Reading the vowel a in English. Sounds in English and their pronunciation

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English transcription

Pronunciation of English sounds.

Pronunciation of English vowels.

The pronunciation of English sounds is represented by Russian letters, you should understand that it is not possible to convey the correct English pronunciation using the Russian alphabet.

• ɑː long, deep a
• ʌ short vowel a, as in the Russian word to run.
• ɒ = ɔ - short, open about
• ɔː - long o
• зː - long vowel ё, as in the Russian word hedgehog.
• æ - open e
• e - like e in the word these
• ə - unclear unstressed sound, similar to e
• iː - long and
• ɪ - short, open and
• ʊ \u003d u - short u, pronounced with a slight rounding of the lips.
• uː - long y pronounced without much rounding of the lips.

Two-vowel sounds

Pronunciation of English consonants.

• p - p
• b - b
• m - m
• f - f
• v - in
• s - with
• z - z
• t - resembles a Russian sound tpronounced with the tongue positioned at the gums.
• d - resembles a Russian sound dpronounced with the tongue positioned at the gums.
• n - resembles a Russian sound npronounced with the tongue positioned at the gums.
• l - resembles a Russian sound l, pronounced with the tongue positioned at the gums.
• r - very hard sound, pronounced without vibration of the tongue. Corresponds to the sound p in the word lot
• ʃ - soft Russian sh
• ʒ - soft Russian zh, as in the word yeast.
• tʃ- h
• ʤ - similar to the Russian sound j (voiced h)
• k - k
• h - breath, reminiscent of a weakly pronounced sound x
• ju - long yu in the word southern
• je - the sound e in the word spruce
• jɔ - sound ё in the word Christmas tree
• jʌ - sound i in the word pit
• j - resembles the Russian sound й before vowels. Occurs in combination with vowels.

English consonants that do not have approximate equivalents in Russianː

• w - formed with rounded lips (as in a whistle). It looks like a sound delivered with only lips. In translation, it is denoted by letters in or y ː W illiams - Williams, Williams.
• ƞ - Open your mouth and say n without closing your mouth.
• ɵ - Move the slightly flattened tip of the tongue between the teeth and pronounce Russian with
• ð - Push the slightly flattened tip of the tongue between the teeth and say Russian

»We examined the basic rules for reading consonants. Do not think that by memorizing only them, you will correctly read any English word. Be sure to come across an unfamiliar word that will not be read according to the rule. But yes, 90% will submit to you. In any case, knowing these patterns of reading various letter combinations, you can guess how the word you need is read. And if in doubt, still look in the dictionary.

