly, jest, jet, jettison, jetty, jealous, jerk, jersey; jeans, jeep, jeer, Jew, jewel.
Jiffy, jig, jigsaw, jilt, jingle. Jive.
Gem, general, generation, generous, genie, genius, gentle, genuine, geography, geranium, germ, gesture.
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Gin, ginger, gipsy/gypsy, giraffe, gym, gyp. Giant, gyroscope.
K- is used:
1) before e and i (kept, kitten, make),
2) after long vowels (seek, speak) and
3) after consonants (milk, ankle, mark, risk),
except:
1) Chemical, orchestra; a
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