H in English pronunciation. English transcription: pronunciation of letters and sounds in English. Pronunciation of English sounds

Starting to study in English, the first thing you encounter is the English alphabet (english alphabet [ˈalfəbɛt ]). Writing English letters is not something completely new, even in the most initial stage training, because anyone modern man encounters English letters on computer and telephone keyboards every day. Yes, and English words are found at every step: in advertising, on the labels of various products, in store windows.

Article navigation

But even though the letters seem familiar, their correct pronunciation in English is sometimes difficult even for those who speak English quite well. Everyone is familiar with the situation when you need to spell an English word - for example, dictate an email address or the name of a website. This is where the wonderful names begin: i - “like a stick with a dot”, s - “like a dollar”, q - “where is the Russian th”.

English alphabet with pronunciation in Russian, transcription and voice acting

The English alphabet with Russian pronunciation is intended only for beginners. In the future, when you become familiar with the rules of reading English and learn new words, you will need to study transcription. It is used in all dictionaries, and if you know it, it will once and for all remove the problem of correct pronunciation of new words for you. We advise you to compare the transcription icons in square brackets with the Russian equivalent at this stage. Perhaps, from these short examples, you will remember some of the relationships between English and Russian sounds.

Below is a table showing the English alphabet with transcription and Russian pronunciation. Notice how the uppercase and lowercase letters look.

← Move the table to the left to view in full

Letter

Listen

Transcription

Russian pronunciation

Below you can listen to all the letters English alphabet straightaway:

Alphabet trainer

Choose the letter that matches its pronunciation.

English alphabet cards

Cards of the English alphabet are very effective in learning it. Bright and large letters will be easier to remember. See for yourself:

You can make such cards yourself, for example, according to the sample above. Next, print, cut out the letters and arrange them in the correct sequence.

For children, on the English alphabet cards you can depict animals in addition to the letters so that they can immediately memorize new words and the learning process is not boring.

Features of some letters of the English alphabet.

In the English alphabet 26 letters: 20 consonants and 6 vowels.

The vowels are A, E, I, O, U, Y.

There are a few letters in the English language that we want to pay special attention to because they have certain features that need to be taken into account when learning the alphabet.

• The letter Y in English can be read as a vowel or as a consonant. For example, in the word “yes” it is a consonant sound [j], and in the word “many” it is a vowel sound [i] (and).
• Consonant letters in words, as a rule, convey only one sound. The letter X is an exception. It is transmitted by two sounds at once - [ks] (ks).
• The letter Z in the alphabet is read differently in the British and American versions (as you probably already noticed in the table). The British version is (zed), the American version is (zi).
• The pronunciation of the letter R is also different. The British version is (a), the American version is (ar).

To make sure that you pronounce English letters correctly, we recommend not only looking at them and reading them (using transcription or the Russian version), but also listening. To do this, we advise you to find and listen to ABC-song. This song is usually used when teaching children the alphabet, but it can also be useful for adults. ABC-song is very popular in teaching, it exists in various variations. If you sing it with the announcer several times, you can not only check the correct pronunciation of the letters, but also easily remember the alphabet along with the melody.

Listen to a song about the English alphabet:

A few words about spelling

So, we have learned the English alphabet. We know how English letters are pronounced individually. But moving on to the reading rules, you will immediately see that many letters in different combinations are read completely differently. A reasonable question arises - as the cat Matroskin would say - what is the benefit of memorizing the alphabet? In fact, there are practical benefits.

The point here is not the ability to recite the alphabet from beginning to end, but the ability to easily spell any English word. This skill is necessary when you need to write down English names under dictation. If you need English for work, this skill can be very useful, because english names, even ones that sound the same, can be written in several ways. For example, Ashley or Ashlee, Mila and Milla, not to mention last names. Therefore, for the British and Americans themselves, it is considered absolutely natural to ask to spell a name if you need to write it down (spell it) - hence the word spelling (spelling), which you can see in various tutorials.

Online exercises to reinforce the alphabet

Choose the letter that goes

Complete the letter with which the word begins.

Complete the letter that ends the word.

Decipher the code and write down the secret message in letters. The number corresponds to the order of the letters in the alphabet.

You can apply the acquired knowledge in practice with the help. With the help of unique exercises, even at the most basic level, you can master not only reading, but also writing English words, as well as learn basic grammar rules and continue learning further.

Transcription is a recording of the sound of a letter or word in the form of a sequence of special phonetic symbols.

