Patterns that predict how a word sounds from its spelling — and the exceptions worth memorising.
Browse common exceptions →A syllable ending in a consonant often has a short vowel: cat /æ/, bed /e/, sit /ɪ/, hot /ɒ/, cup /ʌ/. Count spoken vowel sounds, not written letters: free has one syllable, and the final e in bake is silent. This is a starting clue, not a promise for every word.
When a stressed syllable ends in a vowel sound, the letter often says its name: a /eɪ/, e /iː/, i /aɪ/, o /əʊ/, u /juː/. In longer words, find the stress first: an unstressed open syllable can weaken to /ə/ instead.
Y acts like a vowel when there is no other vowel in its syllable. In a closed syllable it often says /ɪ/ (gym); at the end of a one-syllable word, /aɪ/ (my); at the end of an unstressed syllable, /i/ (happy). A stressed open syllable may also have /aɪ/ (cycle).
A silent e at the end makes the earlier vowel say its name: a → eɪ, i → aɪ, o → əʊ, u → juː, e → iː.
These pairs often make a long vowel sound: ai/ay → eɪ, ee → iː, oa → əʊ, ue → uː. It is a useful starting point, not a rule for every pair of vowels.
Usually ea says /iː/ (sea, teach). Many /e/ words come in families: -ead (head, bread), -eath (breath, death), and ready, heavy, weather. These are clues, not guarantees: bead and heath have /iː/. Great, break and steak have /eɪ/. Read is /iː/ in the present and /e/ in the past.
In British English the r is silent after a vowel, but it changes the vowel: ar → ɑː, or → ɔː, and er / ir / ur all → ɜː.
At the end of a word, a consonant plus -le often forms a separate, unstressed syllable. The e is silent: table has two syllables (ta · ble), not three. Listen for the weak /əl/ ending.
Stressed syllables are clearer and often longer. Unstressed vowels frequently weaken to /ə/ (schwa), so spelling alone cannot predict their sound. Stress can even change a word: PREsent is a noun, preSENT is a verb. Listen for the strong beat before guessing a vowel.
Before e, i or y, c usually sounds like s and g often sounds like dʒ. Elsewhere they are hard: k and g.
Two letters can represent one sound: sh /ʃ/, ch and tch /tʃ/, th /θ/ or /ð/, ph /f/, ng /ŋ/. In nk, /ŋ/ is followed by /k/; qu is usually /kw/. Ch sometimes says /k/ in Greek-origin words such as school and chemistry.
X usually says /ks/ in box and next. Between vowels, especially just before a stressed vowel, it often says /gz/ as in exam and exist. At the start of words like xylophone, it says /z/.
-tion says ʃən, -sion says ʃən or ʒən, and -ture says tʃə. These endings are never stressed.
When a vowel-starting ending is added, a final silent e often disappears (make → making), but e stays after soft c or g before -able (notice → noticeable). A short stressed vowel followed by one consonant often doubles that consonant before a vowel ending (run → running). A final consonant + y changes to i before -ness (happy → happiness), but not before -ing (hurry → hurrying). These spelling changes help preserve the base word’s pronunciation.
Many consonants are written but not spoken, a trace of older pronunciation. K is silent before n at the start; w before r; b after m at the end and often before t. L can be silent in could and calm; p in psychology; u after g in guitar. Gh has several patterns — compare the tricky-spellings lesson.
-ed sounds like t after voiceless sounds, d after voiced sounds, and ɪd after t or d.
-s sounds like s after voiceless sounds, z after voiced sounds, and ɪz after hissing sounds (s, z, ʃ, tʃ, dʒ).
After w or qu, the letter a usually sounds like ɒ or ɔː, and or sounds like ɜː.
