Rules for reading English, table pronunciation of consonants. Rules for reading English for beginners

Having studied the Russian alphabet, we can easily read any texts. But to read correctly in English you will have to put in more effort, because there are many discrepancies between the spelling and pronunciation of words. If you decide to learn this language on your own and cannot understand how to read words in English correctly, then this material– exactly what you need. Today we will look at the nuances of pronunciation English letters and letter combinations, and find out how easy it is to learn to read English from scratch. It will help you learn the rules of reading in English for beginners, a table that shows all the letters and their sounds.

First, let's get acquainted with the most important law of reading in English - the rule of open and closed syllables. There is no similar norm in the Russian language, so we will analyze in detail what it is. Please pay attention to the transcription.

An open syllable is a syllable that ends with a vowel sound. As a rule, it occurs in the following cases:

The word ends in a vowel, so the last syllable is always open: t ake[take].*
A vowel is followed by a consonant, followed by another vowel sound: ed uca tion [education].
There are two vowels adjacent to the word: cr ue l [cruel].

*Final e in most cases it is considered “dumb”, that is, it is not pronounced, but appears at the base of the word precisely to form an open syllable.

In open syllables, the vowel is always pronounced smoothly and drawn out. Accordingly, closed syllables are all those syllables in which the vowel sound is closed by a consonant and therefore sounds short and abrupt: c ut[cat].

In addition, special reading rules in English are characteristic of syllables in which the vowel sound ends with the letter r. The fact is that in the British version of the pronunciation of such syllables, the letter r is often completely omitted, i.e. not pronounced. Therefore, there are two options for reading such letter combinations:

In an open syllable, when r is surrounded by vowels, only both vowels are read: c are[keea]. In such cases, the last e will not be dumb.
IN closed syllable (voice+r+acc.), r is also unreadable, but affects the sound of the vowel sound, making it longer: start [staat]

The rule of open and closed syllables is the basic law of reading in English, although there are many exceptions to it. But it’s too early to teach exceptions without knowing the main rules. Therefore, now we will look at the sound options of all letters and letter combinations.

Rules for reading English for beginners - table of correspondence between letters and sounds

Even if you started learning English and reading it from scratch, you are probably already familiar with the spelling and sound of all the letters of the English alphabet. But, as we have already learned from the previous section, when reading, the pronunciation of letters depends on the type of syllable or letter combination. Therefore, in the tables below you can find several sound options for the same letter. But don't be alarmed, there will be an accessible explanation for each case. So, let's continue to learn English for beginners and learn the rules of reading in English.

Consonants

Let's start with the easiest thing: with a table of consonants, the pronunciation of which is similar to the Russian sound.

Letter	Transcription	Russian pronunciation
B	[b]	b
D	[d]	d*
F	[f]	f
K	[k]	To
L	[l]	l
M	[m]	m
N	[n]	n
P	[p]	P
R	[r]	R
S	[s]	With
S	[z]	z (only in special positions: after voiced consonants, between two vowels and in the suffix –ism.)
T	[t]	T*
V	[v]	V
W	[w]	V**
Z	[z]	h

*English d and t are pronounced with more aspiration than their Russian counterparts.

**w is pronounced with the lips extended into a tube, the result is something between the Russian sounds v and u.

Now let's deal with more complex letters.

Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation and explanations
C	[s]	s (before vowels i, e, y)
C	[k]	to (in other cases)
G		j (before vowels i, e, y)
G	[g]	g (in other cases)
H	[h]	Very weakly pronounced Russian X (almost just a strong exhalation)
Q		kv
X		ks (before a consonant or at the end of a word)
		gz (between two vowels)
	[z]	z (at the beginning of a word before a vowel)

We will also study letter combinations of consonants in English.

Combination	Transcription	Pronunciation
ck	[k]	To
ch		h
tch		h
ng	[ŋ]	nasal n
ph	[f]	f
sh	[ʃ]	w
th	[θ]	1) sound intermediate between s and f (tongue between teeth) 2) the sound is average between z and v (tongue between teeth)
wr	[r]	R
wh	[w]	u/v x (only before o)
qu		kv

In addition, it is worth considering that the English language never allows consonants at the very end of a word to be deafened. Otherwise, you may say something completely different from what you wanted. For example: back [back] – behind, behind; bag [bag] – bag, sack.

