Pronunciation rules in English table. Rules for reading English vowels

The rules of reading in English cannot be called simple. But you have to understand them at the very beginning of training - otherwise you will not be able to move on. Therefore, the rules for reading English for beginners (and for children) are usually set out concisely and clearly - and thanks for that. Transcriptions with examples and other supporting materials (tables, exercises) and, of course, constant practice (reading aloud and listening) are very helpful.

Transcription- this is the transmission of sound in writing with the help of special conventional signs. In transcription, each sound has its own special sign.

True, there are features of transcription of reading in English, which are difficult for Russian-speaking students. These difficulties are due to objective differences in pronunciation in English and Russian. We simply have “the language is different” since childhood, and relearning is always difficult. Especially when you consider that often sounds in English are not pronounced the way they are written. Historically, this has happened because of the large number of dialects in which the same letters and combinations of letters were read differently. But it doesn't make it any easier for us.

Rules for reading transcription in English

Different English teachers solve this difficult task in different ways. For example, they use the so-called “English transcription in Russian”, that is, the recording of English words in Russian letters. Frankly, we do not support this technique. Because it does not allow you to truly learn English pronunciation correctly. One can only very roughly convey the pronunciation of English words in Russian letters. Well, there are some English sounds missing in Russian, and the seemingly similar pronunciation of English and Russian sounds is still different.

Therefore, we are in favor of trying and from the very beginning, nevertheless, to learn the phonetic signs with which transcriptions are recorded. This will help to understand and remember the rules of reading English for beginners. And further English lessons will be given much easier. As for the transmission of English sounds in Russian letters, this technique is needed for transliteration (as), but not for pronunciation training.

Rules for reading vowels in English

As we have already noted, letters and sounds in English often do not match. Moreover, there are much more sounds: 44 sounds for only 26 letters. Linguists even joke about it:

“We write Liverpool and we read Manchester”

So great is the difference between the written word and its pronunciation in English. Well, let's start in order. From syllables that affect the reading of vowels. Syllables in English (as in any other) are open and closed:

• Open syllable ends with vowel. It can be in the middle of a word or be the last one in a word. For example: age, blue, bye, fly, go, etc.
• Closed syllable ends with consonant. It can also be in the middle of a word or be the last in a word. For example: bed, big, box, hungry, stand, etc.

Here is a table that explains how the same letter is read differently in closed and open syllables and in different positions in a word:

Rules for reading consonants in English

Consonants in English are less difficult than vowels. Only some of them (C, S, T, X and G) are read differently depending on the position in the word and neighboring sounds. And for clarity - again the table:

How are letter combinations read in English?

So, after vowels and consonants, we got to letter combinations. Now we will talk about the rules for reading syllables, not individual letters. And rightly so - because in words the letters are just combined, so we rarely have to read individual sounds. And in syllables, sounds influence each other, so the following table contains the basic rules for reading syllables and combinations of consonants:

Living and other reading rules in English

All students have different abilities for languages ​​and listening comprehension. If the rules for reading in English are difficult, use one of the tricks:

• Living Rules for Reading English. This is a fairly well-known technique for teaching reading and pronunciation in English. It is designed mainly for children, and the rules of English reading are presented as accessible as possible. Memorization is facilitated by funny verses and tongue twisters. It makes sense to try to interest the child in English from the very beginning of the study.
• Apps for learning English. We recently discussed a number of . In most of them, you can not only read, but also listen to new words. The same function is available in online translators - use it more often.
• Reading rules exercises. There are many of them, but they all come down to training the skill to distinguish between different sounds. For example:

Given a list of words what, who, wrestling, when, why, whose, wrong, where, whom, write, white, which, whole, wrangler). It is necessary to distribute these words into groups with the sound that is pronounced in them: [w], [h] or [r].

Or words from another list ( give, good, cage, ginger, girl, gypsy, gold, gray, grace, beige, gift, gymnastics) distribute into two groups: one with the sound [g], the second - with the sound.

The reading rule exercises may seem complicated, but don't try to do them by memorizing each rule. Better try to understand not the rules, but the principles of reading English sounds. Do a few exercises on the rules of reading to know exactly how some words of the same type are read. The more you read and listen in English, the easier it will be to remember the correct pronunciation.

So our main advice is universal: practice, practice and practice speaking and reading in English will help you learn the language easily and effectively!

We have already mastered. Today we have a difficult topic: the rules of reading in English. Why is it difficult? Yes, because in English there are open and closed syllables, several types of reading vowels, special rules for reading double letters and letter combinations, and many other rules. And there are also exceptions to the rule. Sometimes it is not clear what is more, rules or exceptions. However, you still need to be able to read. First of all, consider the reading of vowels.