English Reading Rules: Vowels

1. Letter first in line A. What sounds can she make?
   • in an open stressed syllable, in combinations ai, ay , and before the letter combination angle : baker, crane, cable, gain, rain, bay, stay, change, dangerous. Among the exceptions: many, have, said.
   • in combinations ai , ay , age in an unstressed syllable, this letter gives the sound [i]: carriage, captain, storage.
   • [æ] in a closed syllable: cap, dangle, factor, hatch, rash, rat.
   • [Ɔ] in a closed syllable after w, wh : wad, waffle, what.
   • [Ə] in an unstressed syllable: myopia, pasta, regalia.
   • [ƐƏ] in combinations air, are : hair, bare, pair, rare, stair, mare.
   • in combinations ar, aft, ass, ance, ast, ath, ans, ask, ant, alf, anch : card, barge, craft, after, grass, dance, glance, last, past, rather, father, answer , bask, task, plant, grant, half, calf, branch. Among the exceptions: mass, gather, pathos.
   • [Ɔ:] before l or l+ consonant, as well as in combinations au, aw, aught, auth, war, quar : call, football, altogether, paunch, law, caught, authority, warble, quart, quarterly.
2. The second letter will be O. Her range of sounds is as follows:
   • in an open stressed syllable, before a letter l, letter combinations ll, ld, st, as well as in combination oa and ow (at the end of words): so, ago, note, provoke, rose, enroll, bold, coat, oath, oat, road, boast, show, mow, blow, most, post. Among the exceptions: do, does, who, now, how, cost, lost.
   • [Ɔ] in a closed stressed syllable: plot, fox, spot, knot, drop.
   • in combination oo : moon, afternoon, poop, rooter. Exceptions: good, wood, foot, etc.
   • [u] combined oo , but before the letter k : cook, look, brook, hookey, nook, rookie.
   • in combinations ou, ow in the middle of a word: gown, clown, crown, crowd, about, cloud, proud, bound. Among the exceptions: enough, country, double, touch, young, bowl.
   • [Ɔi] in combinations oi, oy : choice, voice, boil, spoil, enjoy, loyal, toy.
   • [Ɔ:] combined or in shock position, as well as in combinations oor, ore, oar, ough+t and our (in the middle of a word): fort, corn, boring, torn, adore, floor, door, therefore, more, board, bought, fought, sought, source, mourn, course, pour. Among the exceptions: poor, moor, courage. Combination our under stress can produce another sound -: hour, sour, lour, but four. The same combination at the end of words is conveyed by the sound [Ə], as well as the combination or in an awkward position: neighbour, labor, doctor, creator, illustrator.
   • [Əs] - this is how we read the combination ous at the end of words: glamorous, tremendous, curious.
   • [Ə:] is the reading of the combination wor in shock position: world, workable, worse, worship. An exception: worn .
   • [ᴧ] - such a sound occurs when reading combinations oth, on, om, ov under stress: mother, other, month, son, some, become, lover, dove. Note: both .
3. The next vowel from the English reading rules is a letter E. What sounds can we meet in her presence:
   • in an open stressed syllable and combinations ee, ea: be, fetor, Steve, feel, peel, teeth, seem, breathe, dean, meal, peace. Among the exceptions: great .
   • [e] in a closed stressed syllable and in combination ea before letters d,n and letter combinations th, sure : nest, pet, mental, spread, steady, feather, weather, measure, treasure, meant, cleanser. Among the exceptions: read , lead .
   • in combinations ey, ey in stressed syllable: prey, convey, eight, freighter.
   • read with combinations eu, ew: few, nephew, Europe, deuterium.
   • [Ə:] should be read in combinations er in the stressed syllable, and in ear followed by a consonant: deserve, Berlin, mercy, earth, pearl, dearth. Among the exceptions: heart. If the combination er is in an unstressed position, the same sound appears, only short, not long [Ə]: limber, answer, producer, perhaps.
   • we will pronounce in combinations ear, eer, ere : near, dear, fear, career, steer, here, hemisphere. Among the exceptions: bear , there [ƐƏ], were .
   • [i] - this is how the letter will be read E in an open unstressed syllable (including the combination er ), in combinations et and ey at the end of words: prevent, erect, exact, regret, restore, regress, bonnet, planet, closet, journey, attorney, honey.
4. Let's move on to the vowel I. In addition to the alphabetic reading, this vowel also produces other sounds:
   • in a stressed open syllable, combined ie at the end of monosyllabic words and before letter combinations such as nd, ld,gn, gh : prime, kite, bite, die, blind, mind, wind(coil), child, wild, design, sign, sigh, high, fight, bright. Among the exceptions: wind- wind, gild ,live, forgive, cinema.
   • in a closed stressed syllable and in an unstressed position, this letter is read as [i]: brick, risk, whist, testimony, handiwork, inclusion.
   • a long sound is obtained when reading a combination ie in the middle of root words: field, priest, grief, believe. An exception: friend .
   • [Ɛ:] requires combination ir in shock position: stir, first, thirty, girl.
   • in combinations ire, ia, io : desire, mire, diagnosis, bias, violinist, riot.
5. The penultimate vowel will be Y . She has five sound options in different occasions:
   • in a stressed open syllable: cry, lye, byway, cynosure.
   • [i] in a closed stressed syllable and in an open unstressed: mystery, syntax, randy, oily, quandary. But: apply[Ə'plai]
   • in combination yr+ consonant this is the sound [Ɛ:]: myrtle. And in the same combination, only in a company followed by a vowel, we get the sound: lyre, pyre, gyration.
   • [j] at the beginning of a word before vowels: yard, yellow, yawl, youth, yet, yolk.
6. And finally the letter U . What should you know about the sounds it produces?
   • in a stressed open syllable: puce, mute, lurid, fuel, cucumber.
   • [ᴧ] in a closed syllable: publicity, pug, mug, mustard, butter, fun, hurry. Among the exceptions: put, push, pull, full, etc.
   • [Ɛ:] combined ur in stressed syllable: purpose, purse, hurl, urban, urge. But: current[‘kᴧrƏnt].
   • and in the same combination, but in an unstressed syllable, as well as simply in an unstressed position in words, this letter reads [Ə]: suggest, supply, mustache, suppose. Note: mercury[‘mƏ:kjuri].
   • before a letter r and the following vowel: pure, furious, mural. But: sure[ʃuƏ].
   • after letters l, r, j in combinations ue,ui : true, blue, juice.

