Magic E

5 years ago

Did you know that the "e" at the end of a word has a purpose? Have a look at the following examples:

Sam - Same, Cap - Cape
Pet - Pete, Them - Theme
Tim - Time, Bit - Bite
Hop - Hope, Rob - Robe
Us - Use, Cub - Cube

Note that each word has a vowel (AEIOU), a consonant (non vowel), and then the magic "e" on the end. Also, each word consists of only one syllable, which is why words like "promise" and "determine" leave the "e" silent. Of course, as with many grammar rules, there are a great number of other exceptions as well that you may already know, but not know that you know!

Make c and g soft ("choice" and "charge")
Keep u and v from being the last letter in a word ("above" and "blue")
Keep a syllable from having no vowels ("article" = ar/ti/cle and "available" = a/vail/a/ble)
Keep a singular word from ending in single s ("house" and "cheese"

And, just so you know, there are exceptions to the exceptions. But, fear not, these things become automatic with exposure to the language. As I hinted at above, a lot of learning takes place subconsciously. Our brains are just cool like that!