First, let's find out what's different open syllable in English from closed and using examples, let's see how to correctly read letters in a particular syllable.
Open syllable in English
If a word ends in a vowel, it is an open syllable.
name - name
my - mine
take - take
You've probably already noticed that in almost all cases, the vowel letter e at the end of a word is silent (not readable). Let's now take a closer look at how to correctly read vowels in an open stressed syllable.
In an open syllable, all vowels are read as in the alphabet. The exception is the letter y. There are 6 vowels in total in the alphabet. Let's look at each of them in the table below.
English vowels and examples of their pronunciation in words
Aa
name - name
lake - lake
say - say
As you already noticed, the last vowel in English word not readable. It only says that the first vowel in a word should be read as in the alphabet.
Ee
be - to be
me - me
settle - bench
In most prepositions we pronounce the last vowel, as in the example with the prepositions be (to be) and me (me).
II
nice - to be
like - me
line - bench
Oo
no - no
nose - nose
go - go, go
Uu
mute - mute
tune - tune
Yy
my - mine
skype - skype
The vowel y in an English word conveys sound despite the fact that its transcription is .
Closed syllable in English.
If a word ends with a consonant, then it is closed syllable.
pen - pen
good [ɡʊd] - good
sit - sit
Let's look at the rules for reading each vowel separately in closed syllable in English.
English vowels and examples of their pronunciation in a closed syllable
Aa
bad - bad
dad - dad
back - back
black - black
flat - apartment
The letter Aa in a closed stressed syllable is read as the sound [æ]. This sound is similar to something between Russian A and E. In the examples you can clearly hear how to pronounce this sound. Practice well before moving on to the next letter.
Oo
stop - stop
box - box
from - from, from
shop - store
hot - hot
Letter Oo in a closed stressed syllable is read as the sound [ə]. This sound is similar to the Russian sound O, but in Russian, when we pronounce O, we extend our lips forward; in English, when pronouncing the sound [ə], our lips do not extend forward. In the examples you can clearly hear how to pronounce this sound.
II
big - big
film - film
milk - milk
sit - sit
fish - fish
The letter Ii in a closed stressed syllable is read as the sound [I]. This sound is similar to the Russian sound I. In the examples you can clearly hear how to pronounce this sound.
Ee
best - best
bed - bed
dress - dress
egg - egg
get - receive
The letter Ee in a closed stressed syllable is read as the sound [e]. This sound is similar to the Russian sound E. In the examples you can clearly hear how to pronounce this sound.
Uu
cup - cup
sun - sun
run - run
fun - fun
up - up
The letter Uu in a closed stressed syllable is read as the sound [ʌ]. This sound is similar to the Russian A sound, but in English it is more intense. In the examples you can clearly hear how to pronounce this sound.
Yy
gym - gym
myth - myth
rhythm - rhythm
The letter Yy in a closed stressed syllable is read the same as the letter Ii. This sound is similar to the Russian sound I. In the examples you can clearly hear how to pronounce this sound.
Useful
A diphthong is when one letter contains two sounds. For example, the letter a has two sounds.
Open closed syllable in English: exercises
Now let's practice a little. Choose which sound is present in the word.
|
red (red) |
|||
|
|
|
black (black) |
The English vowel system seems very confusing at first glance. Of course, there are only 6 letters in the alphabet, but 20 sounds! But everything obeys certain rules that are not so difficult to understand. The whole secret is in the syllables into which each word is divided.
It is impossible to learn to read without knowing the basics of syllabification, which is the number of vowels in a word. So, for example, a syllable is considered: a-tom, i-tem. Letter l+e and r+e, where “e” is not pronounced – also separate part words: ta-ble, ti-tle.
Types of syllables in English are divided into stressed and unstressed.
Drums are formed into specific groups:
1st. Open
First of all, mentally divide the word into syllables, then look at which letter it ends with:
- a vowel at the end indicates an open syllable, which means it is pronounced as in the alphabet (“a” - hey, “o” - oh): see, go, he.
- if the word ends with “e”, it is called silent e, then the syllable is also open: pale, sake, like.
2nd. Closed
Almost everything English syllables ending in a consonant can be classified as closed (with the exception of the letter “r”): bag, fun, plan.