If you are studying with a teacher (

Sounds English letters- 44 English phonemes, which are divided into two categories: consonants and vowels. Since sounds cannot be written down, graphemes (letters or combinations of letters) are used to convey sounds in writing.

English alphabet

There are 26 letters in English. The standard English alphabet starts with a and ends with z.

When classifying alphabetic characters, they distinguish:

• 5 pure vowels: a, e, i, o, u;
• 19 pure consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, z;
• 2 semivowels: y, w.

Learning the English alphabet requires knowledge of both the symbol representing each letter and the phonetic sounds associated with that letter. Learning English phonetics is difficult. Only a small number of letters have no exceptions in the main sound.

In most cases, each letter has several phonemes. The letter B sometimes sounds like bat (bet) or does not sound, for example, in the words crumb (krum), dumb (dam). The letter C sounds like "k" for cat (ket) or "c" for ceiling (si:ling), or "tch" for church (tche:tch). And the list of exceptions is endless.

Vowel sounds

Vowels represent main category phonemes in English speech. There are 20 vowels in spoken English. This discrepancy (in relation to literal characters) underlies the complexity of writing in English.

Short	Long	diphthongs
a [æ]	A(ā)
e [ɛ]	E (ē)
i [ɪ]	I (ī)	[ɔɪ]
o [ɒ]	O(ō)	[ɪə]
u [ʌ]	U (ū)
		[ʊə]
		[əʊ]

For short and long vowels, additional vowels are used. For sounds a and e - when the vowel accompanies the sound r. For o, the options are varied.

Consonants

Deaf	Voiced	Other
p	b	c
t	d	h
k	g	j
f	v	l
s	z	m
		n
		q
		r
		w
		x
		y

alphabet order

Transcription and stress

Phonetic transcriptions tell about the pronunciation of words. In English dictionaries it is necessary condition, because the spelling doesn't say how the word is pronounced.

Phonetic transcriptions are written in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), in which each English sound is assigned its own symbol. For example, the IPA-based phonetic transcription of the word home is /hoʊm/, the transcription of come is /kʌm/, despite the fact that the spelling of the words is similar (both end in –ome), but are transcribed with differences.

Vowels	Consonants
ʌ	b
ɑ:	d
æ	f
e	g
ə	h
ɜ:ʳ	j
ɪ	k
i:	l
ɒ	m
ɔ:	n
ʊ	ŋ
u:	p
aɪ	r
aʊ	s
eɪ	ʃ
oʊ	t
ɔɪ	tʃ
eəʳ	θ
ɪəʳ	ð
ʊəʳ	v
	w
	z
	ʒ
	dʒ

The rules do not fully cover aspects of stress in English words. The language is characterized by the presence of exceptions, and the English themselves make mistakes, especially in polysyllabic words.