Divide words into syllables

Since the reading of vowels depends on the type of stressed syllable, it is worth starting with this. If you understand the types of syllable, then everything will be much easier.

First, let's divide the word into syllables (this applies to polysyllabic words with multiple vowels). The number of syllables depends on the number of vowels in a word. Find all the vowels in the word.

A) If a vowel is followed by one consonant (except - r), then this consonant refers to the next syllable: co-lour, fi-nish, e-le-ven.
Immediately an exception: monosyllabic words with a final unpronounceable vowel e are not divided into syllables: rule, face, take.

B) If there are two consonants behind the vowel, then the first consonant will refer to the first syllable, and the second to the following: doc-tor, sis-ter, fac-to-ry.

C) If there is a sonant in the word [l] , [m] , [n] , [r] , then the consonant in front of it refers to the following syllable: ta-ble , cy-cle , no-ble .

D) Combinations of letters ld, nd form a separate syllable: frie-nd, mi-ld, spe-nd.

Syllable types

There are four types of stressed syllable in English.

1. Open syllable. This is a syllable that ends in a vowel: he, no, we.
This also includes words that end in mute - e: time, life, name.

2. Closed syllable. This is the name of a syllable that ends in one or more consonants (except - r):
mend , ten , best .

3. Syllable with the letter r. In such a syllable, the letter r, as a rule, is not pronounced: car, mark, start.

4. Syllable with combination r + e. In it, the letters r and e are also not pronounced: fire , where , cure .

Well, we figured out the syllables. Now we mentally divide the word into syllables and learn to read it.

Rules for reading vowels

Depending on the type of stressed syllable, four types of reading vowels are distinguished.

1. The first type of reading. In an open syllable, vowels are read in the same way as they are called in the alphabet. This type of reading is also called alphabetic. Consider the examples in the table:

2. The second type of reading. Vowels in a closed syllable are read briefly.

3. The third type of reading. The letter r after the stressed vowel is not read, while the vowel becomes long.

4. The fourth type of reading. This combination is: stressed vowel + r + vowel

The letter y at the beginning of a word before a vowel is read as a sound [j], for example: yesterday - yesterday.

Reading unstressed vowels

In an unstressed position, vowels are read differently.

The letters e, i, y are read like a sound [i] - elastic elastic, distort distort, heavy [‘hevi] heavy.

Vowels a, o, u are read like a sound [ə] - amaze [ə'meiz] amaze, develop develop, successful successful

Combinations of vowels and vowels with consonants

Various combinations of vowels, as well as vowels and consonants, have their own reading rules. They will have to be learned separately.

• ee reads like a sound - meet meet
• ea is also read as - speak [‘spi: k] to speak
  Exception: head head, breakfast [‘brekfəst] breakfast, bread bread
• ai gives sound - main main
• ay is pronounced as a diphthong - day
• oo before any consonant except k and r reads like - food [‘fu: d] food
  Exception: good, room
• oo before the letter k is pronounced as a short sound [u] - book book
• oi reads like [ɔi] - point point
• oy also gives a diphthong [ɔi] - boy boy
• oa read like - coat [‘kout] coat
• ou reads like - house house
• ou in some words of French origin reads like - group group
• ou before the letter r is pronounced like [ɔ:] - four [‘fɔ:] four
  Exception: hour [‘auə] hour, our [‘auə] our
• ea before r gives a diphthong - near near
• air sounds like [ɛə] - chair [‘ʧɛə] chair
• eer is read as a diphthong - engineer engineer
• ew in most words is read as - new [‘nju:] new
• ow under stress in monosyllabic words and in the middle of polysyllabic words sounds like - now [‘nau] now, brown brown
• ow at the end of two-syllable words in an unstressed position reads like - yellow [‘jelou] yellow
• w + or before a consonant sounds like [ə:] - work work
• wa is read as if it is followed by a final consonant (except r) or combinations of consonants - want [‘wɔnt] want
• al before k sounds like [ɔ:], while l is not pronounced - chalk [ʧɔ: k] chalk
• a + s before a consonant reads like - glass glass
• o before m and n is pronounced like [ʌ] - son son
• o + th reads like [ʌ] - mother [‘mʌðə] mother
• ig h is read as, while gh is not pronounced - light light

As you can see, the rules for reading vowels in English are not complicated, but there are a lot of them. Do not forget that there are words - exceptions that are read differently. They are also not few. Reading consonants, we will analyze another time.