Vowels

It is much more difficult to cope with reading English vowels, but the already familiar rules of open and closed syllables will help us understand it. We take them into service and learn to read the vowels of the English language correctly.

Closed syllable
Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation	Examples
A	[æ]	uh	bat, track, sad
E	[e]	uh	pet, red, check
I	[ɪ]	And	pit, fill, tin, system, myth, lynx
Y	[ɪ]	And	pit, fill, tin, system, myth, lynx
O	[ɒ]	O	spot, not, cross
U	[ʌ]	A	spun, truck, butter

Do not forget that in a closed syllable all letters are pronounced briefly.

Open syllable
Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation	Examples
A		Hey	game, flame, lake
E		And	he, be, Pete
I		ah	mine, like, nine, cry, bye, type
Y		ah	mine, like, nine, cry, bye, type
O	[əʊ]	OU	bone, tone, rose
U		Yu	pupil, music, cube

And the vowels of an open syllable are always smooth and drawn out.

Open syllable with r
Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation	Examples
A		ea	square
E	[ɪə]	ie	here
I		aye	tired
Y		aye	tired
O	[ɔː]	oo	more
U		Yue	cure

We remember that the letter r after a vowel, as a rule, is not pronounced.

Behindcovered syllable with r
Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation	Examples
A	[ɑː]	ahh	dark
O	[ɔː]	oo	sport
E	[ɜː]	e	pert, bird, myrtle, burn
I
Y
U

Now we know how to read vowels in English words. But for perfect reading in English, it is necessary to study one more point.

Diphthongs and triphthongs in English

An important aspect of English for beginners is diphthongs and triphthongs, i.e. combinations of two or three letters that have a special sound. Their pronunciation is called sliding, because. First, the main sound is pronounced intensely, and then it is smoothly transferred to the secondary sound. Diphthongs are a kind of exception and do not obey general grammatical laws, so they can only be learned by heart. The table below will help us learn the rules for reading English diphthongs for beginners.

English diphthongs
Combinations	Transcription	Pronunciation
air, ear, are		uh*
ye, igh, uy, ie		ah
ea, ey, ay, ai, ei		Hey
ere, eer, ier, ear	[ɪə]	IEE
oh, oh	[ɔɪ]	Ouch
ou, ow		awww
ou, ow, oa, ol	[əu]	oooh
ure, ue, our, oor		wow
English triphthongs
ower, our		aaue
eur, ure		Yuyue
iet, ire, ier, iar, yre		aaye

*doubling the letter indicates the length of the first sound in relation to the second.

So, we have looked at the main nuances of reading in English. Treat the stated rules responsibly: conduct reading lessons more often and be sure to learn to distinguish between types of syllables in the English language. Otherwise, you will make gross mistakes in pronunciation, which will lead to a complete misunderstanding of your words by your interlocutor. Good luck in learning English and see you again!

seemed impenetrable jungle from 26 dangerous predators hiding in the wilds. However, now you can probably easily name and place them in in the right order all the letters, and you’ll also show off a few facts that not every philologist knows.

After reading this article the topic English transcription and the pronunciation will be transferred from the room of fear to the room of laughter. Today on the program:

Overcoming the fear of reading and learning graphic symbols
. acquaintance, memorization and learning of diphthongs, vowels and consonants (classification of sounds), arranged in unique tables
. pause to download and print English transcriptions in pictures
. clear and concise explanation of usage English sounds by comparing them with their Russian relatives
. reinforcement of the material covered with a 10-minute video about English transcription

Are you still afraid? Then we are coming to you!

Graphic transcription symbols in English

Before you plunge into the pool English reading with your head, we strongly recommend that you listen to the advice of experienced divers. Naturally, a child learns to sit first and then walk, and not vice versa - the same thing awaits us: first learn to read the transcription, and then pronounce it (in the head or out loud). You should not get carried away only by reading, otherwise you risk burying yourself in the wilds of theory and breaking away from practice.