But obviously some basic rules still apply:

Prefixes in two-syllable words are not stressed, except in certain nouns or adjectives. Two-syllable nouns beginning with a prefix are studied individually.

English consonants

There are fewer consonants in the English alphabet than there are consonants. Therefore, to expand the alphabet, digraphs of the type "ch", "sh", "th" and "zh", and some letters and digraphs represent more than just one consonant. For example, the sound written "th" in this is transcribed as /ð/, and "th" in thin is /θ/.

English consonants are classified according to their combination of functions:

In addition, there is a function "silent alveolar stop", /t/ when the airflow mechanism is down.

According to the method of formation, consonants are divided into:

1. Approximants: j, w, r.
2. Nine fricative consonants: f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ,ʒ,h.
3. Lateral approximant: l.
4. Two affricative sounds: tʃ and dʒ.
5. Six explosive sounds: p, b, t, d, k, g.
6. Nasal consonants: m, n, ŋ.

The sound - [x] - a voiceless fricative - is non-standard for the English language. Although in some original words, such as ugh (ugh!), Is an additional marker of irritation. V writing the fricative is represented as "gh".

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Features of English consonants

A consonant combination is a set of two or three consonant letters that retain their original sound when pronounced. Such sets occur either at the beginning or at the end of a word. For example, the word brave, in which both "b" and "r" are pronounced, is the initial combination. In the word bank "-nk" is the final combination.

Classification:

1. Initial combinations are classified into sets with "l", "r", and "s". In "l" the combination ends with "l". An example would be the letters "bl" in the word blind. Similarly, the final sound in "r" in combination with "r" when "br" and "cr", for example, in the words bridge, crane. On the contrary, in "s" it starts with s, "st" and "sn" - stap, snail.
2. The final combinations are grouped into sets with "s", "l" and "n": -st, -sk, -ld, -nd, -nk. Examples, first, desk, gold, sand, sink.

Digraphs

Consonant digraphs refer to a set of consonants that form one sound. Some digraphs are both at the beginning and at the end of the word - "sh", "ch" and "th". There are also strict initial and final digraphs - "kn-" and "-ck".

Examples of digraphs:

Ch-	-ch
Kn-	— ck
Ph-	-sh
Sh-	-ss
Th-	-th
wh-	-tch
Wr-

Features of digraphs:

