Spelling and Sounding Rules:
- C always softens to /s/ when followed by E, I, or Y.
Otherwise, C says /k/ - G may soften to /j/ only when followed by E, I, or Y.
Otherwise, G says 'g' - English words do not end in I, U, V, or J
- A E O U usually say their long sounds at the end of the syllable
- I and Y may say /ĭ/ or /ī/ at the end of a syllable
- When a one-syllable word ends in a single-vowel Y, it always says /ī/
- Y says /ē/ only in an unsrtressed syllable at the end of a multi-syllable word
- I may say /ē/ with a silent final E, at the end of a syllable, and at the end of foreign words
- Y says /ē/ only in an unsrtressed syllable at the end of a multi-syllable word
- I and O may say /ī/ and /ō/ when followed by two consonants
- AY usually spells the sound /ā/ at the end of a base word
- When a word ends with the phonogram A, it says /ä/.
A may also say /ä/ after a W or before an L - Q always needs a U, therefore, U is not a vowel here
- Silent Final E Rule #1
The vowel says its long sound because of the E - Silent Final E Rule #2
English words do not end in V or U - Silent Final E Rule #3
The C says /s/ and the G says /j/ because of the E - Silent Final E Rule #4
Every syllable must have a written vowel - Silent Final E Rule #5
Add an E to keep singular words that end in the letter S from looking plural - Silent Final E Rule #6
Add an E to make the word look bigger (awe, rye, are) - Silent Final E Rule #7
TH says its voiced sound /TH/ because of the E (breathe) - Silent Final E Rule #8
Add an E to clarify meaning (ore, tease, hearse) - Silent Final E Rule #9
Unknown reason (done, come, some, giraffe, where, were) - Drop the silent final E when adding a vowel suffix only if it is allowed by other spelling rules
- Double hte last consonant when adding a vowel suffix to words ending in one vowel followed by one consonnt only if the syllable before the suffix is stressed
- Single-vowel Y changes to I when adding any ending, unless the ending begins with I
- Two I's cannot be next to one another in English words
- TI, CI, and SI are used only at the beginning of any syllable after the first one
- SH spells /sh/ at the beginning of any syllable after the first one, except for the ending -ship
- To make a verb past tense, add the ending -ED unless it is an irregular verb
- -ED past tense ending, forms another syllable when the base word ends in /d/ or /t/.
Otherwise, -ED says /d/ or /t/ - To make a noun plural, add the ending -S unless the word hisses or changes; then add -ES.
Some nouns have no change or an irregular spelling - To make a verb 3rd person singular, add the ending -S unless the word hisses or changes, then add -ES.
Some nouns have no change or an irregular spelling - AI- is a prefix written with one L when preceding another syllable
- -Ful is a suffix written with one L when added to another syllable
- DGE is used only after a single vowel which says its short sound
- CK is used only after a single vowel which says its short sound
- TCH is used only after a single vowel which says its short or broad sound
- AUGH, EIGH, IGH, OUGH.
Phonograms ending in GH are used only at the end of a base word or before the letter T.
The GH is either silent or pronounced /f/ - Z, never S, spells /z/ at the beginning of a base word
- We often double F, L, and S after a single, short or broad vowel at the end of a base word.
Occasionally other letters also are doubled - Any vowel may say one one of the schwa sounds, /ŭ/ or /ĭ/, in an unstressed syllable or unstressed word
- O may say /ŭ/ in a stressed syllable next to W, TH, M, N, or V
- AR and OR may say their schwa sounds, /er/, in an unstressed syllable
