Better English: The Magic E
We’re continuing our Better English blog with the Magic E. Also known as a silent E. This important and popular vowel can change the sound of other vowels, thus lengthening the sound of a word.
Rule of Thumb
If a word ends with a vowel and then a consonant, adding the letter E at then end can change the sound of the previous vowel. The Magic E changes the sound and meaning of a word, yet remains silent. For instance: by changing the sound from short: tap, to a long vowel sound: tape.
We’ve got some examples of words ending with E.
| WORD | ENDING WITH E |
|---|---|
| On | One |
| Hat | Hate |
| Bit | Bite |
| Cub | Cube |
| Breath | Breathe |
| Tap | Tape |
| Cod | Code |
| Slim | Slime |
| Win | Wine |
| Sit | Site |
| Quit | Quite |
Academics refer to the silent E as a marker, which means it doesn’t represent a sound but tells us the sounds of the other letters in the word. A marker makes the nearest vowel to it say its name — its alphabet name — A E I O U.
But there are always exceptions to every rule, especially in the English language.
More examples
- love
- glove
- above
- have
- come
- some
- none
- oven
- cover
- to live
It would seems like the academics who added the Magic E to lengthen the sound forgot about the old words above.
