1. The letter q is always followed by u and together they say /kw/. (The u is not a vowel here.)
2. The letter c before ‘e, i, or y’ says /s/ (cent, city, cycle) but followed by any other vowel says /k/ (cat, cot, cut).
3. The letter g before ‘e, i, or y’ may say /j/ (page, giant, gym), but followed by any other vowel it says /g/(gate, go, gust). The letters e and i do not always make g say /j/ (get, girl, give).
4. Vowels a, e, o, and u usually say their long sounds at the end of syllables. (Open Syllables – na vy, me, o pen, mu sic)
5. The letters i and y usually say short i, but may say long /i/. In some areas, the i and y can also say /ee/ and even /ya/ – (baby, police, alien, onion)
6. The letter y, not i, is used at the end of an English word. (my, fry, reply)
7. There are five kinds of Silent E’s.
Silent E # 1: Used in E-controlled syllables. The E makes the vowel say its name – time, rate, complete, delete cope cute kite create
Silent E # 2: No English word can end with V or U, so this E protects us from breaking the rule – love, blue, cave, clue (I expect that some of you asking, "What about flu?" Well, that is only a syllable that we, in laziness, borrowed from the word influenza. And, you and thou actually end with the phonogram ‘ou.’)
Silent E # 3: Softens C’s and G’s so that they say their second sound. When C is followed by E (or I or Y) it says /s/ – chance, nicely; when G is followed by E (or I or Y) it may say /j/ – charge, manageable,
Silent E # 4: Every English syllable must have a vowel, so this E fills that role in these types of words and syllables – cas-tle, bat-tle, rat-tle lit-tle
Silent E # 5: No Job/Odd Job E – In a word like ‘are’ the E helps us see that we are reading a word, not reading the phonogram /ar/. In a word like ‘raise’ the E helps us see that we are not reading the plural of some odd word, ‘rai.’ (One rai; two rais…) In some words it is difficult to note a reason for the E so we think of the E’s in such words as having ‘no job.’ Many E’s are leftovers from Old English and were probably once pronounced.
8. There are five spellings for /er/: Her first nurse works early. In addition, at the ends of words like dollar and doctor, the –ar and –or will often say /er/.
9. The 1-1-1 Rule
A word like ‘hop’ has: 1-syllable; 1-vowel; followed by 1-consonant; so…double the consonant before adding an ending that begins with a vowel. hop-ping (The 1-1-1 Rule)
A word like ‘begin’ has the accent on the final syllable, so analyze that final syllable according to the 1-1-1 Rule; if it meets the criteria, double the consonant before adding an ending that begins with a vowel. be-gin-ning
10. The 2-1-1 Rule
A word like ‘enter’ has the accent on the first syllable, so do not double the consonant before adding an ending. en-ter-ing
With a word like ‘hope’: write the word without the ‘e,’ then add the ending that begins with a vowel – hoping. If the ending begins with a consonant, keep the ‘e’ – hopeful. **Remember to keep the ‘e’ if it is needed to soften a C or G: changeable changing.
11. Words ending with silent final e (come) are written without the e when adding an ending that begins with a vowel (com ing).
12. After c we use ei (receive). If we say a, we use ei (vein). In the list of exceptions we use ei. In all other words, the phonogram ie is used.
Methodically, students should be taught the complete rhyme, "I before E, except after C; unless it says A as in neighbor and weigh" plus the short list of exceptions – "Neither foreign sovereign seized (the) counterfeit (and) forfeited leisure," plus "either, weird, protein, heifer."
13. The phonogram sh is used at the beginning or end of a base word (she, dish), at the end of a syllable (fin ish), but never at the beginning of a syllable after the first one except for the ending ship (wor ship, friend ship).
14. The phonograms ti, si and ci are the spellings most frequently used to say /sh/ at the beginning of a second or subsequent syllable in a base word. Usually the root word, or root stem, will determine which phonogram to use: face/fa cial; nat(birth)/na tion; sess(sit)/ses sion.
15. The phonogram si is used to say /sh/ when the syllable before it ends in an s (ses sion) or when the base word has an s where the base word changes (tense, ten sion).
16. The phonogram si may also say /zh/ as in vi sion.
17. We often double l, f, and s following a single vowel at the end of a one-syllable word (will, off, miss) and sometimes this also applies to two-syllable words like recess.
18. We often use ay to say /a/ at the end of base word; never use a alone. (day, may, say)
19. Vowels i and o may say /i/ and /o/ if followed by two consonants (find, cold).
20. The letter s never follows x. (x = ks)
21. All, written alone, has two l’s, but when used as a prefix, one l is dropped. (al so, al most)
22. Till and full, written alone, have two l’s, but when used as a suffix, only one l is written. (un til; beau ti ful)
23. The phonogram dge may be used only after a single vowel that says its short sound (badge, edge, bridge, lodge, budge).
24. When adding an ending to a word that ends with a consonant and y, use i instead of y unless the ending is ing. (marry/marriage; carry/carrying)
25. The phonogram ck may be used only after a single vowel that says its short sound (back, neck, lick, rock, duck).
26. Words that are the names or title of people, places, books, days or months are capitalized.
27. Words beginning with the sound /z/ are always spelled with z, and never with s. (zero, zoo)
28. The phonogram ed has three different sounds - /ed/ /d/ /t/. If a base word ends in the sound /d/ or /t/, adding ed makes another syllable that says /ed/ (sid ed, part ed). If the base word ends in a voiced consonant sound, then ending ed says /d/ (lived, loved). If the base word ends in an unvoiced consonant sound, the ending ed says /t/ (jumped, passed, wrecked).
29. Words are usually divided between double consonants. For speaking and reading, only the consonant in the accented syllable is pronounced; the consonant in the unaccented syllable is silent (little/lit’ le; battle/bat’ le)