Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
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We're going to take a look at
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some more rules for how to pronounce
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words ending with silent 'e' today.
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Firstly, the letters 'c' and 'g' can have
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hard consonant sounds like /k/ and /g/.
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However, when the word ends with a
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silent 'e' it changes the pronunciation
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of these consonants.
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'C' and 'g' become soft consonant sounds
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/s/ and /ʤ/. So it's pronounced /mais/ not /maik/
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and /keiʤ/ not /keig/. Another very similar rule
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is for the pronunciation of 'th'.
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When a word ends with 'th' and then a silent 'e',
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it changes from a /θ/ sound to a /ð/ sound.
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The most common example of this
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is the word 'the'.
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It's pronounced with a /ð/ sound.
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Some other examples include
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'breath' and 'breathe' and 'bath' and 'bathe'.
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These nice and easy rules should help
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you when pronouncing new words.
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Just remember that the silent 'e'
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changes pronunciation.
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