Have you ever wanted to know about the silent ‘e’ at the end of some English words? James has some rules that might help you in this English In A Minute.
James
Some words end with an e and this can affect their pronunciation.
We’re going to look at two common examples of this today.
Firstly, an e at the end of a word can change the pronunciation of the vowel before it.
Bit is a short /i/ sound and bite is a long /ai/ sound.
Mat is a short /ae/ sound and mate is a long /ei/ sound.
However, there are many exceptions to this rule.
Love, come, some and have
all have e’s at the end, but the vowel sound is short.
Here’s another rule – when a word ends with consonant plus l + e,
we add an ‘ul‘ sound to the word: little, circle, able.
These are two easy rules for pronouncing words ending with a silent e.
They should make things simple for you when reading new words.
Rules for silent ‘e’
1. An e at the end of a word can change the pronunciation of the vowel before it.
- bit /i/ —> bite /ai/
- mat /ae/ —> mate /ei/
2. Some words ending in e have short vowel sounds.
- love
- come
- some
- have
3. When a word ends with consonant plus l + e, we add an ‘ul‘ sound to the word
- little
- circle
- able