Reading rules in English
In our offer tables with rules for reading letters and letter combinations in English(see below) summarized the main trends reading rules. We have chosen the format for presenting information about reading rules in english in the form of small tables, which lists all of them in alphabetical order. Please note that the tables do not always give hard and fast rules, rather trends reading rules, so you can repeatedly meet when describing reading rules one or the other letters and letter combinations in these tables, words such as "usually", "usually", etc.
Like the rules rules for reading English letters and letter combinations cannot be considered universal for all cases, because, as is widely known, in the English language there are much more exceptions to reading rules(see, for example, http://alleng.ru/mybook/2read/A.htm) than these rules themselves.
In addition to memorizing the rules for reading individual letters and letter combinations, very useful, one might even say absolutely necessary, to remember reading rules each individual English word. It may seem absurd and really impracticable, but this method, in our opinion, is one of the best and most effective (all for the same reason huge amount exceptions to the rules of reading in English).
Memorization method reading rules whole words, not individual letter combinations minimizes the possibility of an error when pronouncing a word, and, consequently, the potential likelihood of communication failures when communicating with native English speakers.
Rules for reading the letters G, H, I, J in English
G-H-I-J-
| G | |||||||
| [-] | [g] | ||||||
| before e, i, y | in letter combination gh in the middle of a word | not before e, i, y and also in combination with h at the beginning of a word | |||||
| gy m | ei gh t | g ate gh ost | |||||
| H | |||||||
| [h] | [-] | [θ] | [ð] | [ʃ] | |||
| often at the beginning of a word other than a word hours | in letter combination gh in the middle of a word | in letter combination th | in letter combination sh | in letter combinations ch, tch | |||
| h ot | li gh t | th in | th en (between vowels, as well as in any position in adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns) | sh ape | ch air | ||
| I | |||||||
| [i] | [ə:] | ||||||
| in open syllable and in letter combinations ild,ind | in a closed syllable, except for letter combinations ild,ind | before r | |||||
| t i le, m i ld, ch i ld | d i g | b ir d | |||||
| J | |||||||
| jam | |||||||
Date added: 2013-01-11;
This is the second lesson on the alphabet and the rules for reading the letters of the English language. In this lesson, I will tell you about the next four consonants.
The lesson, like the previous one, will not be long, but I strongly recommend paying attention to the intricacies of reading the letter "hh" and the rules for reading the letter " Gg".
Letter gg
gg[ʤi:] is the seventh letter of the English alphabet. Has two basic reading rules.
1. According to the basic rule of reading, it is no different from Russian "G".
This rule is valid if:
I. Letter gg comes before vowels Aa, oo, uu ;
gas- - gas; petrol
gold- - gold
Gun- - gun (any firearm)
II. Letter gg stands before (any) consonant letter;
green- - green
III. Letter gg stands at the end of a word;
big- - large
2. Before vowels ee , II, Yy reads like "J" .
If taken globally, then the original of this sound is softer than the combination "J". But because of this, there is no particular point in worrying. This option will also work temporarily.
Page- - page
Giant- ["ʤaiənt]- giant
Gymnastics- [ʤim"næstiks]- gymnastics
BUT: In words of French origin, the letter gg can be read as "F"
Garage- ["gærɑ:ʓ]- garage
3. At the beginning and end of words in a letter combination gn letter gg drops out.
Gnaw- - gnaw
sign- - symbol; signature
4. letter combination gh.
Be careful! This letter combination can produce a sound [g] or sound [f] , and may even be dumb (unreadable). Therefore, to be sure of the correct pronunciation with such a combination of letters, check the words with a dictionary.
ghost- - ghost
high- - high
Laugh- - laugh
Letter hh
hh is the eighth letter of the English alphabet.
Firstly: I can confidently say that you will not see it before the consonant (excluding abbreviations)
Secondly: this letter is read only if it is followed by a vowel. In all other cases, she is silent.
