Pronunciation and Spelling in English

It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what the words in A and B mean; you can always check them in a dictionary afterwards. Don’t look in a dictionary for the nonsense words in C.  

Ex. 3.5 Find and practice reading vowels in their short meanings:

Letter” A”

a) Read as quickly as possible:

A cat, a black cat, a black cat sat, a black cat sat on a mat, a black cat sat on a mat and ate. A black cat sat on a mat and ate a fat rat. 

b) Read the sentence:

There was a red van traveling West, and several cars and vans behind it. The van driver suddenly turned and crashed into the taxi. The taxi driver wasn’t badly hurt, but he was very angry.

Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager, imagining an imagery menagerie.

c) Proverbs and idioms:

Flat as a pancake.

A hungry man is an angry man. 

d) Rhymes and tongue-twisters:

Pat’s black cat is in Pat’s black hat.

Pussy-cat, pussy-cat

Can you catch that bad fat rat?

If you catch that bad fat rat,

You will have some milk for that.  

Letter “E”

a) Hens, red hens, best red hens, ten best red hens, Ted sells ten best red hens. Every day Ted sells ten best red hens.

b) Only ten per cent of Kensington Express readers take regular exercise. Ten per cent felt that they were healthy or very healthy.

c) All’s well that ends well.

d) Better late than never.

e) Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.

f) Fred fed Ted bread and Ted led Fred bread.

g) Can you retell ten texts in twelve seconds? 

Letters “I, Y”

a) As fit as a fiddle.

b)Which witch wished which wicked wish?

c) Needles and pins, needles and pins,

When a man marries, his trouble begins.

d) I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit. 

Letter “O”

a) Bob’s dog got a hot pot of porridge and some chops.

b) I’ve got a job in a sports shop at the moment.

c) Honesty is the best policy.

d) A proper cup of coffee from a proper copper coffee pot. 

Letter “U”

a) A duck, an ugly duck, an ugly duck was in a cup, an ugly duck was in a funny cup, an ugly duck was in a funny cup on Sunday. An ugly duck was in a funny cup on a sunny Sunday.

b) Lucky in cards unlucky in love.

c) Mummies munch much mush.

d) Double bubble gum bubbles double bubbles. 

Ex. 3.6 Practice reading vowels in their long meanings:

Letter “A”a)  This amazing lake in Wales is a famous place for great races.

b) I can explain. The Daily Mail came late.

c) Make hay while the sun shines.

A stitch in time saves nine.

d) Rain, rain, go away,

Come again another day.

e) Billy, Billy, come and play

While the sun shines bright today. 

Letter “E”

a) A man of words and not of deeds

    Is like a garden full of weeds.

b) He speaks Chinese and Japanese with equal ease.

c) Easy come easy go. 

Letters “I, Y”

a) Mike likes spicy pies with fried pike.

b) Hi, Mike! I’m busy typing. I have ninety-nine pages to type by Friday.

c) Out of sight out of mind.

    Variety is a spice of life.

d) Why do you cry, Willy?

     Why do you cry?

     Why, Willy, why, Willy?

     Why, Willy, why? 

Letter “O”

a) The road below goes from Rome to the south coast. We are very close to our home.

b) Chip-chop, chip-chop,

     Chipper-chopper Joe,

     One big blow.

     Oh! My toe! 

Ex. 3.7 Put the words given below into a suitable column according to the rules of reading of stressed vowels: 

Twilight, crying, Friday, magic, transport, limit, fiddle, panic, student, trying, bypass, never, uncle, letter, river, alphabet, timid, numeral, being, stupid, apricot, atomic, cinema, majority, better, hunting, visit, novel, palace, luggage, sentence, alcoholic, beginner, British, cucumber, famine, forever, Labrador, laser, microphone, noble, novel, poet, printer, puritan, puzzle, regular, Roman, secret, stupidity, syllabic, typical. 

 
 

Ex. 3.8 Read the following words and see how –e changes the pronunciation 

 
 

Ex. 3.9 Place the following words in the grids according to their vowel sound: 

Rich, curl, month, cart, suit, breath, flashed, loom, herd, still, hemmed, torn, scene, cruise, floor, dock, just, don, sword, hoop, banned, rang, bin, love, hat, bird, stabbed, hood, farm, ought, ridge, ton, cloth, chalk, hoot, son, link, next, calm, germ, hymn, cab, wood, breath, creep, itch, blood, cough, should, could, black, said, foot, monk, dog, stood, piece, arch, move, purr, feast, palm, pearl, edge, shopped, eve, barred, soup, leaf, bard, begged. 

Short vowel sounds

 

Long vowel sounds:

 

TEST  I 

1. Divide into groups and transcribe these words:

Worry, student, apricot, oppose, novel, after, magic, limit, visit, excuse, sentence, bypass, money. 

 

2.   Find the odd word:

1. little, silly, fiddle, middle, quite

2. tragic, pathetic, paste, falls
3. ruling, tulip, truthful, trustee, numeral

 

3. Transcribe these words:

      Archery, point, cricket, victory, golf, runner-up, water polo, racket, rugby, swimming, championship, spectator. 
 

TEST II 

1. Divide into groups and transcribe these words:

Cinema, never, crying, stupid, numeral, uncle, Monday, figure-skating, war, river, panic, staff, hunting, transport. 

 

2. Find the odd word:

a)    doing, hunting, uncle, cinema, magic

b)  stupid, trying, Friday, April, silly

c)    student, numeral, never, crying, being 

3. Transcribe the words:

Fibre, April, going, render, family, avid, cavity, facet, lady, fever, over, funeral, fencing.

 

4. Reading of Stressed Vowels in Combination with the Letter ”r”

 

VOWEL LETTERS + “R”

 

Ex. 4.1

a) Name the stressed sound of every line:

1. share, rare, care, compare, prepare, hare.
2. here, mere, sphere, material, serial, period.
3. fire, lyre, hire, tired, wire, satire.
4. pure, cure, lure, curious, during, secure.
5. more, shore, explore, before, store.

 

b) Read these words according to the rules:

Letter “A” (primary short and long meanings):