The Complete List of
English Spelling Rules
Lesson
11: Word Ending Sounds
V, J, and Long E
In
this series of lessons, you will learn useful spelling rules
in
English.
This lesson talks about how to spell words that end with certain sounds
in English:
the /v/ sound,
the /j/ sound, and
the long e sound.
Download
a free worksheet + answer key.
In English, it can sometimes seem difficult to know how to spell a new
word you hear.
Here are some rules about how to spell three common sounds at the end
of English words to help you.
1. The /v/ sound
Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses
Jeremy felt a little scared to go into the dark
cave!
First, we will talk about words that end with the
consonant sound /v/.
The most important thing to remember about this rule is that we are not
concerned with the vowel sound here, only the final consonant sound.
Words in English do not end in the letter v. If you hear a /v/ sound at
the end of a word in English, it will end in
-ve.
That final
e
is silent, so you will only hear and pronounce the /v/ sound.
But remember that this is
not
always a
"magic" e. You will find many
words in English that end in -
ve,
but have a short vowel sound before the
v.
Here are some examples of common English words that end in -
ve:
- give
- detective
- prove
- love
- positive
- executive
- have
- love
- negative
- exclusive
- talkative
- reserve
- save
- active
- alive
2. The /j/ sound
"Hello, I am Patricia! I will
manage
this project."
Words in English also do not end in the letter
j. When you hear
the /j/ sound at the end of an
English word, it will end in -
ge
or in -
dge.
So, when you see these letters at the end of an English word, you will
remember that the
e
is silent, and you will only pronounce a /j/ sound.
Here is a list of some common words in English that end in -
ge:
- cage
- age
- arrange
- baggage
- carriage
- college
- package
- cabbage
- damage
- enlarge
- footage
- message
- page
- image
- orange
- charge
And here are some common words that end in -
dge:
- edge
- ridge
- wedge
- bridge
- badge
- fudge
- knowledge
- judge
- dodge
3. The long E sound
Goodness, he looks
very angry!
Finally, we will talk about a common vowel sound at the end of words in
English:
the long E.
Except for some abbreviated words (like
taxi) or words taken
from other languages (like
spaghetti),
English words do not end in the letter
i for this sound.
Use the letter
y.
Here are some common examples:
- ability
- family
- play
- fairy
- pretty
- carry
- happy
- essay
- quickly
- entry
- study
- country
- body
- easy
- activity
- probably
Review
So, let's review what we have learned about these English word ending
sounds:
- The /v/ sound in English at the end of a word is spelled
with -ve.
The e is
silent, but it is not always a "magic" e.
- The /j/ sound at the end of an English word is spelled with
-ge
or -dge.
Here the e
is also silent.
- The long e
sound at the end of an English word is spelled with a y.
Download a free
worksheet
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