Thirdly: Letter combinations sh, ch, ph, th, gh create extraneous sounds. Two of them are already known to us. (digraph ch and letter combination gh) . The rest we will look at as we study the corresponding letters.
1. Always read as [h]. This sound has no Russian analogue. Many, making a gross mistake, replace this sound with a Russian sound. X.
The sound [h] is an exhalation. A free sound that comes from the chest without encountering any obstacles, unlike X.
house- - house
2. In combination wh + o letter www drops out.
Who- - who
In other cases, in such a letter combination, a letter drops out hh .
when- - when
Letter jj
jj[ʤei] is the tenth letter of the English alphabet.
1. Always read as [ ʤ ], which can be equated to the Russian "J".
jump- [ʤʌmp]- jump
You know that in English words are not always read exactly as they are written. That is why it is worth giving enough time to the rules for reading English letters separately and in various combinations. In the course of this lesson, we will continue to get acquainted with the rules for reading English letters. We will consider the features of reading the consonants C, G and S and some of their combinations.
If the consonant C comes before the vowels A, U and O, then it is read as [k]. For example: cat - cat, candle ["kændl] - candle, cut - cut, car - car, cow - cow, cup - cup. Before other consonants, the letter C will also be read as sound [k]. For example: cloud - cloud, clown - clown (Fig. 2), actor ["æktə] - actor, doctor ["dɔktə] - doctor, picture ["pɪkʧə] - picture.
In combination with the letter K, the consonant C gives the sound [k]. For example: black - black, back - back, duck - duck, brick - brick, clock - wall clock (Fig. 3), bucket ["bʌkɪt] - bucket.
Rice. 3. Wall clock ()
The letter combinations CH and TSN are read as the sound [ʧ]. Please note that this English sound not as sonorous as in the Russian word "hours". In English, it is softer and similar to the sound when mothers try to calm their baby: “Ch-ch-ch, ch-ch-ch.” Practice pronouncing the sound [ʧ] correctly on these words: chin [ʧɪn] - chin, cherry ["ʧerɪ] - cherry, chicken ["ʧɪkɪn] - chicken, church [ʧɜːʧ] - church, branch - branch, match - match, catch - catch.
Before the vowels I, Y, and E, the consonant G is read as [ʤ]. For example: gym [ʤɪm] - gym, ginger ["ʤɪnʤə] bread - gingerbread (Fig. 4), page - page, cage - cage, large - large. The cage is large. - The cage is large.
Rice. 4. Gingerbread ()
Before the vowels A, O and U, the consonant G will be read as [g]. For example: game - game, go - go, gun - pistol, guitar - guitar, gate - gate, goat - goat. The letter G is also read (like the sound [g]) at the end of a word and before other consonants. For example: bag - bag, big - big, frog - frog (Fig. 5), green - green, gray - grey, glass - glass.
The grass is green. - The grass is green.
My bag is big. - My bag is big.
Unfortunately, not all English words are read according to the rules. There are also exceptions. There are such exceptions for the letter G. Before the vowels I, Y and E, it will not always be read as [ʤ]. Sometimes the letter G will be read as [g]. For example: gift - gift, girl - girl, give - give, tiger ["taɪgə] - tiger, geese - geese, finger ["fɪŋgə] - finger. However, in some cases, the letter G is read completely uncharacteristically. For example, the letter combination GH is pronounced as [f]. For example: enough [ɪ "nʌf] - enough, laugh - laugh, cough - cough (Fig. 6).
In some cases, the combination GH at the end of a word is not pronounced at all. For example:
dough - dough, through [θruː] - through, through. The letter combination IGH reads like . For example: night - night, light - light, fight - fight, knight - knight (Fig. 7).
Practice reading the poem correctly.
star l igh t, star br igh t
Star on the left, star on the r igh t
The consonant letter S has several reading rules.
At the beginning of a word, S is read as a sound [s]. For example: sand - sand, sing - sing, sea - sea, sun - sun. The consonant S will give the sound [s] before voiceless consonants. For example: post - mail, ghost - ghost, toast - toast, desk - desk. In addition, the consonant S will produce the sound [s] after voiceless consonants. For example: books - books, cats - cats, chips [ʧɪps] - french fries, grapes - grapes (Fig. 9). 