3rd. Syllable with letter “r”
If after a stressed vowel there is an “r”, which is not pronounced, then the vowel becomes long: firm, sport, car.
4th. Syllable with letter “r” + “e”
The letter “e” is silent, it is not pronounced, just like “r”. It is these letter combinations that are called diphthongs and triphthongs: parents, fire, pure.
Each vowel is pronounced differently depending on whether the syllable is open or closed. All of them must be learned by heart and practiced through various phonetic exercises.
1st: Aa – – correspond to the Russian “ey”, Ee – – similar to the extended Russian “i”, Yy – – to “ai”, Ii – – “ay”, Uu – – to the extended “yu”, Oo – – pronounced like “ oh."
Aa – make, Ee – we, Ii – time, Yy – type, Uu – tube, Oo – note.
2nd: Aa – [æ] – average of the sound of Russian letters “e and a”, Ee – [e] – “e”, Yy – [i] – “and”, Ii – [i] – “and”, –Uu – [ʌ] – “a”, Oo – [ɔ] – reads like the Russian “o”.
Aa - cat, Ee - bed, Ii - sit, Yy - system, Uu - cup, Oo - not.
3rd: Aa – – correspond to the extended Russian “a”, Ee – [e] – “e”, Yy – [ə:] resembles something cross between Russian “e and o”, a little “ё” sound, Ii – [ə: ] – a mixture of “e and o”, a little from the sound “e”, Uu – [ə:] – “e and o”, Oo – [ɔ:] – extended “o”.
Aa – car, Eee – her, Ii – girl, uu – cure, Oo – more.
4th:: Aa – [ɛə] – sounds like Russian “ea”, Ee – – “ie”, Yy – – “aya”, Ii – – “aya”, Uu – – “yue”, Oo – [ɔ :] – long “o”.
Aa – share, Ee – here, Ii – fire, Yy – tyrant, Oo – more.
Another type of syllable in English is unstressed syllable.
From the name it is clear that this is a syllable that is not stressed. Without stress, English vowels are read especially. So let's see:
Aa, Oo, Uu– read as sound [ə]: a gain, c o ntrol, diffic u lt.
Ee, Ii, Yy- read as sound [i]: b e come, d e cide, cit y.
But:
- e+n+ consonant = [ə] student
- e+ l, n at the end = [-] (disappears, not pronounced) seven
- i+ final l = [-] (disappears, not pronounced) pupil
- o + final n = [-] (disappears, not pronounced): lesson
Many? Yes? Training and more training. Gradually, you will easily notice open and closed syllables and develop phonetic intuition.
In this lesson:
Alphabet for letter A
Open and closed syllable
There are many reading rules in the English language, but the most, most, most “basic” are the rules for reading vowels in open and closed syllables.
There is NO need to “learn the rules” of reading separately. You need to learn quite a lot of words - examples of this rule. By memorizing the rules, you remember patterns, which you then notice in unfamiliar words.
Let's go through the dictionary
Once upon a time, it seems like a long time ago, there were no electronic dictionaries. Why, back then there were no computers. The translation of unfamiliar words had to be looked for by leafing through a thick, solid book DICTIONARY. Probably, even now every student of English has a large or not very large English-Russian dictionary, which is called “hardcover”.
It is, of course, easier to look for a translation of a word in the electronic version of the dictionary, but when you hold a book in your hands, you see more words, and it is easier to find words in which a vowel denotes a specific sound. So, let's go through the dictionary and look for patterns.
"Alphabet" for the letter "A"
| [x] | |
| ant - ant act act apple - apple |
able ace ace |
| bad - bad bag - bag |
baby ["beIbi] child bake bacon ["beIkn] bacon bait bait |
| camp - camp cat - cat |
cable cable cake |
| daddy - dad dam - dam |
date date, date day day daisy ["deIzI] daisy danger ["deInGq] danger |
| enamel enamel embarrass to embarrass |
enable promote embrace |
| fan - fan, fan fact fact fax fax |
face face fame fake - fake, counterfeit |
| gas - gas ganster - ganster |
game game gate |
| hat - hat hand - hand | hate |
| jam ["Gxm] - jam, jam jaguar ["Gxgjq] jaguar |
Jane -Jane jail ["GeIl] prison |
| lamp - lamp | lady ["leIdI] - lady, lady |
| mad - crazy | make - do, produce |
| narrow ["nxrqV] narrow | name - name, call |
| pack pack, flock | pale - pale |
| rat - rat | radio ["reIdiqV] radio |
| sad - sad | safe safe |
| tank tank | take |
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Open and closed syllable
This table does not contain words for all letters of the alphabet, but this is enough. As you can see, there are a lot of things in English short words type
hat is a closed syllable - after the letter a there is one consonant and nothing else.
hate is an open syllable - after the letter a there is one consonant and a “silent” letter e (it is not pronounced).