Transcription may not be of interest to everyone, but it is, without a doubt, useful. Knowing the transcription, you will correctly read an unfamiliar word without outside help. During classes, you can read the transcription of a word yourself (for example, from the blackboard) without asking others, thereby making it easier for yourself to assimilate lexical material, etc.

At first there will be errors in correct reading, because... There are always some subtleties in pronunciation. But this is just a matter of practice. A little later, if necessary, you will be able to transcribe the words yourself.

Transcription is directly related to reading rules. In English, not everything that is seen (letter combinations) is read (as in Russian and Spanish, for example).

When textbooks (mostly domestic ones) talk about reading rules, much attention is paid to the type of syllable. About five such types are usually described. But such a detailed theoretical presentation of the rules of reading does not greatly ease the fate of a beginner, and can even mislead him. It must be remembered that a good knowledge of the rules of reading is a great merit of practice, not theory.

Your attention will be presented to the basic rules for reading individual letters and letter combinations. “Behind the scenes” there will be some phonetic aspects that are difficult to convey in writing.

A little patience! Both transcription and reading rules are easily learned in a short time. Then you will be surprised: “How easy it has become to read and write!”

However, do not forget that, despite its wide distribution, the English language does not cease to be a LANGUAGE, full of exceptions, stylistic and other delights. And at any stage of language learning, and especially at the beginning, look into the dictionary more often.

You can download the tables. They are listed below on the page. We use it and remember it.

Table 1 - Letters, sounds, names and pronunciations of letters.

Letter	Sounds (for vowels: 1) open 2) closed)	(Approximate) Name letters	(Approximate) pronunciation sounds	Example words
A a	, [æ]	"Hey"	"hey", "uh" open	n a me, m a n [æ]
Bb	[b]	"bi:"	"b"
C c	[k], [s] before i, e, y	"si:"	"k", "s"	c at [k], ni c e[s]
D d	[d]	"di:"	"d"
E e	,[e]	"And:"	"and:", "e"	h e , p e n[e]
F f	[f]	"eff"	"f"
G g	[g], [ʤ] before i, e, y (excl. give)	"ji:"	"g", "j"	g ame [g], g ym[ʤ]
H h	[h]	"H"	"X"
I i	, [ɪ]	"ouch"	"ay", "and"	l i ke, b i g[ɪ]
Jj	[ʤ]	"jay"	"j"
K k	[k]	"kay"	"To"
Ll	[l]	"el"	"l"
Mm	[m]	"Em"	"m"
Nn	[n]	"en"	"n"
O o	[әu], [ɒ(ɔ)]	"OU"	"oh", "oh"	g o [әu], d o g[ɒ]
P p	[p]	"pi:"	"P"
Q q		"Q"	"kv"
R r	[r]	"A"	"R"
Ss	[s], [z]	"es"	"s", "z"
T t	[t]	"ty:"	"T"
U u	, [u], [ʌ]	"Yu"	"yu", "u", "a"	p u pil, p u t[u], c u p[ʌ]
Vv	[v]	"in and:"	"V"
W w	[w]	"double u"	[w] sound between “u” and “v”»
X x	,	"the ex"	"ks", "gz"	fox, exam
Y y	, [ɪ] - at the end of a word [j] - at the beginning of a word	"wy"	"ay", "i", "th"	m y ,bab y [ɪ], y es[j]
Z z	[z]	"zed"	"z"

Letter combination	Sounds	(Approximate) pronunciation sounds	Example words
ar/al		"a:"	car, park, calm
all	[ↄ:]	"O:"	tall, ball
ee/ea		"And:"	see, tea
er / or (at the end of a word)	[ә]	"e" is weak	doctor, better
oo	[u],	"y", "y:"	book, school
oy / oi	[ↄɪ]	"Ouch"	boy, boil
ow/ou		"ay"	how, mouse
or /our /oar /oor	[ↄ:]	"O:"	horse, four, board, door
ir/ur/er	[ɜ:] (ә:)	"e"	bird, turn, berth
ere/ear	[ɪә]	"ee"	here, hear
air/ear/ere	(ɛә)	"ea"	hair, wear, where
sh	[ʃ]	"sh"	ship, shop
tion / cion / sion (at the end of a word)	[ʃn]	"shn"	situation, suspicion, admission
ch	[ ʧ]	"h"	cheese, cheap
ph	[f]	"f"	phone, physics
th	[ð], [Ѳ]		this, thanks
dg	[ʤ]	"j"	judge
zh	[ʒ]	"and"	Voronezh
sure (at the end of a word)	[ʒ]	"and"	treasure, measure
ng	[ŋ]	"n" nasal	sing, song

So, here we are at the last sixth vowel of the English alphabet letter Uu. If you have studied reading rules inEnglish language According to our recommendations, you already have sufficient theoretical knowledge. However, practice is most likely not enough. However, our course in reading does not end there. Practice awaits you ahead. More on this a little later.