Rice. 9. Grapes ()
At the end of a word, after voiced consonants, the letter S will be read as [z]. For example: jeans [ʤiːnz] - jeans, clothes - clothes. Between two vowels, the letter S is read as [z]. For example: rose - rose, nose - nose, close - close, cheese [ʧiːz] - cheese. However, there are exceptions to this rule, that is, words in which the letter S between two vowels makes the sound [s]. For example, house - house, mouse - mouse (Fig. 10), goose - goose. His mouse is in the house. - His mouse is in the house.
The combination of letters SS is read as one sound [s]. For example, grass - grass, lesson ["les (ə) n] - lesson, glass - glass.
The letter combination SH is read as [ʃ]. For example: ship [ʃɪp] - ship, sheep [ʃiːp] - sheep, shirt [ʃɜːt] - shirt, shorts [ʃɔːts] - shorts, fish - fish, bush - bush.
Practice by reciting this tongue twister:
She sells sea shells on the sea shore. - She sells shells on the coast.
Bibliography
- Afanas'eva O.V., Mikheeva I.V. English language. Grade 2 - M: Bustard, 2014.
- Biboletova M.Z., Denisenko O.A., Trubaneva N.N. English language. Grade 2 - Title, 2008.
- Bykova N.I., Dooley D., Pospelova M.D. etc. English language. Grade 2 - Enlightenment, 2013.
Homework
- Learn how to read all the words from the video lesson correctly.
- Learn poems and tongue twisters from the video lesson.
- Learn the words from the video lesson.
- Internet portal Alleng.ru ().
- Internet portal Alleng.ru ().
- Internet portal Alleng.ru ().
- Internet portal Alleng.ru ().
18.12.2015
Today we will talk about how to correctly read English words that contain the letters "c" and "g" or the letter combinations "ch", "gh". Such words seem especially difficult not only to those who have just started, but also to those who seem to already speak and read English quite well, but have not taken an English phonetics course, and therefore read the words “as they remember, as they heard.” There are not many “complex” letters and letter combinations in the English language, and today there will be 4 less of them for you!
Rules for reading the letter "c"
Usually the English letter "s" is pronounced as [ k]: come, clone, cube, cave.
Like the sound s] it is pronounced only when it comes before the letters " e, i, y»: cinema, center, cycle, capacity, practice.
The letter combination "ch"
As for this letter combination in English, there are several rules for reading it:
- Like the sound [h] - chin, chess, chill, chips, chops, such;
- In words of French origin as [w] - machine, chic;
- In words of Greek origin as [k] - architect, archaic, chemistry, scheme, character, technical, school;
Rules for reading the letter "g"
Yes, yes, this letter is one of the most difficult not in terms of the pronunciation process itself, but in terms of correctly reading it in different words. There are several rules for reading the letter "g":
- Like [g] before vowels a, o, u – gas, gold, gun;
- Like [g] before any consonant - green, glass;
- Like [g] at the end of a word - big, strong;
- Like [j] before e, i, y – page, giant, gym;
- In words of French origin as [w] - garage, massage, genre;
Exception words, in which "g" is read as [r]: anger, begin, forget, forgive, geese, get, gift, girl, give, hunger, target, tiger, together.
Letter combination "gh"
And finally, the combination of English letters "gh" is usually not readable, i.e. if "gh" is at the end of a word, such as sigh, high, eight, neighbor, through, highest, night, fight etc., then we pronounce this syllable as [ai / ai]: "sai, hai, eit."
Exception words, in which the letter combination "gh" can be read as [g] or as [f]: cough(coffee) draft(draft), enough(inaf), ghost(ghost), laugh(laugh) rough(raf), tough(taf).
That's the way it is, friends. If you still have questions about or how these letters are read correctly in certain words - write, I will be happy to answer you.
See you soon! Bye-bye for now!