First you need to learn and clarify all the questions regarding each transcription symbol. Then listen online to exactly as many examples as you need to clearly understand how a given symbol sounds in real speech. Learn strictly from examples not of sounds taken out of context (like Rian’s “uh-uh” in the hit “Umbrella”), but from specific letter combinations found in words. Next, listen to each new word first and only then compare what you hear with your ears with the alphabetic dictionary transcription enclosed in square brackets. By the way, about them and other integral companions of transcription:

Square brackets. They signal that what is inside is transcription.
For example, English is a word, and ["ɪŋglɪʃ] is its transcription;

‘ - main emphasis. Placed BEFORE the stressed vowel: around [əˈraʊnd];

, - secondary stress. Placed BEFORE a vowel: ["hæmˌbɜːgə];

: - vowel length.

The proposed option may not seem the fastest at first glance, but the wise man will not go up the mountain - the wise man will go around the mountain. As a result, the time spent is converted into comfortable speech perception: you no longer need to painfully strain your hearing, trying to recognize unfamiliar sounds. And soon the unfamiliar “squiggles” will acquire a meaningful sound. Isn't it magical? This is the secret of not only correct pronunciation, but also ease of listening comprehension.

English Transcription Foundation

Since “it’s great that we’re all here today” about studying transcription, let’s take a closer look at it. Transcription is of two types: phonetic and phonemic. You are mistaken if you think that you have taught/will learn phonetic transcription, which is more familiar to the ear. As a rule, it interests serious linguists; our choice is the study of phonemes (sound linguistic units). Simply put, if two sounds are very similar, but the difference between them can change the meaning of the word, then they form two different phonemes. In Russian this is not so noticeable, because even if you call a cat “kot” or “coooooot”, he will still come, but the meaning of the word will not change. One phoneme for two different sounds. The number will not work in English: “cot”, “caught” and “coat” contain different phonemes. Why so many “smart letters”? Besides the fact that dictionaries contain phonemic transcriptions, remember this and do not allow yourself to be confused:

Pope(dad, papal):
1) is phonetic transcription, it is emphasized here that the first [p], unlike the second, is pronounced with aspiration (aspiration after consonants sounds p,t,k before vowels);
2) is a dictionary (phonemic) transcription.

What else do you need to know about transcription? That there are different syllables in it:

- open(there is no consonant after a vowel) - New
- closed(after the vowel there is a consonant) - York

- vowel: single - [e], diphthong - [ɔʊ], triphthong - [ɑiə]
- consonant:[d]

Vowel sounds of English (with online pronunciation)

There are fewer vowel sounds in English than consonants, but more than diphthongs. This picture clearly shows the difference, for example, between the sounds [I] and . Anyone who has even heard of the existence of imagination will recognize the words “fish” and “tree”, which, like puzzles, contain the mentioned sounds. You can re-read the rules as much as you like, or you can once study in detail the transcription in pictures, which visualizes examples of the use of sounds. To train your memory, you can download and even print the picture; this option is provided. For auditory learners, it is possible to hear every sound online in a word after clicking on the speaker icon.

Consonant sounds of English

Consonant sounds in English are not at all twin brothers to Russian. The articulation of their creation is seriously different. However, we are not here to intimidate with clever words, but on the contrary, to make life easier for beginning English lovers, that’s why we colored the voiced consonants in purple, and the voiceless consonants in blue. During the formation of the same plural nouns it is very important to feel and know the difference. 24 new words serve as a bonus to the learned sounds. We train visual memory and save English transcription in pictures for repeated reference at the first need! Audience learners still click on the speaker icon under each letter to pronounce sounds in online transcription.

Diphthongs (double vowel sounds) of English

And it would be scary to have 8 diphthongs in English if it weren’t for the wonderful pictures, thanks to which learning turns into an entertaining solving of charades. Just look at the picture, hold your gaze, sound the diphthong by pressing the speaker icon under the letter and practice correct pronunciation. Everyone who appreciates the creative approach to business is allowed to download the picture for a long memory!