In Lesson #25 you will learn:

• how to read a letter Uu in English;
• repeat the pronunciation of sounds , [ʌ], [ə:], .

Rules for reading the English letter U

Here are phrases to help you remember reading the letter U in each syllable type. A dictionary is connected to the site and, if in doubt, click on a word and listen to how it is pronounced.

Reading the English letter U in 4 syllable types. Tongue Twisters

1. : I don’t like u sual t u nes in m u sic. — I don’t like ordinary melodies.

2. [ʌ]: Have l u nch with u s. - Have lunch with us.

3. [ə:]: I have a p ur ple p ur se. — I have a purple wallet.

4. : I am s ure. - I'm sure.

Phonetic exercises for reading the letter U in open and closed syllables

U (I, II):

fun, music, plum, cube, pumpkin, rubber, super, drum, student, stupid, hunting, hungry, tune, tunic, luck, supper, super, to return, curl, sunny, pupil, blue, uniform, summer, suck , unit, due, ugly, mutton, butter, struggle, to construct, to consult, cluster, dub, drunk, true, tulip, use, upland, under, computer, cucumber, buck, must, to amuse, mummy, truth, gum, bubble, much, huge

to– sign of a verb. Most verbs have stress on the second syllable

Exceptions:

1. after letters l, r, j vowel U often read as: blue, true, truth, June, July,

2. after letters b, p, f vowel in a closed syllable U often read as [u]: full, bush, put, pull, etc.

Words to remember:

1. busy [‘bizi] - busy
2. study [‘stʌdɪ] - to study
3. sugar [‘∫ugə] - sugar

Your browser does not support the audio tag!

Phonetic exercises for reading the letter U in the third and fourth type of syllable

U (III, IV):

church, turn, burn, to return, pure, curl, curb, fur, hurt, sure, nurse, curse, curt, burning, turning, turkey, lure

In an unstressed syllable U is read as [ə]:

to s u ppose ,`fig u re [‘fɪgə], `maxim u m [‘mæksɪməm]

Phonetic exercises for practicing reading the letter U with audio recording and answers (closed content)

Paid content is hidden. Registered users who have paid for access have the right to view paid content.

Title: Phonetic exercises with audio recording

Description: Access to restricted content *Repeat the rules for reading in English*

Reading the letter combination UI:

3. UI read – in a closed syllable after n, s: suit - suit, nuisance [‘nju:səns] - annoyance. Exception: suite - hotel room
Your browser does not support the audio tag!

Reading the letter combination QU

1. qu read almost always: qu ick qu ickly qu iet, qu ietly, qu estion, qu iz, qu it, qu ite, s qu irrel, qu ail, qu ill, qu ilt, qu arter
Your browser does not support the audio tag!

Don't be confused: qu ite — quite And qu iet - quiet

This was the last lesson of the course "Teaching English reading and pronunciation at the same time." In conclusion, I would like to once again draw your attention to the fact that in the first 20 lessons I relied on reading teaching method "from sound to letter" and in the last 5 lessons on reading teaching method "from letter to sound" and finally the circle is closed. There is such a thing English expression"to round up". I hope that you now have sufficient theoretical knowledge to, as a reinforcement, study on your own a few more articles, namely:

Greetings, my dear readers.

Today we continue to talk about how to learn to read correctly, so the topic of today's article is transcription of English letters.

We have already introduced you to the concept and dealt with the pronunciation of sounds in English. Today we will figure out exactly how they are pronounced in various combinations.

I have a clear table for you. It contains letters of the English alphabet with transcription, Russian analogue letters and my notes, so that you can immediately put correct pronunciation. I also added examples of words with the sounds being studied and their translation.

What else can you find on the blog:

1. with letters and transcription (you can study them online, download, print and work with them);
2. for children I have a full .

Let `s start?

Features of English transcription:

• it is always formatted with square brackets. I can’t say exactly where it came from, but I think it’s just worth taking it for granted;
• to understand where the stress is, the transcription uses the sign [‘] before the stressed syllable;
• It is important to remember that transcription is about the sound, not the spelling of words. Sometimes the spelling can be 90% different from what we pronounce;
• to show that a sound is long we use a colon.

In general, I wrote about English transcription - please!