As we planned, in the second lesson we will look at the rules for reading vowels in English. There are four types of vowel reading. We will first look at them briefly in a table, and then we will describe each type separately. We will also consider the rules for reading various letter combinations.

Recall that in English there are only 6 vowels, which form 20 vowel sounds.

Reading English vowels (4 types)

Rules for reading vowels in stressed syllables:

I type of reading is perhaps the easiest, since the vowel is read as it is pronounced in the alphabet. It occurs in the following positions:

• before a consonant followed by a vowel, often unreadable, for example: bike , Pete , nose , take ;
• at the end of a word, if the given vowel is the only one in the word, for example: me , no , my .

Type II reading is typical for words in which the vowel is read as a short vowel in the following positions:

• in monosyllabic words before a consonant, for example: bat, pig, pen;
• in words in which the stressed vowel is separated from the subsequent vowel by two or three consonants, for example: paddle [ˈpædl], meddle [ˈmedl], puddle [ˈpʌdl], difficult [ˈdɪfɪkəlt];

Type III reading is typical for words in which the consonant r is used after the vowel, the consonant r is not readable, but it gives a special sound to the vowel, for example: car, girl, fork.

IV type of reading is typical for words in which the following letter combination can be found: vowel + r + vowel. Each vowel of this type has its own special reading, for example:

- the vowel a is pronounced as a diphthong [ɛə], for example: Mary [ˈmɛərɪ], parent [ˈpɛərənt];

- the vowel e is pronounced as a diphthong [ɪə], for example: here, mere (exceptions where, there [ðɛə]);

- vowels i and y are pronounced as triphthongs, for example: fire, tire;

- the vowel o is pronounced like the sound [ɔ:], for example: more, store;

- the vowel u is pronounced like, for example: pure, during [ˈdjʊərɪŋ], furious [ˈfjʊərɪəs].

Rules for reading stressed vowel combinations:

Note (Note):

• in an unstressed syllable, the letter combinations ai, age give the sound [i], for example: storage, carriage, marriage, captain;
• the vowel a in an unstressed syllable can give the sound [ə], for example: pizza, pasta, regalia;
• the vowel o in the stressed position can also give the sound [ɔ:] in the phrases ought, oar, our (the position is in the middle of the word), for example: ought, bougth, sought, source, board, hoard, soar;
• in an unstressed position, the letter combination our gives the sound [ə], for example: colour, favourite, neighbor; this also applies to letter combinations, for example: doctor, actor, pastor;
• the letter combination ous at the end of the word is pronounced like [əs], for example: glamorous, tremendous, furious, curious;
• in stressed position, the letter combinations om, on, oth, ov are pronounced as [ʌ], for example: come, some, become, month, monkey, donkey, monk, another, other, brother, love, lover, bravo, dove.
• the letter combination ea before the consonants d, n and the letter combination th gives the sound [ə], for example: bread, stead, cleanser, meant, feather, leather, but there are also exceptions: lead, read, clean, dean, etc.;
• in an open unstressed syllable, the letter e gives the sound [i], including the letter combination et, ey at the end of the word, as well as the letter combination er, which belongs to the III type of vowel reading, for example: tigress, actress, closet, bonet, locket, honey, money, journey, erosion, erection, eraser;
• in an unstressed syllable, the letter u gives the sound [ə], for example: suppose, suggestion, suggest, supply, support, but pay attention to the word mercury [ˈməːkjurɪ];
• in an open unstressed syllable, the letter y gives the sound [i], for example: oily, snowy, Andy.

Rules for reading letter combinations (vowel + consonant):

Note (on a note):

• despite its popularity, the English language still remains a language full of exceptions and not always those letter combinations that you see are read according to the rules, so at the initial stage I advise you to look into the dictionary and look at the transcription (the Internet is full of on-line dictionaries, in which, among other things, you can listen to the word).

Greetings, my dear readers.

Today we continue to talk about how to learn how to read correctly, so the topic of today's article is the transcription of English letters.

We have already got acquainted with the concept and dealt with the pronunciation of sounds in English. Today we will figure out exactly how they are pronounced in various combinations.

I have a clear table for you. It contains the letters of the English alphabet with transcription, Russian analogue letters and my notes, so that you can immediately put the correct pronunciation. I also added examples of words with studied sounds and their translation.

What else can be found on the blog:

1. with letters and transcription (you can study them online, download, print and work with them);
2. for children I have a complete .

Let `s start?

