english language TIPS ...
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  • GRAMMAR
    • ADJECTIVES and ADVERBS
    • ANTONYMS and SYNONYMS
    • CLAUSES
    • CONJUNCTIONS
    • GENDER
    • HOMOGRAPHS / HOMONYMS/HOMOPHONES
    • IDIOMS and METAPHORS
    • INTERJECTIONS and EXCLAMATIONS
    • NOUNS
    • PREPOSITIONS
    • SIMILES
    • SPLIT INFINITIVES
    • SUBJECT and OBJECT
    • VERBS
    • VERB TENSES
  • ODDITIES
    • AFFECT vs EFFECT
    • ALLITERATION, PARALLELISM and POLYPTOTON
    • AMONG vs AMONGST
    • CLICHES
    • CONTINOUSLY vs CONTINUALLY
    • DISINTERESTED vs UNINTERESTED
    • DOUBLE NEGATIVES
    • DUE TO vs OWING TO
    • EITHER .. OR, NEITHER .. NOR
    • FARTHER vs FURTHER
    • I.E vs E.G
    • IF ... WAS vs WERE
    • IMPLY OR INFER
    • MAY and MIGHT
    • NONE WAS vs NONE WERE
    • SHALL or WILL
    • THAT vs WHICH vs WHO
    • THIS, THAT, THESE and THOSE
  • CURIOUS
    • HANDY VERSES
    • WORD SOUNDS
    • SOUNDS OF OBJECTS
  • PUNCTUATION
    • APOSTROPHES and HYPHENS
    • BRACKETS - Round and Square
    • COLON and SEMI-COLON
    • COMMAS and FULL STOPS
    • EXCLAMATIONS and QUESTION MARKS
    • NUMERALS
  • SPELLING
    • DROP, SWAP and DOUBLE
    • FUN THINGS TO DO WITH WORDS
    • PREFIXES and SUFFIXES
    • 'I' BEFORE 'E' and ''Q'' followed by "U"
    • SILENT LETTERS
    • SINGULAR to PLURAL
  • PITFALLS
  • REPORT WRITING - HINTS

WORD SOUNDS

WORD SOUNDS
SYLLABLES
Words can be broken down into syllables.  Syllables are 'chunks' of a word that break the words into manageable syllables.
​
  • Cat  =  1 syllable
  • Drink + ing = 2 syllables
  • Yes + ter + day = 3 syllables
SAY IT OUT LOUD ...
Say the word out loud, clearly stressing each part of the word.  One is then speaking in syllables.  

  • Wednesday = Wed + nes + day  = 3 syllables
  • Handbag = hand + bag = 2 syllables
  • February = Feb + ru + a + ry = 4 syllables

Some words contain letters that are either silent or not pronounced.
​
  • Fascinating = silent 'c'
  • Scissors = silent 'c'
  • Knat = silent 'k'
  • Yatch = silent 'ch'
SIMILAR SOUNDS
These are words with an identical string of letters:
​
  • Sound, round, ground, pound, wound
  • Here, where, there
  • Ought, thought, sought, bought, brought
  • Guitar, fruit, suit
​
Others are 'related' because they have the same root meaning:
  • Society, social, association
  • Triangle, tricycle, triceps, trio, triplets
TWO VOWELS
When pronouncing a word with two vowels, the first vowel takes the sound - the alphabetic sound.
​
  • Coat, coal, foal = o, as in 'oh'
  • Wait = a, as in 'ape'
  • Feel = e, as in 'Egypt'
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  • Home
  • GRAMMAR
    • ADJECTIVES and ADVERBS
    • ANTONYMS and SYNONYMS
    • CLAUSES
    • CONJUNCTIONS
    • GENDER
    • HOMOGRAPHS / HOMONYMS/HOMOPHONES
    • IDIOMS and METAPHORS
    • INTERJECTIONS and EXCLAMATIONS
    • NOUNS
    • PREPOSITIONS
    • SIMILES
    • SPLIT INFINITIVES
    • SUBJECT and OBJECT
    • VERBS
    • VERB TENSES
  • ODDITIES
    • AFFECT vs EFFECT
    • ALLITERATION, PARALLELISM and POLYPTOTON
    • AMONG vs AMONGST
    • CLICHES
    • CONTINOUSLY vs CONTINUALLY
    • DISINTERESTED vs UNINTERESTED
    • DOUBLE NEGATIVES
    • DUE TO vs OWING TO
    • EITHER .. OR, NEITHER .. NOR
    • FARTHER vs FURTHER
    • I.E vs E.G
    • IF ... WAS vs WERE
    • IMPLY OR INFER
    • MAY and MIGHT
    • NONE WAS vs NONE WERE
    • SHALL or WILL
    • THAT vs WHICH vs WHO
    • THIS, THAT, THESE and THOSE
  • CURIOUS
    • HANDY VERSES
    • WORD SOUNDS
    • SOUNDS OF OBJECTS
  • PUNCTUATION
    • APOSTROPHES and HYPHENS
    • BRACKETS - Round and Square
    • COLON and SEMI-COLON
    • COMMAS and FULL STOPS
    • EXCLAMATIONS and QUESTION MARKS
    • NUMERALS
  • SPELLING
    • DROP, SWAP and DOUBLE
    • FUN THINGS TO DO WITH WORDS
    • PREFIXES and SUFFIXES
    • 'I' BEFORE 'E' and ''Q'' followed by "U"
    • SILENT LETTERS
    • SINGULAR to PLURAL
  • PITFALLS
  • REPORT WRITING - HINTS