Letters of the English alphabet and their transcription in Russian and English:

English letter	Transcription	Russian equivalent
Aa		Hey
Bb		Bi
Cc		Si
Dd		Di
Ee		AND
Ff	[ɛf]	Eph
Gg		Gee
Hh		H.
II		Ay
Jj		Jay
Kk		Kay
Ll	[ɛl]	Al
mm	[ɛm]	Em
Nn	[ɛn]	En
Oo	[əʊ]	OU
Pp		Pi
Qq		Q
Rr	[ɑː] or [ɑɹ]	A or Ar
Ss	[ɛs]	Es
Tt		Tee
Uu		YU
Vv		In and
Ww	[ˈdʌb(ə)l juː]	Double
Xx	[ɛks]	The ex
Yy		Wye
Zz	,	Zed, zee

But do you know what is the most interesting thing about English?

If different letters are combined, they are pronounced differently!

That's why I prepared for you

Examples of English letter combinations in Russian and English:

Combination	Transcription	How to pronounce	Example
ee	/i:/	AND	bee - bee
ea	/ ı:/	AND	tea - tea
oo	/u/	U	cook - to cook
th	/ ð / / Ѳ /	Z, S (interdental)	thumb - finger
sh	/ ʃ /	Sh	shout - shout
ch	/tʃ/	H	chair - chair
ph	/f/	F	phone - phone
ck	/k/	TO	snack - snack
ng	/ Ƞ /	Ng	song - song
wh	/w/	Ua	why - why
wr	/r/	R	write - write
qu	/kw/	Kua	queen - queen
igh	/aı/	Ay	high - high
all	/Ɔ:l/	Ol	tall - tall
ai	/eı/	Hey	Spain - Spain
ay	/eı/	Hey	May - May
oi	/oı/	Oh	point - point
oh	/oı/	Oh	toy - toy
ow	/oƱ/	OU	grow - grow
ou	/aƱ/	Ay	out - outside
ew	/ju:/	YU	knew - knew
aw	/ Ɔ: /	Ooo	draw - draw
ee+r	/ ıə /	Eeyore	engineer - engineer
ou+r	/aƱə/	Aue	our - ours
oo+r	/ Ɔ: /	Ooo	door - door
wo+r	/ ɜ: /	Y/O	work - work
ai+r	/eə/	Ea	chair - chair
oa+r	/ Ɔ: /	Ooh	roar - scream
might	/Ʊd/	Oud	could - could
ound	/aƱnd/	Aund	round - round
eigh	/eı/	Hey	eight - eight
-y	/ ı /	AND	tiny - tiny
au	/ Ɔ: /	Oo	Paul - Paul
gh	/f/	F	laugh - laugh
aught	/Ɔ:t/	From	taught - taught

I know this table seems huge right now. Surely you think that remembering all this is unrealistic. I'll tell you this: at a certain point, when you have enough, you won't even pay attention to these combinations. Your brain will learn to quickly remember how exactly these letters sound. Moreover, even when you come across a word that is completely unfamiliar to you, you will be able to read it correctly. The only question is the amount of practice on your part.

How to remember combinations of letters?

1. Use cards. Visual perception is better developed in most people.
2. Read. Pay attention to combinations of letters when or just texts.
3. Don't get hung up. It is not necessary to immediately memorize these combinations and only then move directly to English. Learn as you go!
4. Buy paper or download a good e-book in order to quickly learn to recognize combinations and pronounce them correctly. Even if you, an adult, need it, don’t hesitate to take books for children - everything there is explained in detail and is not without interest.

That's all, my dears. I hope you found it useful and understandable. I provide even more similar materials in the blog newsletter - subscribe and receive a dose of useful information regularly.

Transcription and reading rules in English - two closely related concepts. Reading rules explain how letters and letter combinations are pronounced in different cases, and with the help of transcription we record and read speech sounds.

Reading rules can confuse a beginner. There are many of them, they are confusing, and there are more exceptions than the rules themselves. In fact, these rules are only so scary if you understand them deeply and try to learn them by heart, along with the exceptions. In reality, everything is much simpler: reading rules do not need to be remembered by heart.

While studying English, you will constantly be doing something, and soon you will learn to correlate letters and sounds without thinking, automatically. There is no need to worry about exceptions either. Usually the pronunciation, spelling and meaning of a word are remembered as one whole - you just know that such and such a word is pronounced such and such.

Feature of English phonetics: we write “Manchester” - we read “Liverpool”

The phonetics of the English language has a noticeable feature: words are often read differently from how they are written, that is, from the spelling of a word it is not always possible to guess how it is pronounced. As linguists joke: “We write “Manchester”, but read “Liverpool.”