Features of English transcription:

• it is always enclosed in square brackets. I can't say exactly where it came from, but I think it's just worth taking it for granted;
• to understand where the stress is, the transcription uses the sign [‘] before the stressed syllable;
• It is important to remember that transcription is about the sound, not the spelling of words. Sometimes the spelling can be 90% different from what we pronounce;
• to show that the sound is long - we use a colon.

In general, I wrote about English transcription - please!

Letters of the English alphabet and their transcription in Russian and English:

But you know what is the most interesting thing about English?

If different letters are combined, they are pronounced differently!

That's why I prepared for you

Examples of English letter combinations in Russian and English:

I know this table looks huge now. Surely you think that remembering all this is unrealistic. I'll tell you this: at a certain point, when you have enough, you won't even pay attention to these combinations. Your brain will learn to quickly remember how these letters sound. Moreover, even when you come across a completely unfamiliar word, you can read it correctly. The only question is the amount of practice on your part.

How to memorize combinations of letters?

1. Use cards. Visual perception is better developed in most people.
2. Read. Pay attention to letter combinations when or just texts.
3. Don't get hung up. It is not necessary to immediately memorize these combinations and only then go directly to English. Learn as you go!
4. Buy paper or download a good e-book in order to quickly learn to recognize combinations and pronounce them correctly. Even if you need it - an adult - do not hesitate to take books for children - it is there that everything is chewed in detail and not without interest.
5. Take the course « English from scratch» . This will make your path easier.

That's all, my dears. I hope you found it useful and understandable. I give even more such materials in the blog mailing list - subscribe and receive a portion of usefulness regularly.

Learning English language is my hobby, not my job. My meta is to make the English translation more effective and accessible to you. In the English language, as if in the classroom, you will raise your current bar "єр, systematize your knowledge of grammar and expand your vocabulary. While others will read English language, You will already speak it! Find out what my students think about English efficiency and effectiveness move with me.

Why does the production of English movies with me give a high result?

Individual pidhid. Even before I take it to the cob, I will appoint you for the additional test, and I will help you to be appointed from the program, learning to your level of knowledge of English and the goals you set. You can speak English with me individually (Montreal, Canada) or via Skype.
I am a professional English movie vikladach. I have been teaching English language for more than 12 years, and in one hour I have helped more than 300 people achieve success in English language. I will gradually improve my professionalism, and in 2011 I took away, which I recognize in the world and confirm my right to publish English language, I myself have matured.
Effective technique. The best technique is the one that gives the same quick result. To the very same, I use a stagnant communicative technique, a project method and a training mindset.
Outwardly zanurennya in the English middle. All my activities are conducted by my English language. Why? So that you have the opportunity to get bored in the English middle. As a result of this approach, you develop a better understanding of English language by ear, but in a different way, it is a real need to speak only English during the lessons.
Rozmovna practice. For the fates of work, I realized that the most effective way to learn how to work is to work. In fact, I will be busy with English language so that you will have the opportunity to constantly communicate with English language. You speak from the first lesson on the cob row! Step by step, starters of regular practice, You start to speak more, your language has less and less pardons, but you can already talk about deaky speeches like this, you don’t speak natively.

How do you recognize your own riven of English language?

Pass a test for the definition of an English language language, so that you can choose the correct language. For this test, you will need a total of 30 minutes, and after the first pass, you will be able to evaluate your own and take recommendations on how to program an English movie, which suits you best.

What layout to take from the English movie?

I currently live near Montreal, Canada. My time zone: UTC -5 (from Ukraine, for example, the difference at the hour is 7 years, which is 19:00 for you, 12:00 for me). I can spend classes after 09:00 on weekdays (after the month) via Skype (Skype) or, for residents of Montreal, in your own territory (I live in 15 cities in the Côte-des-Neiges plaza).

How many words do you need to learn English language?

Varity of one occupation for one individual - $30 for 90 quills. Activity for two people costs $40 for 90 minutes (for both people). You can find out in detail about the art of borrowing from the English movie with me.

Do you want to speak English language with me?

Pass, to signify your English ribbing.
Sound "stay with me by phone: +14389364667 or via email: This email address has been protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it. 1. own riven of English language; 2. bazhany directly from the English class (business, general English, etc.); 3. usі mozhlivі days that hour navchannya; 4. date of the trial lesson; 5. the country and the place of residence (less is necessary for setting your time zone). I am talking to you as quickly as I can. Catch the respect that a private lesson in English takes place near Montreal, Canada. For residents of other places, it is possible to have less English lessons via Skype.
Repair at an hour convenient for you after the trial lesson and payment.