Talk a Lot

Learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Spelling and Sounds – The Magic “e” Rule

In one-syllable words that end with an “e”, the other vowel is almost always long and sounds the same as it does in the alphabet. For example:

“a” in “made” sounds like: A LÉfL “e” in “these” sounds like: E LáWL “i” in “smile” sounds like: I L~fL “o” in “phone” sounds like O L]rL “u” in “huge” sounds like U LàìWL

This is known as the magic “e” rule. Note: the “e” is not pronounced – it is a silent letter. It applies to each of the five vowel letters in written English, although there are more words for “a”, “i”, and “o” than for “e” or “u”. With “u”, some of the words include the LàL consonant sound, for example, “cute” LâàìWíL and “tube” LíàìWÄL , but some don’t, for example, “flume” LÑäìWãL==and “rule” LêìWäL=.

Magic “e” words can be found in lots of different word groups, for example, there are nouns (e.g. “face” and “bike”), verbs (e.g. “close” and “came”), adjectives (e.g. “cute” or “wide”), and adverbs (e.g. “late”) in our list (see p.18.64). It is useful to know about the magic “e” rule when studying pronunciation, because many common words follow these spelling/pronunciation patterns.

There are some words that are exceptions to the rule (as we must expect in English), which are important to remember, because some of them are very common words, for example: are fore move sure awe give none there blue gone one vogue bore have please were cheese here pore wore come live (verb) shone core lose some done love sore

The magic “e” rule also applies in longer words that end with an “e”, for example “complete” and “suppose”, but not in all longer words that end with an “e”, for example, in two-syllable words that end with “-le”, like “little”, or that end with “-ce”, like “justice”.

Words with magic “e” are common in everyday English. If you read any short English text, such as a newspaper article, an email, or a reading text in an English coursebook, you will be sure to find some of them. Why not try it as an exercise and underline the ones that you find. See p.18.64 for a list of 250 common English words that obey the magic “e” rule (in alphabetical order), and the same list ordered by final consonant on p.18.65.

There are many word pairs which are fun to focus on, where the silent “e” changes a short vowel sound to a long vowel sound, and a new word is created, for example:

https://purlandtraining.com/ Talk a Lot

Learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Spelling and Sounds – The Magic “e” Rule

When the other vowel is “a”, the magic “e” changes the short sound LôL to the long sound LÉfL bad bade hat hate nap nape stag stage can cane Jan Jane pan pane stat state Dan Dane mad made plan plane tat Tate fad fade man mane sag sage van vane gal gale mat mate sham shame

When the other vowel is “e”, the magic “e” changes the short sound LÉL to the long sound LáWL met mete pet Pete

When the other vowel is “i”, the magic “e” changes the short sound LfL to the long sound L~fL bid bide fin fine pin pine sit site bit bite hid hide pip pipe Tim time dim dime kit kite rid ride win wine din dine mit mite shin shine writ write

When the other vowel is “o”, the magic “e” changes the short sound LflL to the long sound L]rL cod code dot dote mod mode rob robe con cone hop hope mop mope rod rode cop cope lob lobe not note wok woke

When the other vowel is “u”, the magic “e” changes the short sound L¾L to the long sound LàìWL= cub cube hug huge tub tube

The rule for magic “e” words and suffixes is that if the suffix starts with a vowel letter, we lose the magic “e” from the spelling. For example:

Suffix: Examples:

• -ing (-ing forms) hope > hope -ing > hoping • -ed (regular past forms) race > race -ed > raced • -er (comparative forms) close > close -er > closer • -est (superlative forms) tame > tame -est > tamest • -en (verbs) wide > wide -en > widen but, with suffixes that start with a consonant letter we keep the magic “e”, for example:

• -ly (adverbs) live > live -ly > lively • -ful (adjectives) grate > grate -ful > grateful • -ment (abstract nouns) amaze > amaze -ment > amazement Talk a Lot

Learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Spelling and Sounds – 250 Common Magic “e” Words (in Alphabetical Order)

In one-syllable words that end with an “e”, the other vowel is almost always long and sounds the same as it does in the alphabet. This is known as the magic “e” rule. Note: the “e” is not pronounced – it is a silent letter. a LÉfL make i L~fL rise mote age male abide shine node ape mane arrive side nose bade mate beside site note bale maze bide size phone behave nape bike smile poke brace nave bite strife pole brake pace brine sublime probe cage page chide tide promote cake pale chime tile robe came pane clime time rode cane pave Clive trike rope cave plane compile trite rose chase plate dime twice smoke contemplate race dine vice sole crate rake file while stoke craze rave fine white stole crusade sage five wide stone Dane sale hide wife suppose Dave same hike wine those engage sane hive wise throne escape shade ice write tone exhale shake ignite vote face shame Ike whole fade Shane jive o L]rL woke fake shave kite atone wrote fame snake knife bloke fate space lice bone faze stage life broke u LàìWL=or LìWL forsake stake like choke abuse frame stale lime chose brute gale state line close chute game take live code cube gate tale mice Coke cute gave tame Mike coke Danube gaze tape mile cone flume grace Tate mine cope fume grate template mite dome huge grave trace nice dote legume hale trade nine drone Luke hate vane nite elope mule haze wake pike explode puke inhale whale pile globe refuge Jane pine hole rule Kate pipe home tube knave e LáWL polite hone use lace compete pride hope Yule lake complete prime implode lame gene prise joke lane mete prize lobe late Pete provide lode laze these quite mode lemonade ride mole made rile mope Talk a Lot

Learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

Spelling and Sounds – 250 Common Magic “e” Words (Ordered by Final Consonant)

In one-syllable words that end with an “e”, the other vowel is almost always long and sounds the same as it does in the alphabet. This is known as the magic “e” rule. Note: the “e” is not pronounced – it is a silent letter. a LÉfL Jane i L~fL prise atone lane rise bone brace ice mane wise cone face lice pane drone grace mice plane bite hone lace nice sane ignite phone pace twice Shane kite stone race vice vane mite throne space nite tone trace abide ape polite beside escape quite cope bade bide nape site elope crusade chide tape trite hope fade hide white mope lemonade pride chase write rope made provide shade ride contemplate arrive chose trade side crate Clive close tide fate five nose age wide gate hive rose cage grate jive suppose engage knife hate live those page life Kate sage strife late prize dote stage wife mate size mote plate note brake bike state promote cake hike Tate vote fake Ike o L]rL template wrote forsake like globe lake Mike lobe behave make pike probe cave rake trike robe u LàìWL=or LìWL Dave shake gave cube snake compile code grave Danube stake file explode knave tube take mile implode nave wake pile lode pave huge rile mode rave refuge bale smile node shave exhale tile rode Luke gale while craze puke hale bloke faze inhale chime broke gaze mule male clime choke haze rule pale dime Coke laze Yule sale lime coke maze stale prime joke flume tale sublime poke fume whale smoke legume e LáWL brine stoke came gene dine woke abuse fame fine use frame these line hole game mine mole brute lame compete nine pole chute same complete pine sole cute shame mete shine stole tame Pete time whole wine cane dome Dane pipe home