How to say J
The letter J is pronounced as a soft g or “dzh”, regardless of the following letter.
jar, jelly, join, jug
English words do not end in the letter J. Words ending in a “dzh” sound are spelled with a g followed by an e to make a soft g or j sound.
edge, forge, fudge, sludge
Exceptions:
hadj [Arabic], raj [Hindi]
In some words and names of foreign derivation, a j is pronounced as a y.
hallelujah [Latin] (var. of allelulia [Greek])
Jung [name of Swiss or German derivation]
Juan [name of Spanish derivation]
Marja-Liisa [name of Finnish derivation]
fjord [Norwegian] (var. of fiord)
Silent Js
There are no silent Js in English, except where foreign words have been adopted.
marijuana [Mexican Spanish]
rijsttafel [Dutch]
Exercises
- Create a sentence with as many J-words as possible.
Special reading assignments
Two kinds of Joe Pye Weed are common in our area: spotted and sweet. The spotted variety has purple spots on the stems; the sweet smells of vanilla if you crush it.
