River is an open or closed syllable. Types of syllables in English in a nutshell

In an open syllable, the vowel A is pronounced as . Here are examples of words with A in an open syllable: snake - snake (Fig. 2.), lake - lake, plane - plane, plate - plate, name - name.

If the vowel letter A comes before the vowels Y and I, then such combinations AY, AI will be read as. Here are examples of words with such combinations: rain - rain, train - train, tail - tail, wait - wait, sail - sail, May - May, play - play, day - day, way - way. If the vowel letter A is combined with the letters W and L, then the pairs AW and AL are pronounced [ɔː]. Here are examples of such words: ball - ball (Fig. 3.), tall - high, all [ɔːl] - everything, small - small, wall - wall, paw - paw, draw - draw, straw - straw, law - law, flaw - crack.

In a closed syllable, the vowel letter E is read as a short sound [e]. Here are examples of words with E in a closed syllable: pen - pen, red - red, bed - bed, egg - egg, hen - chicken. In an open syllable, the vowel E is pronounced as a long sound. Here are examples of words with E in an open syllable: she [ʃiː] - she, he - he, be - to be, Pete - Pete, we - we.

If there are two vowel letters E next to each other in a word, then this combination EE will be read as a long sound. Here are examples of words with this combination: tree - tree, sweet - candy (Fig. 4), green - green, meet - to meet, bee - bee.

If the vowel letter E is combined with the letter A, then the pair EA is also pronounced as a long sound. Here are examples of such words: read - to read, please - please, mean - to keep in mind, tea - tea, sea - sea.

So, we got acquainted with the rules for reading the vowels A and E in open and closed syllables, as well as in their combinations.

The vowel letter A is read in two ways. In an open syllable it is read as a sound, for example plane - airplane. In a closed syllable, the vowel letter A is read as the sound [æ], for example flat - apartment.

The vowel letter E in a closed syllable is read as the sound [e], for example red - red, and in an open syllable - as a long sound, for example we - we.

References

Afanasyeva O.V., Mikheeva I.V. English language. 2nd grade - M: Bustard, 2014.
Biboletova M.Z., Denisenko O.A., Trubaneva N.N. English language. 2nd grade - Title, 2008.
Bykova N.I., Dooley D., Pospelova M.D. and others. English language. 2nd grade - Education, 2013.

Alleng.ru ().
Alleng.ru ().
learnathome.ru ().

Homework

Learn to correctly read all the words from the video lesson.
For each learned rule for reading the vowels A and E, find two English example words.
Learn words from the video lesson and new words that you find.

A trainer for reading English vowels in open and closed syllables. For children who are just starting to learn english letters, it is very difficult to learn English sounds.

The simulator is used to practice open and closed syllables and is intended for 2nd grade students. According to Biboletova’s educational complex (4th quarter). According to Vereshchagina's teaching materials (end of the second quarter - beginning of the second quarter). According to the Starlight educational complex (end of September). This simulator will not only help you remember vowel letters and sounds, but will also help you distinguish in what position a letter is read in an open or closed syllable.

Aa
cake, Kate, name, plane, plate, snake, take, Jane, sale
hat, cat, bat, fat, Sam, cap, bad, parrot, carrot, rat, ant, many, black, map, can
a black cat, a bad snake, many parrots, a fat rat, a black rat and a fat cat, a cake and a plate, a black bat hat
Take a cat. Take a plate. Take a black rat and a fat cat. Take a map.
Take a cake, Kate. Jane, take a parrot and a carrot. Take a fat cat and a black hat, Sam.
What's your name? How many plates has Jane got? Has Sam got a map?

[əʊ] no, rose, stone, open, home, go, globe

[ͻ] on, not, hot, dog, frog, doll, hop, robot, box, clock

Rose, doll, frog, home, robot, dog, stone, box

No, go, globe, hop, hot, doll, doll, home

go home, a big dog, a big doll, a big box, a small clock, a box and a dog

Go home. A big dog has a big clock. A small frog has a big box.

Open a box. A frog opens a small box. I have at a doll at home.

Have they got a doll at home? - No, they haven’t. They have got a robot at home.

Kite, mice, bike, hi, Mike, nice, fine, like, white, nine

[i] Tim, Bill, pink, kitten, big, little, pig, milk, it, his, with

a little kite, a little cat, a little pig, a little hat, little mice

a nice bike, a nice cat, a nice pet, nice mice

a big kitten, a big pink kitten, a big fat cat, a big plane

I like my bike. I like my cat. I like my big fat cat. I like my nice little pink pig. I am fine.

I like my little nice mice. I like my nice pink kite. I like it.

I like to play with my nice little kitten. Let's play with his big bike.

Ee
see, be, Pete, he, beet, she, bee, keep, we, green, sweet,
Ned, pet, let"s, hen, ten, pen, desk, red, bed, Bet, lemon,

Pete, bed, Ted, let, green, pen, bee

Peg, desk, see, keep, red, hen, beet

Green pen, red desk, Pete and a bee, Ted and his pet,

A black desk, a big red hen on the little black desk

See a red beet. Take a pen. Take a hen. Keep a green pen. See a black desk.