Using such examples, the rules for reading vowels in open and closed (stressed!) syllables are the easiest to remember. So,
In an open stressed syllable, vowels are read in the same way as they are called (as in the alphabet), i.e. This is alphabetical reading.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Even this “simple” rule does not apply to all words. To read a vowel letter it is important what letters exactly? stand in front of her and behind her. Therefore, the letter a can also be read as [L] or [R]. But more on that in the next lesson.
In the meantime, try to remember the words from the table above and
transcription signs [x] and .
More:
To do this, you need to know the types of syllables in English. Knowledge of several simple rules will take you one step closer to the desired pronunciation like native speakers. Let's first remember the basic things, a syllable is or several vowel sounds combined with a consonant/consonants, which are pronounced with one push of exhaled air. There are four types of syllables: an open syllable, a closed syllable, and two conventionally open (or half-closed) types of syllables. Open and closed syllables are the most common in English, so it’s worth talking about them in more detail with examples and exceptions, but we’ll also definitely talk about the rest.
Closed syllables
This is the syllable that occurs most often. It ends in a consonant (one or more), and the vowel letter in the syllable is read briefly. We have selected a few examples for you to help you remember the rule better:
bad- badExceptions:
cat- cat
lip- lip
sad- sad
black- black
As always, there are a few exceptions to this rule that you need to keep in mind:
Free lesson on the topic:
Irregular English verbs: table, rules and examples
Discuss this topic with a personal tutor for free online lesson at Skyeng school
Leave your contact information and we will contact you to sign up for a lesson
- The letter “a” before “s” and the combination “th” is always read as a long “a”: past, master, glass, father, path.
- The letter “a” after “w” is always read as a short “o”: was, want, wasp.
- In some words, the letter “u” is read exactly the same as in an open syllable: put, pull, bull, push.
- The letter “o” in combination with “–st” is also read briefly: most, lost, host.
Open syllables
The main rule of an open syllable in English is that it must end in a vowel. In this case, the vowel is read exactly the same as in the alphabet and ultimately produces a long sound.
Main characteristics of a syllable:
- Such a syllable does not have a consonant after the vowel in the syllable. (for example in the words: go, my, no);
- Usually has the letter e at the end of the word, which comes immediately after the vowel (for example in the words: pie, toe, bye);
- Immediately after the consonant letter there is a silent (or unreadable) vowel e (for example in the words: name, take, pupil);
- Immediately after the stressed vowel there is a consonant + le (for example in the words: table, noble).
The same rule may apply to some monosyllabic words, such as: me, go, she and some others.
Example words:
male- male
type- type
bite- bite
go- go
late- late
rude- rude
like- like how
Exceptions:
There are also exceptions to this rule. It is very important to remember that in words: love, some, done, none, dove– the letter “o” in the first syllable is read exactly the same as the short “a”.
Conventionally open (or semi-closed) syllables
Conventionally open (or semi-closed) syllables come in several types:
- Syllables that end with a vowel + r;
- Syllables that end with a vowel + re;
- Syllables that end in a consonant + le.
In the first case, the vowel makes a long sound, and the letter r is not readable.
car- automobile
girl [ɡɜːl]- girl
In the second case, the consonant r is also unreadable, but the vowel is converted into a diphthong.
pure - clean
The third case (consonant + le) can be either an open or a closed syllable, depending on how many consonants come before le. There are two cases:
- There is one consonant before le.
table [ˈteɪbl]- table
title [ˈtaɪtl]- Name - Before le there are two consonants.
struggle [ˈstrʌɡl]- struggle
sniffle [ˈsnɪfl]- sniffling
Useful video:
Closed syllable. In a closed syllable, a stressed vowel is followed by one or more consonants (except r); a vowel in a closed syllable conveys a short sound.