Table of pronunciation of English consonants

b	b	bag, band, cab	bag, band, cab
d	d	dad, did, lady, odd [ɒd]	dead, did, lady, od
f	f, ph, sometimes gh	fable , fact , if [ɪf], off [ɒf], photo , glyph	fable, fact, if, of, foutow, glyph
g	g	give , flag	givew, flag
h	h	hold, ham	hold, ham
j	usually represented by y, but sometimes by other vowels	yellow, yes, young, neuron, cube	Yelow, ies, yang, n (b) yueron, k (b) yu: b - the sound j is similar to the vowel sound i:.
k	k, c, q, que, ck, sometimes ch	cat, kill, queen, skin, thick [θɪk], chaos	kat, kil, qui:n, sik, keyos
l	l	lane, clip, bell, milk, sould	lane, clip, bel, milk, sould - has two sound options: pure /l/ before a vowel, “darkened” /ɫ/ before a consonant or at the end of a word
m	m	man, them [ðem], moon	man, zem, mu:n
n	n	nest, sun	nest, san
ŋ	ng	ring, sing, finger [ŋ] is sometimes followed by the sound [g]. [ŋ] if "ng" is at the end of a word or a related word (sing, singer, thing), to "-ing", which translates verbs into participles or gerunds. [ŋg], if "ng" is not at the end of a word or in related words, also in comparative degrees (longer, longest).	/ring/, /sing/, /finge/
p	p	pen, spin, tip, happy	pen, spin, type, happy
r	r	rat, reply, rainbow,	rat, ripple, rainbow - movement of the tongue close to the alveolar ridge, but without touching it
s	s, sometimes c	see, city, pass, lesson	si:, pa: s, forest
ʃ	sh, si, ti, sometimes s	she [ʃi:], crash , sheep [ʃi:p], sure [ʃʊə], session , emotion [ɪməʊʃn], leash	shi:, crash, shi:p, shue, session, imashn, li:sh
t	t	taste, sting	test, sting
tʃ	ch, sometimes t	chair [ʧɛə], nature teach beach	t che e, ney t che, ti: t h, bi: t h
θ	th	thing [θɪŋ], teeth, Athens [æθɪnz[	t sing, ti: t s, et sinz - voiceless fricative
ð	th	this [ðɪs], mother	d sis, ma d ze - voiced fricative
v	v, sometimes f	voice, five, of [ɔv]	voice, five, ov
w	w, sometimes u	wet, window, queen	y in em, y in indeu, ku in i: n - [w] is similar to
z	z	zoo, lazy	zu: lazy
ʒ	g, si, z, sometimes s	genre [ʒɑːŋr], pleasure, beige, seizure, vision	genre e, plezhe, beizh, b:zhe, vision
dʒ	j, sometimes g, dg, d	gin [ʤɪn], joy [ʤɔɪ], edge	gin, joy, edge

English vowels

Each English vowel is pronounced in three ways:

1. like a long sound;
2. like a short sound;
3. as a neutral vowel (schwa).

In the English alphabet, there are 5 vowels, but sometimes y becomes a vowel and is pronounced like i, and w replaces u, for example, in the digraph ow.

Rules for reading vowels

Short vowels, which are characterized by a "short" sound, appear when there is one vowel in a word, either at the beginning of a word or between two consonants. For example, if, elk, hop, fan. A typical short vowel pattern is consonant+vowel+consonant (CHS).

Words are taught as families that represent groups of words with a common pattern, such as in the pattern "-ag" - bag, wag, tag or "-at" - cat, bat, hat.

Sound	Letter	Examples
[æ]	a	rag, sag, ram, jam, gap, sap mat
[ɛ]	e	hen, pen, wet, bet, let
[ɪ]	i	pig, wig, dig, pin, win, tin, tin, bit
[ɒ]	o	hop, pop, top, hot, pot, lot
[ʌ]	u	bug, lug, tug, hut, but, cut

Features of reading vowels:

Sound	Writing	Examples
A	ai, ay, a+consonant+e	name, mail, gray, ace
E	e, ee, ea, y, ie ,ei, i+consonant+e	he, deep, beast, dandy, thief, receive, elite
I	i, i+gn, igh, y, i+ld, i+nd	mine, sign, high, sky, wild, kind
O	o+consonant +e, oa, ow, o+ll, ld	tone, road, note, know, roll, bold
U	ew, ue, u+consonant+e	few, due, tune

The vowel sound in unstressed syllables is expressed by the abbreviated neutral sound ("schwa"), the phonemic symbol /ə/, especially if syllabic consonants are not used.

For instance:

• a in about, around, approve, above [ə bʌv];
• e in accident, mother, taken, camera ;
• i c, family, lentil, officer pencil ;
• o in memory, common, freedom, purpose, London;
• u in supply, industry, suggest, difficult, succeed, minimum ;
• and even y in sibyl;
• schwa appears in function words: to, from, are.

Features of vowel sounds in English

Vowels are divided into monophthongs, diphthongs or triphthongs. A monophthong is when there is one vowel in a syllable, a diphthong is when there are two vowels in a syllable.

