7 Rules Of Pronunciation

1. 1
   

   A Vowel Followed by a Single Consonant at the End of a Word Is Pronounced as a Short Vowel

   Words that conform to this rule are often some of the first that students of English (as well as native speakers) learn to read. Pup has cup. Man has ham. All of these words follow the short vowel + consonant rule. You might see these words represented in this way. CVC.
2. 2

   A Vowel Followed by Two Consonants at the End of a Word Is Pronounced as a Short Vowel

   Words that conform to this rule may be single vowels followed by a consonant blend (see below for an explanation of consonant blends) or those that are followed by two distinct consonants. You may see these types of words represented in this way. CVCC. Some examples include the following: stops, want, hand, wish, and bark.
3. 3

   If a Vowel Is the Final Letter in a Word, It Is Pronounced as a Long Vowel

   A vowel at the end of a word may appear in a single syllable word or a multisyllabic word. Either way, the pronunciation rule remains the same. A final vowel at the end of a word is pronounced as a long vowel. Some examples of single syllable words which follow this rule are go, pi, lo, be, and he. Multiple syllable examples include ago and ego. You might see these words represented like this CV.
4. 4

   If an E Appears at the End of a Word, It Is Silent. The Preceding Vowel (Separated from the E by One or More Consonants) Will Be Pronounced as a Long Vowel

   Silent e is one of the first spelling rules children learn in school, and no wonder since it is so common in English. If you are teaching phonics, you might have students underline or cross out the silent e and mark the preceding vowel as long. You might see words which follow this rule represented in this way: CVCe. You can find examples throughout the English language, but some of them are hate, care, note, flute, bite, nice, and ape.
5. 5

   If Two Vowels Appear next to Each Other in One Syllable, the Second Vowel Is Silent and the First Vowel Is Pronounced as a Long Vowel

   We see vowel combinations all the time in English. A general rule as to their pronunciation is to say the first vowel and ignore the second. These vowel combinations come in all kinds of match ups. You might see words which follow this rule represented this way: CVVC. English examples include true, beat, train, leaf, and load.

Consider Rules for Pronouncing Consonants

1. One thing to keep in mind when discussing consonant pronunciation are consonant blends. A consonant blend is two or more letters that are pronounced as one sound in English. Some blends are clearly two sounds which become one complex sound (for example bl in black, tr as in atrophy). They often include the letters l, r, or s but not always. Other “blends” are actually only one English sound which is spelled by using two or more consonants. These sounds include sh (wish), ch (chair), tch (watch) and others.
2. 6

   If One Consonant Follows a Vowel in the Middle of a Word, It Is Pronounced as the First Sound in the Next Syllable

   Where a consonant is pronounced in a word does make a difference in a student’s pronunciation, particularly if they speak slowly. Think about the difference between pap-er and pa-per. Clearly the second is the correct pronunciation while the first sounds, at best, strange, and at worst like a different word entirely. Other examples include tele-phone (not teleph-one), la-bor (not lab-or), lo-cate (not loc-ate) and pro-tect (not prot-ect).
3. 7

   When Two Consonants Follow a Vowel in the Middle of a Word, One Consonant Is Pronounced at the End of the First Syllable and the Other Is Pronounced at the Beginning of the Next Vowel

   Of course, consonant blends act as one consonant sound, but non-blend neighboring consonants will follow this rule. When a consonant is doubled in the middle of a word, it also follows this rule. Some examples include sub-ject, tal-ly, ab-ject, top-ple, and haz-mat.

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