Example of words with open syllable type
- pen - [ pen ] - feather
- cat - [ kæt ] - cat
There are four types of syllables in English, more on that. Types of syllables
Rules for reading vowels in open and closed syllables.
The most common rules for reading English vowels are the rules for reading them in four syllable types.
The vowels i and y are, as it were, duplicating each other (in the sense of the rules for reading them). The letter y is found mainly at the end of words, and the letter i is found in the middle of words and almost never at the end.
1 Alphabetical reading, i.e. The pronunciation corresponding to the name of the letter in the alphabet has vowels only in the second type of syllable, which is also called open, since it ends with a vowel.
2 A syllable becomes closed if a vowel is followed by one or more consonants.
3 In polysyllabic words, according to the rules of English syllable division, one consonant, being on the border of syllables between the readable vowels, goes to the next syllable. For example, in the word lad [ læd ] guy, the consonant d refers to the first and only syllable, “closing” it. In the word lady [ ˈleɪdi ] Lady the same consonant belongs to the second syllable, while the first remains open.
4 If there are two or more consonants at the boundary of syllables, then at least one of them necessarily goes to the previous syllable, making it closed: splendid [ ˈsplɛndɪd ] magnificent, luxurious.
This also applies to cases where combinations of consonants produce only one sound: funny [ ˈfʌni ] funny, amusing ticket [ ˈtɪkɪt ] ticket, coupon
The syllable boundary then passes directly along this sound. The preceding syllable becomes closed, although the sound itself belongs to the following syllable.
5 The letter x conveying two sounds is considered as two consonants boxer [ ˈbɒksə ] boxer
6 The final silent vowel e serves to indicate the openness of syllables ending with the consonants made [ ˈmeɪd ] made . The letter e at the end of a word is read only when it is the only vowel: be [ bi ] be .
7 Sound [ (j) u: ] after sibilants, consonants [ r] and combinations of consonants ending in [ l ], pronounced [ u: ]
- rule [ ruːl ] rule, rule, power
- blue [ bluː ] blue, light blue
- shoot [ ʃuːt ] shoot, shoot.
In other cases, [ juː ]
- few [ fjuː ] little, a little
- use [ ˈjuːs ] benefit, use, application
In American English the sound [ juː ] occurs much less frequently than in British, which in the following transcriptions is designated as [ (j) u: ].
8 Syllables closed with a consonant r or letter combinations r + consonant are separated into a separate, third type of syllable, with special reading rules. In disyllabic words, with several consonants starting with r at the boundary of syllables, r goes to the preceding syllable, the rest to the subsequent one (including cases of rr):
- [German] ˈdʒəːmən ] German
- porridge [ ˈpɒrɪdʒ ] porridge .
9 Finally, if immediately after the r, which closes the syllable, there is again a vowel, an open syllable of the fourth type is formed. If one letter r stands on a syllable boundary in two-syllable words, then general rule syllable division it goes to the subsequent syllable, but at the same time it is an indicator of reading the preceding vowel according to the rules of syllables of the fourth type:
staring [ ˈsteərɪŋ ] bright .
10 The rules for reading open syllables of types 2 and 4 have quite a few exceptions regarding polysyllabic words in which the vowels in the indicated syllables are read according to the rules of closed type syllables.
11 The consonant r after vowels in syllables of the third and fourth type is not readable in British English. However, if next word begins with a vowel, the final “silent” -r or -re ceases to be so:
to take care of [ təˈ teɪk ker əv ] take care . In the American version, the consonant r is always pronounced.
12 The vowels e, i, y and u in syllables of the third type produce the same sound [ ə: ] , and their reading in syllables of the fourth type is easily obtained from the alphabetic by adding the sound [ ə ] .
13 The vowel o in syllables of the third and fourth types is read the same [ ɔː ]
14 Letter combinations -er -re at the end of words that produce the same vowel sound [ ə ] , are considered as the vowel opening the previous syllable: metre [ ˈmiːtə ] meter The letter combination -le at the end of words has a similar property: table [ ˈteɪbl] table . Sonorant consonant [ l ]. similar in sound characteristics to vowels, appears in similar cases as a syllabic vowel.