Let's take a closer look:

1. Monophthongs are pure and stable vowels., whose acoustic characteristics (timbre) do not change during the time they are pronounced.
2. A diphthong is a sound formed by the combination of two adjacent vowels in the same syllable. Technically, the tongue (or other parts of the speech apparatus) moves when a vowel is pronounced - the first position is stronger than the second. In the transcription of a diphthong, the first character is the starting point of the body of the language, the second character is the direction of movement. For example, you should know that in /aj/ the body of the tongue is in the lower center position represented by /a/ and immediately starts moving up and forward to the position for /i/.
3. Diphthongs are often formed when separate vowels work together in rapid conversation.. Usually (in the speaker's speech) the body of the tongue does not have time to get to the position /i/. Therefore, the diphthong often ends closer to /ɪ/ or even to /e/. In the diphthong /aw/, the body of the tongue moves from the lower center position /a/, then moves up and back to the position /u/. Although single diphthongs are also distinguished, which are heard as separate vowel sounds (phonemes).
4. English also has triphthongs.(combinations of three adjacent vowels), including three sound types, for example, fire /fʌɪə/, flower /flaʊər/. But in any case, all diphthongs and triphthongs are formed from monophthongs.

Table of pronunciation of simple English vowels

All vowels are formed from only 12 monophthongs. Every word in English, regardless of spelling, is pronounced using some combination of these sounds.

The table shows examples of simple English vowels with Russian pronunciation:

[ɪ]	pit, kiss, busy	pete, kitty, beezy
[e]	egg, let, red	eg, years, red
[æ]	apple, travel, mad	apple, travel, mead
[ɒ]	not, rock, copy	music, rock, copy
[ʌ]	cup, son, money	cap, san, mani
[ʊ]	look, foot, could	bow, foot, cool
[ə]	away, away	hey, hey
	be, meet, read	bi:, mi:t, ri:d
[ɑ:]	arm, car, father	a:m, ka:, fa:dze
[ɔ:]	door, saw, pause	to:, from:, to: from
[ɜ:]	turn, girl, learn	cho:n, gyo:l, le:n
	blue, food, too	blu:, foo:d, tu:

Diphthong pronunciation table

	day, pain, rein	dei, pein, rein
	cow, know	kou, know
	wise, island	visa, island
	now, trout	naw, trout
[ɔɪ]	noise, coins	noiz, coin
[ɪə]	near, hear	nee, hie
[ɛə]	where, air	uh uh uh
[ʊə]	pure, tourist	p (b) yue, tu e rist

Learn the transcription of English words

Consider some features of English transcription:

There are a large number of videos online on the Internet to listen to the pronunciation of sounds, and you can also practice using exercises.

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 ways of connecting individual letters differ and what pronunciation features will arise in this case. Therefore, it is required to consider the main letter combinations in the English language and give a special classification of such a phenomenon in order to understand the entire algorithm of actions a little easier.

Basic principles of combinations of English letters

The norms of the English language allow the combination of letters of the alphabet in such a way that new variants of sounds are subsequently formed. It must be remembered that sometimes such combinations are pronounced differently than they seem at first glance, and the phonetics of both letters used in one combination or another may be lost.

Ways of letter combinations in English allow the formation of new sounds by combining two consonants, two vowels, and also combined option from vowels and consonants. In this case, a certain combination can also be formed by combining three letters; they are called triphthongs and differ from diphthongs in that they consist of exactly three, and not two elements. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the basic rules of reading English letter combinations, and you can start with the options vowels + vowels.

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:

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 are read in English only in accordance with the indicated reading rules. Their sound conveys only vowel sounds, however, it is important not to confuse the options for connecting letters, otherwise there is a risk of incorrect spelling of words and structures.

