silent e
Invisible pronunciation marker
A silent e is the letter e at the end of a word that isn't pronounced but affects how the word sounds or is understood.
Most often it signals that the preceding vowel is long: *hat* becomes *hate*, *bit* becomes *bite*, *hop* becomes *hope*.
Silent e can also soften a preceding c or g (*dance*, *cage*) or simply reflect historical spelling that no longer matches pronunciation (*have*, *give*).
- magic eSpelling rule letter
- phonicsSound-based reading instruction
- cakeFrosted baked dessert
- makeTo bring into being
- timeMeasured passage of moments
split digraph · hope · rule · spelling · vowel · consonant · reading · decode · pronunciation · bake · bike · cute · note · mute · hide · shine · glide · smile
- spellingspelling, spelling rules, spelling patterns, spelling errors, spelling conventions
- silent lettersknife, knock, know, knee, knot
- phonicsalphabet, decoding, digraphs, blends, phonics
- word featuresprefixes, suffixes, root words, syllable count, spelling patterns
- spelling reformspelling reform, spelling rules, phonetic spelling, respelling, Noah Webster
- vowel soundslong a, long e, long i, long o, long u
phonetic realization
silent ephoneme
Minimal distinctive sound unit
phonetic spelling · short vowel · long vowel · plosive · fricative
- silent treatmentRefusing to speak
- fall silentStop producing sound
- silent as the tombCompletely without sound
- silent movieDialogue-free film
- be silentRefrain from speaking
- silent filmSoundless motion picture