Take a pen, Pete. His pen is bad. His desk is big. Ted, see a big bee.

Let's play with a pet, Pete. What green toys has Peg got?

Computer, pupil, tube, due, student, tulip, music

Up, cup, bus, cut, sun, sunny, plus, puppy, funny

Computer, bus, cup, pupil, plus, student

Up, puppy, tube, student, pupil, sun, cut

A sunny day, a sunny smile, a big bus and a little cup,

A big funny puppy, a funny puppy and a sunny smile

Get up, puppy. Let's listen to the music. Students are funny.

Let's play computer games with the students. They are funny.

My, fly, why, try, cry, type

Funny, puppy, sunny, system, myth, baby

Funny, why, cry, funny, try, fly, system, myth

A big fly, my big fly, a big fat funny fly, a big thin funny puppy

Don't cry. Don't try. Don't fly. Fly my little kite.

Try to cry, my baby. I want you to try to cry. Why do you cry?

Why don't you try to cry? Fly! Fly a kite. Fly my little funny kite.

For the full text of the material Trainer for reading English vowels in open and closed syllables, see the downloadable file.
The page contains a fragment.

Before we begin to understand what open and closed syllable, I would like to warn you right away - in English the reading rules have so many exceptions that it is better to just remember the reading as much as possible more words, and read the rest by analogy.

But at school they teach the rules and give grades... To apply the rules correctly, let’s first understand the syllables.

In English, just like in Russian, words are divided into syllables. Very often, in order to correctly read a vowel in a syllable, it is necessary to determine the type of syllable - an open or closed syllable.

Let's take the usual Russian word « book"let's divide it into syllables: BOOK. Both syllables end in a vowel sound, which means both syllables OPEN.

Let's take the word " trap", divide into syllables: TRAP. IN in this example both syllables end in a consonant, which means both CLOSED.

But determining the syllable of an English syllable is not as easy as in Russian. A typical English word contains 2, maximum 3 syllables, so finding a syllable is not difficult.

If you take the floor name, then you might think that it has 2 syllables, but we all know that it is read, that is, there is one syllable. Let's take a closer look at why everything is so.

Open syllable
1. If there is no consonant after a vowel in a syllable.
For example: go, no, ago, my, hi, be, me.
2. If after a vowel there is immediately an “e” at the end of the word
For example: pie, lie, toe, blue, bye, dye.
3. If there is a consonant, but it is immediately followed by a “silent” vowel “e”, which is not readable.
For example: name, blade, take, these, mine, time, type.
3. After a stressed vowel - consonant+le
For example: table, noble.

Remember!!! In an open syllable, vowels are read Also, as they are called in .

Closed syllable
If a syllable contains one or more consonant letters after a vowel (except for the letter r).
For example: bad, cat, vet, strip, stop, camp, battle, end, center, pink.

But in English there are “tricky” vowels and consonants. They can be read differently depending on how they are located in the word.

Closed syllable. In a closed syllable, a stressed vowel is followed by one or more consonants (except r); a vowel in a closed syllable conveys a short sound.

Example of words with open syllable type

pen - [ pen ] - feather
cat - [ kæt ] - cat

There are four types of syllables in English, more on that. Types of syllables

Rules for reading vowels in open and closed syllables.

The most common rules for reading English vowels are the rules for reading them in four syllable types.

The vowels i and y are, as it were, duplicating each other (in the sense of the rules for reading them). The letter y is found mainly at the end of words, and the letter i is found in the middle of words and almost never at the end.

1 Alphabetical reading, i.e. The pronunciation corresponding to the name of the letter in the alphabet has vowels only in the second type of syllable, which is also called open, since it ends with a vowel.

2 A syllable becomes closed if a vowel is followed by one or more consonants.

3 In polysyllabic words, according to the rules of English syllable division, one consonant, being on the border of syllables between the readable vowels, goes to the next syllable. For example, in the word lad [ læd ] guy, the consonant d refers to the first and only syllable, “closing” it. In the word lady [ ˈleɪdi ] Lady the same consonant belongs to the second syllable, while the first remains open.

4 If there are two or more consonants at the boundary of syllables, then at least one of them necessarily goes to the previous syllable, making it closed: splendid [ ˈsplɛndɪd ] magnificent, luxurious.

This also applies to cases where combinations of consonants produce only one sound: funny [ ˈfʌni ] funny, amusing ticket [ ˈtɪkɪt ] ticket, coupon

The syllable boundary then passes directly along this sound. The preceding syllable becomes closed, although the sound itself belongs to the following syllable.

5 The letter x conveying two sounds is considered as two consonants boxer [ ˈbɒksə ] boxer

6 The final silent vowel e serves to indicate the openness of syllables ending with the consonants made [ ˈmeɪd ] made . The letter e at the end of a word is read only when it is the only vowel: be [ bi] be .