Letter combinations consonants + consonants

The way one or another combination of consonant letters is read must be remembered very well, since there are significantly more such types of combinations than with vowels. The following are the most common ways English consonants are pronounced in combination with each other:

ch - [k] [ʃ]– chair, character, machine;
ck-[k]– stock, shock;
tch- consonant with the sound ch is the combination tch - – match, catch; for the sound h in English, two variants of consonant combinations are characteristic;
bt at the end of a word [t]– doubt, debt;
gh- after combinations ou, au [f], [–]- cough, slight;
dg-– hedgehog, edge;
th- interdental sound th is read in two ways. V service units speech and between vowels, the sound th 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 sh sound 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 pronunciations and sound special depending on the position in the word. The rule of reading all the combinations described above 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 variant is also quite common. Here are some of the ways:

er- in unstressed position [ə] – worker, looker;
or- in an unstressed position [ə] - doctor, traitor;
an- before consonants – swan, plant;
al – [ɔ:] – chalk, talk. Another reading option is - half, calf;
wa-- was, water;
wor-– word, work;
war-– war, war;
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 way. Here's what it might look like:

All these ways 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 remembered gradually, but it is necessary to know them, since, judging by the examples, some of them can be read differently. Being guided in all ways of reading, it will be possible 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 avoid liberties in pronunciation.

Having studied the Russian alphabet, we can easily read any texts. But for correct reading in English, you will have to make more efforts, 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 is exactly what you need. Today we will analyze the nuances of the pronunciation of English letters and letter combinations, and find out how easy it is to learn to read English from scratch. And it will help to learn the rules of reading English for beginners with a table that shows all the letters and their sound.

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 Russian, so let's analyze in detail what it is. Pay attention to transcription.

An open syllable is a syllable that ends in a vowel. 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 a vowel again: ed uca tion [education].
• Two vowels side by side in a word: cr ue l [cruel].

*Ultimate e in most cases it is considered "dumb", that is, it is not pronounced, but appears at the base of the word precisely for the formation of an open syllable.

In open syllables, the vowel is always pronounced smoothly and extended. 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 is closed by the letter r. The fact is that in the British version of the pronunciation of such syllables, the letter r is often completely skipped, i.e. not pronounced. Therefore, there are two options for reading such letter combinations:

1. In an open syllable, when r is surrounded by vowels, only both vowels are read: c are[keea]. In such cases, the last e won't be dumb.
2. In a closed syllable ( voice + r + acc.), r is also not readable, but affects the sound of the vowel sound, making it more drawn out: 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 is too early to learn exceptions without knowing the main rules. Therefore, now we will consider the sound options for all letters and letter combinations.

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

Even if you started learning English and reading it from scratch, you probably already know the spelling and sound of all the letters of the English alphabet. But, as we 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 variants of the sound of the same letter at once. But do not be alarmed, for each case an accessible explanation will be given. So, let's continue to learn English for beginners and learn the rules of reading in English.

Consonants

Let's start with the easiest: 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
	[z]	h (only in special positions: after voiced consonants, between two vowels and in the -ism suffix.)
T	[t]	T*
V	[v]	v
W	[w]	v**
Z	[z]	h

*English d and t are more aspirated than their Russian counterparts.

**w is pronounced with lips extended into a tube, resulting in something between the Russian sounds в and у.

Now let's deal with more complex letters.

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

And also we will study the letter combinations of consonants in English.

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

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

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 figure it out. We take them into service and learn how 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
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
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
O	[ɔː]	oo	more
U		yue	cure

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

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

Now we know how to read vowels in English words. But for perfect reading in English, one more point needs to be studied.

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 translated into a secondary sound. Diphthongs are a kind of exception and do not obey the 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, ai, ei, ei		Hey
ere, eer, ier, ear	[ɪə]	ie
oy, oi	[ɔɪ]	Oh
ou, ow		aow
ou, ow, oa, ol	[əu]	ooh
ure, ue, our, oor		uue
English triphthongs
ower, our		aue
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 considered the main nuances of reading in English. Take these rules responsibly: conduct reading lessons more often and be sure to learn to distinguish between types of syllables in English. Otherwise, you will make gross mistakes in pronunciation, which will lead to a complete misunderstanding by the interlocutor of your words. Good luck in learning English and see you soon!