From theory to practice
Some time will pass, the dictionary will be covered with a thick layer of dust or will be removed from bookmarks (in the electronic version), because the translation the right words known, the sound is familiar - what other America can you discover there? Believe it or not, it is the clarification of the transcription of words that seem well known to you that is the very unplowed field that is worth crossing over to improve the sound of speech.

Let's give an everyday example: the frequently used word “real” has a phonemic transcription a) , b) or c)?
The first option is fictitious and erroneous, the second and third are British and American pronunciation styles. What is the moral of this fable?

So that you do not feel painfully ashamed of your reading, we recommend that you at least briefly familiarize yourself with these tables as follows:
- read the line from left to right;
- listen to the perfect pronunciation of the sound;
- take a mirror in your hand and practice hard (you will probably enjoy practicing [æ] or [ð]).

Table of English sounds similar to Russian
These sounds in English transcription do not have to be explained on your fingers.

Sound	Example	Explanations
[ɑː]	car, far, garage	It sounds like a long “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Remember the cartoon about Mowgli, where the wise Kaa was?
[ʌ]	up, but, love	Short sonorous "a". Something similar in the Russian “ay”.
[ɔː]	more, board, floor	Sounds like a long "oo". Act surprised.
[b]	book, board, tab	Russian energetic "b". When you're walking down a corridor in the dark and suddenly bump into
[g]	green, grace, agree	Russian "g", but not so energetic.
[f]	forest, atmosphere, enough	Very energetic Russian "f".
[k]	kill, cord, school	Russian "k". Before a stressed vowel, it is pronounced aspirated (if you put your hand in front of your lips and say “kil”, your palm should feel your fresh breath)
[m]	mother, lamb	Russian "m".
[n]	nine, note, intrusion	Russian "n".
[p]	pub, gallop, open	Russian energetic "p". Before a stressed vowel - aspirated.
[v]	vest, vocal, give	Russian "v".

Now let's look at some tricky examples in practice:

subtle - barely perceptible
“Suttle” and only that, no “subtle” with a drum “b” in the middle.

palm - palm
Naturally, everyone wants to be under a palm tree, but there is no smell of it here. Not “palm”, not “po:lm”, but “pa:m”, as in “car” and “path”. In company with a palm they find themselves calm- “calm” and balm- "balm".

halt - stop
Banish the analogy with the German “halt” - the correct pronunciation is “ho:lt”.

won - won, won in the past from “win”
Wonderful if you pronounce "won" like "one" - .

of - preposition of belonging
Only a botanist would think of checking the sound of a two-letter word? Oh well. "Of" and no nails? Remember: "Of" is pronounced with a "v" at the end. Full form- [ɔv], reduced - [əv]. Always.

Table of English sounds that have something in common with Russian
These sounds cause the greatest temptation and at the same time danger: the relative similarity with the usual pronunciation in Russian threatens to sound completely incorrect. Pay enough attention and understand the differences well.