7 Sound [ (j) u: ] after sibilants, consonants [ r] and combinations of consonants ending in [ l ], pronounced [ u: ]

rule [ ruːl ] rule, rule, power
blue [ bluː ] blue, light blue
shoot [ ʃuːt ] shoot, shoot.

In other cases, [ juː ]

few [ fjuː ] little, a little
use [ ˈjuːs] benefit, use, application

In American English the sound [ juː ] occurs much less frequently than in British, which in the following transcriptions is designated as [ (j) u: ].

8 Syllables closed with a consonant r or letter combinations r + consonant are distinguished into a separate, third type of syllable, with special reading rules. IN two-syllable words with several consonants starting with r at the boundary of syllables, r goes to the preceding syllable, the rest to the subsequent one (including cases of rr):

[German] ˈdʒəːmən ] German
porridge [ ˈpɒrɪdʒ ] porridge .

9 Finally, if immediately after r, which closes the syllable, there is again a vowel, an open syllable of the fourth type is formed. If one letter r stands on a syllable boundary in two-syllable words, then general rule syllable division it goes to the subsequent syllable, but at the same time it is an indicator of reading the preceding vowel according to the rules of syllables of the fourth type:

staring [ ˈsteərɪŋ] bright .

10 The rules for reading open syllables of types 2 and 4 have quite a few exceptions regarding polysyllabic words in which the vowels in the indicated syllables are read according to the rules of closed syllables.

11 The consonant r after vowels in syllables of the third and fourth type is not readable in British English. However, if the next word begins with a vowel, the final silent -r or -re ceases to be silent:

to take care of [ təˈ teɪk ker əv ] take care . In the American version, the consonant r is always pronounced.

12 The vowels e, i, y and u in syllables of the third type produce the same sound [ ə: ] , and their reading in syllables of the fourth type is easily obtained from the alphabetic by adding the sound [ ə ] .

13 The vowel o in syllables of the third and fourth types is read the same [ ɔː ]

14 Letter combinations -er -re at the end of words that produce the same vowel sound [ ə ] , are considered as the vowel opening the previous syllable: metre [ ˈmiːtə ] meter The letter combination -le at the end of words has a similar property: table [ ˈteɪbl ] table . Sonorant consonant [ l ]. similar in sound characteristics to vowels, acts in such cases as a syllabic vowel.

To do this, you need to know the types of syllables in English. Knowing a few simple rules will take you one step closer to the desired pronunciation like native speakers. Let's first remember the basic things, a syllable is or several vowel sounds combined with a consonant/consonants, which are pronounced with one push of exhaled air. There are four types of syllables: an open syllable, a closed syllable, and two conventionally open (or half-closed) types of syllables. Open and closed syllables are the most common in English, so it’s worth talking about them in more detail with examples and exceptions, but we’ll also definitely talk about the rest.

Closed syllables

This is the syllable that occurs most often. It ends in a consonant (one or more), and the vowel letter in the syllable is read briefly. We have selected several examples for you that will help you remember the rule better:

bad- bad
cat- cat
lip- lip
sad- sad
black- black

Exceptions:

As always, there are a few exceptions to this rule that you need to keep in mind:

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The letter “a” before “s” and the combination “th” is always read as a long “a”: past, master, glass, father, path.
The letter “a” after “w” is always read as a short “o”: was, want, wasp.
In some words, the letter “u” is read exactly the same as in an open syllable: put, pull, bull, push.
The letter “o” in combination with “–st” is also read briefly: most, lost, host.

Open syllables

The main rule of an open syllable in English is that it must end in a vowel. In this case, the vowel is read exactly the same as in the alphabet and ultimately produces a long sound.

Main characteristics of a syllable:

Such a syllable does not have a consonant after the vowel in the syllable. (for example in the words: go, my, no);
Usually has the letter e at the end of the word, which comes immediately after the vowel (for example in the words: pie, toe, bye);
Immediately after the consonant letter there is a silent (or unreadable) vowel e (for example in the words: name, take, pupil);
Immediately after the stressed vowel there is a consonant + le (for example in the words: table, noble).

The same rule may apply to some monosyllabic words, such as: me, go, she and some others.

Example words:

male- male
type- type
bite- bite
go- go
late- late
rude- rude
like- like how

Exceptions:

There are also exceptions to this rule. It is very important to remember that in words: love, some, done, none, dove– the letter “o” in the first syllable is read exactly the same as the short “a”.

Conventionally open (or semi-closed) syllables

Conventionally open (or semi-closed) syllables come in several types:

Syllables that end with a vowel + r;

Syllables that end with a vowel + re;

Syllables that end in a consonant + le.

In the first case, the vowel makes a long sound, and the letter r is not readable.

car- automobile
girl [ɡɜːl]- girl

In the second case, the consonant r is also unreadable, but the vowel is converted into a diphthong.

pure - clean

The third case (consonant + le) can be either an open or a closed syllable, depending on how many consonants come before le. There are two cases:

There is one consonant before le.
table [ˈteɪbl]- table
title [ˈtaɪtl]- Name
Before le there are two consonants.
struggle [ˈstrʌɡl]- struggle
sniffle [ˈsnɪfl]- sniffling