E is for Elephant

This African elephant is about to retire from the Toronto Zoo to a sunny place in California.

Silent Es

Truly silent Es do not affect the pronunciation of the word.

are, come, done, ore

English words don’t end in the letter u or v.

blue, cheque, give, have, love

A silent E may serve to create a syllable.

handle, minute (time), pickle, people

A silent letter E affects the vowel that comes before it, making it sound like its name (a hard or long vowel).

Silent E following an A.

bad, bade; cap, cape; fat, fate; late; rat, rate

Silent E following an E.

pet, Pete

Silent E following an I.

line; rip, ripe; spit, spite

Silent E following an O.

hop, hope; not, note; rose

Silent E following a U.

cut, cute; minute (tiny)

Sometimes, the silent E affects the pronunciation of the consonant that comes before it.

Silent E following a C makes an S sound.

lance; place

Silent E following a G makes a J sound.

badge; charge; luggage

Disappearing silent Es

A silent E is sounded once the following suffixes are added to the word:

—ed    note, noted; rate, rated

—er     cute, cuter; ripe, riper

—est    cute, cutest; ripe, ripest

The silent E is also sounded with the following suffix:

—age  line, lineage

The silent E disappears with the following suffixes:

—able compare, comparable; measure, measurable; value, valuable

—age  dose, dosage; pasture, pasturage; store, storage; use, usage

—ing   charge, charging; hope, hoping; rate, rating; store, storing

—ment abridge, abridgment; argue, argument; judge, judgment (or “judgement”)

The silent E stays put with the following suffixes:

—able manage, manageable

—age  acre, acreage; mile, mileage

—ly     come, comely; late, lately; love, lovely

—ment achieve, achievement; move, movement; place, placement