Sound	Example	Explanations
[i]	fit, bit, symbol	The mean between “s” and “i”. It is pronounced very briefly, as at the end of “apchhi”.
	cheese, tree, sea	What photographers ask us to say on camera. As in the Russian word “syyyr”, but with a touching smile.
[ɒ]	hot, body, rock	The mean between "o" and "a". That is, in no case is the Vologda “o”.
[u]	cook, foot, woman	It's similar to the Russian short "u", but it's easier to pronounce and the lips are slightly stretched. It turns out like a “y” with a half smile. No elongated lips.
	true, fool, shoes	Like the previous sound, but long lasting.
[e]	get, bed, head	Intelligent "e". As in the Russian word "tin".
[ə]	about, until, alias	The mean between the unstressed “e” and “a”.
[l]	let, laughter, illegal	Softened Russian "l". Something between the sound of the word “la” and “la”.
[s]	stress, sunday, citizen	Muffled Russian "s". He never whistles. Remember the song "Girl" by the Beatles? Now, if their famous inhalation “sssss” is pronounced with an exhalation and briefly, you get a beautiful English [s].
[z]	zero, cosmonaut, xenon	Everything is the same as about the sound [s], only louder.
[t]	tree, trunk, receipt	Similar to Russian "t". But the tip of the tongue should be placed not to the teeth, but to the tubercle behind the upper teeth.
[d]	drink, ad, diligent	Similarly: like the Russian “d”, only the tip of the tongue rests on the tubercle immediately behind the upper teeth.
[ʃ]	ship, action, special	Between Russian “sh” and “sch”. Doesn't whistle, because the tongue does not forcefully press against the teeth, but gently touches them.
[ʒ]	pleasure, visual, garage	Softened Russian "zh". Doesn't ring or whistle.
	jump, jungle, logic	Connecting English [d] with [ ʒ ] and get a soft “j”.
	inch, chance, catch	We connect English [t] with [ ʃ ] and we get something similar to the Russian “ch”. As in the word "kitsch".
[j]	yes, yet, you	The mean between "th" and "i".
[ɪə]	hear, fear, beer	It looks like the Russian “ie” with an emphasis on “i”.
	air, hair, care	Russian "ea" with emphasis on "e".
	make, tray, ace	Russian "ei" with emphasis on "e". "I" is pronounced very short.
	hi, sky, bye	Russian "ai" with emphasis on "a". "I" is pronounced very short.
[ɔɪ]	boy, joy, coin	Russian "oi" with emphasis on "a". "I" is pronounced very short.
	how, cow, hour, our	Russian "au" with emphasis on "a". "U" is pronounced very short.
	fire, wire	Russian "aie" with a strong emphasis on the first "a". Pronounced quickly and smoothly.
	our, flower	Russian "awa" with a strong emphasis on the first "a". Pronounced quickly and smoothly.

were - were
“Were” is not at all the same thing as “where” - . Instead of a diphthong, we use the neutral vowel - , the shortened form - .

debt - debt and doubt - doubt
Fans of the group “No Doubt” have had more than a dozen years to figure out how correct the name of their favorite group sounds. "Debt" and "daubt" are not so easy to pronounce. In English there is no such Russian-language phenomenon as deafening or voicing of a consonant, but throw away the letter of their words for a dear soul: it is pronounced and .

good - good, book - book and look - watch
The double "o" does not turn into a long "u" in these words. Therefore, you should not copy the howl of wolves at the moon - say it correctly with a short vowel - , , .

Table of English sounds that have nothing in common with Russian
Practice pronouncing these sounds well online; at a minimum, your speech apparatus should get used to playing them correctly.

Sound	Example	Explanations
[ɜː]	earn, her, first	If the Russian “o” wanted to become “e”, it would sound exactly like this. Somewhat similar to the sound when children tease by sticking out their tongues. But you need to achieve this sound without sticking anything out. To do this, silently prepare your mouth to pronounce “е”, and say “oo” out loud.
[əu]	go, joke, own	Between Russian “ou” and “yo” (without “y”) with emphasis on the first sound. "U" is pronounced very short.
[æ]	cat, apple, compact	It is very important not to confuse this sound with [e], otherwise instead of “bad” (bad) you will get “bed” (bed). You need to stretch your lips wide, lower your lower jaw and say “eh” from the heart.
[h]	hot, head, uphill	Every Russian man knows how to pronounce this sound. When they ask you “come on, breathe,” then all the men start talking in English, because they pronounce [h] exactly as it should: a light exhalation, vaguely reminiscent of an “x.”
[r]	red, random, orange	Russian bears speak English [r] well. Try growling with your tongue up.
[w]	well, what, windows	Fold your lips into a tube and stretch them sharply. And now the same thing, but with sound.
[ŋ]	strong, sing, sink	Children are scolded for talking with their mouths full. But if you listen to the sounds produced, then many consonants sound exactly like [ŋ] . Open your mouth and, without closing it, say “n.”
[θ]	thanks, ethical	Place your tongue between your teeth and say “s.”
[ð]	they, there, other	Place your tongue between your teeth and say “z.” Best workout- this is to say the expression “Is this” 100 times. You will never confuse “z” with [ð].

folk - people, folk
The letter “l” has become a victim and is not pronounced at all - .

comb - comb
No “comb” - only “com”. The English “m” and “b” are quite insidious guys who will mess things up more than once. Be on the lookout!

won’t - won’t - short for “will not”
Have you been tormented by the question of how the cunning English distinguish between “want” and “won’t” in spoken language? You just have to pronounce the negation in the future tense correctly - . That's all the magic.

salmon - salmon
Not “salmon” and certainly not “solomon”. Salmon is on your mind - as in “cat” and “apple”.

