English pronunciation: rules, exceptions and practice

A final e often makes the earlier vowel say its name; the e itself is usually silent. This is a useful pattern, not a guarantee.

EA often sounds like /iː/, but common words use /ɛ/, /eɪ/ or another vowel. Learn frequent word families.

OO often represents /uː/, but many familiar words have /ʊ/ and a few have other sounds.

In many common words, AI represents /eɪ/. Several frequent words use a different vowel.

OA commonly represents /oʊ/ in American English. A small group of words does not follow this pattern.

OU is a spelling family with several productive pronunciations. Use the word and its family to predict the sound.

OW commonly represents /aʊ/ or /oʊ/. There is no fully reliable rule for choosing between them in every word.

IE can represent different vowel sounds. “I before E except after C” is not a reliable pronunciation rule.

EI may represent /iː/, /eɪ/ or /aɪ/. Pronunciation depends on the word.

Y can function as a consonant or represent different vowel sounds, depending on its place in a word.

C often represents /s/ before E, I or Y, and /k/ in many other positions. There are word- and name-specific exceptions.

G often represents /dʒ/ before E, I or Y, but the spelling does not determine the sound in every word.

In many established words, PH represents /f/. At word or morpheme boundaries, P and H may be separate sounds.

CH most often represents /tʃ/ in everyday words. Words from different language histories may use /k/ or /ʃ/.

TH commonly represents /θ/ as in think or /ð/ as in this. A few names and words use /t/.

SH generally represents /ʃ/. When the letters straddle a word-part boundary, they may remain separate sounds.

NG often represents /ŋ/. In some words, including finger, a /ɡ/ follows; compare singer, which normally has /ŋ/ alone.

First check the final sound of the base word. After /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/, add an extra syllable, usually /ɪz/ or /əz/. After other voiceless sounds, use /s/. After other voiced sounds, including vowels, use /z/. Slashes show sounds, not letters.

For regular past-tense verbs, use /ɪd/ after /t/ or /d/, /t/ after other voiceless sounds, and /d/ after other voiced sounds, including vowels. Some adjectives have special pronunciations.

A doubled consonant spelling usually represents one consonant sound; doubling can also signal vowel or word structure.

In many inherited English words beginning KN, K is silent.

In common words beginning WR, W is silent and the word starts with /r/.

B is silent in many common words ending in MB. It is not silent in every word containing those letters.

L is silent in some frequent words, but pronounced in many similar-looking words. Learn these word by word.

GH has several outcomes depending on the word: it can be silent, sound /f/, or sound /ɡ/ in some positions.

OUGH has several pronunciations across common words and dialects. Learn each word with its sound; there is no single fixed sound count for every dialect or word set.

The ending TION commonly represents /ʃən/. Some related spellings and words behave differently.

SION commonly has /ʒən/ or /ʃən/. Word families and stress can help, but learn the word forms together.

In many accents, an unstressed vowel reduces to /ə/. Stress and connected speech affect how clearly it is heard.

Some noun–verb pairs shift stress. This is a common pattern, not a rule for every pair.