Bonus for the most patient

The human brain is the eighth wonder of the world, the deep capabilities of which we can only guess at now. Something important for us is now known for sure: the brain has a speech center. Special center There is no one responsible for reading, but there is one for speech. That's why we strongly recommend repeating the words out loud for the hundredth time. Exactly out loud, and not silently, because in this case muscle memory is also involved. Naturally, words can “live and sound” in your head. The main thing is not to get stuck and stop at the stage of decoding transcription symbols, selecting the necessary rule for each sound. In this case, only a snail's speed is guaranteed.

If the language is still alive after previous exercises, then we bring to your attention a video that is better to see once than to hear about it 100 times. The entire phonetic transcription of the English language in 10 minutes. Clear, competent and very visual.

The combination of letters in English is a phenomenon that is closely related to phonetics, since often the reading of consonants or vowels changes if another letter appears next to them. It is important not only to navigate various options such combinations, but also to understand how certain methods of connecting individual letters differ and what pronunciation features will arise. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the main letter combinations in the English language and provide a special classification of this phenomenon so that it is somewhat easier to understand the entire algorithm of actions.

Basic principles of combinations of English letters

The norms of the English language allow the letters of the alphabet to be combined in such a way that new variants of sounds are subsequently formed. It must be remembered that sometimes such combinations are pronounced completely differently than it seems at first glance, and the phonetics of both letters used in a particular combination may be lost.

Methods of letter combinations in the English language allow the formation of new sounds by combining two consonant letters, two vowels, as well as a combined version of vowels and consonants. In this case, a certain combination can be formed by connecting three letters; they are called triphthongs and differ from diphthongs in that they consist of three rather than two elements. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the basic rules for reading English letter combinations, and you can start with the vowel + vowel options.

Letter combinations vowels + vowels

When reading English combinations letters that include consonants, it is necessary to take into account both letters that are part of a particular construction. The options may be as follows:

ai –– pain, rain;
ay-– game, pay;
ei –– deceive, weight, height;
ea – [e]– head, read, break;
ey –– key, grey, eye;
ee –– tree, screen;
ew –– new, few;
eu –– neutral, feudalism;
oo – [u] [ɔ:] [ʌ]– wool, pool, door, blood;
oa – [əu]– road, soap;
ou –– house, mouse;
ie – [e]– friend, field, diet.

All these variants with vowels are quite common and in English are read only in accordance with the specified reading rules. Their sound conveys only vowel sounds, however, it is important not to confuse the letter combinations, otherwise there is a risk of incorrect spelling of words and constructions.

Letter combinations consonants + consonants

It is necessary to remember very well how one or another combination of consonant letters is read, since there are significantly more such types of combinations than with vowel letters. Below are the most common ways to pronounce English consonants in combination with each other:

ch – [k] [ʃ]– chair, character, machine;
ck – [k]– stock, shock;
tch– the combination tch – is consonant with the sound ch – – match, catch; the sound h in English is characterized by two variants of consonant combinations;
bt at the end of a word - [t]– doubt, debt;
gh– after combinations ou, au [f], [–]– cough, slight;
dg-– hedgehog, edge;
th – The interdental th sound is read in two ways. IN service units speech and between vowel sounds the th sound in English gives [ð] – brother, the, and at the beginning or end of words, as well as before consonants, it sounds like [θ] – throw, bath;
sh – the sound sh can be read as [ʃ] – shrimp, shell;
gn – [n]– sign, reign;
mb- in the middle of a word – remember, at the end of a word [m]– thumb;
mn – in the middle of a word – insomnia, at the end of a word [m]– column;
kn – in the middle of a word – sickness, at the beginning of a word [n]– knock;
wh – [w]– what, wheel;
ng- in the middle of a word [ŋg]– singer, at the end of a word [ŋ] – ring;
ph – [f]– philosopher, photo;
wr – [r]– write, wrong.

It is important to pay attention to how th, kn and other combinations are read, which have two pronunciation options and sound differently depending on their position in the word. The rule for reading all the above combinations must always be observed, otherwise errors in the reading process and, accordingly, pronunciation will be inevitable.

Letter combinations vowels + consonants

Another option for combinations is vowels and consonants. Some letters in the alphabet can form certain ways of pronunciation, and this phonetic variation is also quite common. Here are the methods:

er- in an unstressed position [ə] – worker, looker;
or- in an unstressed position [ə] – doctor, traitor;
an- before consonants – swan, plant;
al – [ɔ:] – chat, talk. Another reading option is – half, calf;
wa –– was, water;
wor -– word, work;
war –– war, ward;
igh –– right, night;
qu –– quiet, sequence;
ild –– wild, mild;
ind -– find, bind.

All these options, presented with transcription, must be taken into account when pronouncing and reading the corresponding combinations. To display a combination of letters in English, a table can become an element that can group all the main options and present information in the most concise form. Here's what it might look like:

All these letter combinations English alphabet are very actively used in the language and are taken into account when studying phonetics and reading rules. All possible options should be memorized gradually, but it is necessary to know them, since, judging by the examples, some of them can be read differently. By focusing on all reading methods, you will be able to avoid many mistakes, and the interlocutor will be able to assess the level of preparation of the speaker, who, in turn, will correctly use the rules of letter combinations and not take liberties in pronunciation.

The combination of letters in English is a phenomenon that is closely related to phonetics, since often the reading of consonants or vowels changes if another letter appears next to them. It is important not only to navigate the various variants of such combinations, but also to understand how different methods of connecting individual letters differ and what pronunciation features will arise. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the main letter combinations in the English language and provide a special classification of this phenomenon so that it is somewhat easier to understand the entire algorithm of actions.

Basic principles of combinations of English letters

Letter combinations vowels + vowels

When reading English letter combinations that include consonants, it is necessary to take into account both letters that are part of a particular construction. The options may be as follows:

Letter combinations consonants + consonants

ch – [k] [ʃ]– chair, character, machine;
ck – [k]– stock, shock;
tch– the combination tch – is consonant with the sound ch – – match, catch; the sound h in English is characterized by two variants of consonant combinations;
bt at the end of a word - [t]– doubt, debt;
gh– after combinations ou, au [f], [–]– cough, slight;
dg-– hedgehog, edge;
th – The interdental th sound is read in two ways. In auxiliary parts of speech and between vowel sounds, the th sound in English gives [ð] – brother, the, and at the beginning or end of words, as well as before consonants, it sounds like [θ] – throw, bath;
sh – the sound sh can be read as [ʃ] – shrimp, shell;
gn – [n]– sign, reign;
mb- in the middle of a word – remember, at the end of a word [m]– thumb;
mn – in the middle of a word – insomnia, at the end of a word [m]– column;
kn – in the middle of a word – sickness, at the beginning of a word [n]– knock;
wh – [w]– what, wheel;
ng- in the middle of a word [ŋg]– singer, at the end of a word [ŋ] – ring;
ph – [f]– philosopher, photo;
wr – [r]– write, wrong.

Letter combinations vowels + consonants

Another option for combinations is vowels and consonants. Some letters in the alphabet can form certain ways of pronunciation, and this phonetic variation is also quite common. Here are the methods:

All these methods of combining letters of the English alphabet are very actively used in the language and are taken into account when studying phonetics and reading rules. All possible options should be memorized gradually, but it is necessary to know them, since, judging by the examples, some of them can be read differently. By focusing on all reading methods, you will be able to avoid many mistakes, and the interlocutor will be able to assess the level of preparation of the speaker, who, in turn, will correctly use the rules of letter combinations and not take liberties in pronunciation.