In the history of many languages, the following pattern can be traced: the phonetic structure becomes more complex, but the letters and spelling remain the same or change with great delay. English is no exception. At the dawn of its development, words were read and pronounced more or less similar, but over time this discrepancy became greater and greater, the situation was aggravated by the diversity of dialects, and now we are in words though, thought And through read a combination of letters - ough completely different, although the words themselves differ by one letter.

Nobody is in a hurry to reform English spelling; there are many reasons for this. For example, the English language has long no longer had a single “control center”. Reforms initiated in London may be coolly received in Sydney and rejected in Washington. And in general, spelling reform is always a painful process that meets resistance among a significant part of native speakers. It's much easier to leave it as is.

What is transcription and why is it needed?

Transcription in English is the recording of speech sounds using special characters. She should not be feared or avoided, because she is very good helper in learning a language that will be great to save time and help avoid mistakes. One glance at the transcription of an English word is enough for you to understand how it is read correctly.

When you memorize or write down a new word that comes across in the text, you definitely need to look at its transcription and/or listen to the pronunciation (for example, in), otherwise you may remember it incorrectly, and then they will not understand you.

Is it possible to write English words in Russian letters?

Sometimes on websites or even in books you can see “English transcription in Russian” or “pronunciation of English words in Russian letters” - that is, writing English words in Russian letters. Like, why learn sophisticated icons if Can convey sounds in Russian letters? Then what it is forbidden. The phonetics of the Russian language differs from the English phonetics so much that the sound can only be conveyed very, very approximately. Some sounds English speech We simply don’t, and vice versa.

Transcription and pronunciation of all sounds of the English language separately (video)

With this interesting video table, you can listen to the sound of all sounds separately and see how they are recorded using transcription. Click on play and wait for the video to load completely, then click on the sound you want.

Please note that in the transcription, in addition to the symbols themselves denoting sounds, the following are used:

• Square brackets– traditionally, transcription is always written in [square brackets]. For example: [z].
• Vowel length icon– in English, vowels can be long or short, longitude is indicated by a colon after the vowel. For example: .
• Accent icon– if a word with more than one syllable is transcribed, the stress must be indicated with an apostrophe (comma at the top). It is placed before the stressed syllable. For example: – decision.

In total, there are 44 sounds in the English language, which, like in Russian, are divided into consonants and vowels. Among them there are sounds similar to Russian, for example: [b] - [b], [n] - [n], and sounds that have no analogues in the Russian language: [ ð ], [θ ].

IN English phonetics There are no such concepts as softness/hardness of consonants, but there is longitude of vowels (not typical of the Russian language) - vowels can be short [a] and long. It should also be noted that vowel sounds in English can be:

• single (monophthongs): [ i: ], [ e ],
• consisting of two sounds (diphtogni): [ ai ], [ ɔi ],
• consisting of three sounds (triphthongs): [ aiə ].

Diphthongs and triphthongs are read and perceived as solid sounds.

Table of English sounds with examples and cards

Having studied how English sounds are pronounced individually, be sure to listen to how they are read whole words. It is often easier for students to understand and hear the pronunciation English sounds when they sound as part of a word, and not separately.

In the tables below, all sounds are given with example words. Using electronic cards you can listen to the pronunciation.

Consonants in English
[ f] fox	[ d] date	[ v] vase	[ k]cat
[ θ ] think	[ g] go	[ ð ] father	[ tʃ] change
[ s] say	[ dʒ] age	[ z] zoo	[ m] mom
[ ʃ ] ship	[ n] nose	[ ʒ ] pleasure	[ ŋ ] sing
[ h]hound	[ l] lazy	[ p] pen	[ r] red
[ b] bro	[ j] yes	[ t] today	[ w] wine

Vowel sounds in English
[ i:] he, she	[ ei] name	[ i] his, it	[ ai] line
[ e]ten	[ au] town	[ æ ] hat	[ ɔi] toy
[ a:] car	[ ou] go home	[ ɔ ] not	[ iə] here
[ ʌ ] nut	[ ɛə ] dare	[ u] good	[ uə] poor
[ u:] food	[ juə]Europe	[ ju:] tune	[ aiə] fire
[ ɜ: ] turn	[ auə] our	[ ə ]paper	[ ɔ: ] all

How to learn to pronounce English sounds?

There are two approaches:

1. Theoretical- usually in textbooks detailed description how to press your tongue against the roof of your mouth to form a certain sound. With an illustration showing a cross-section of a human head. The method is scientifically correct, but it is difficult to use on your own: not everyone will understand what it means to “slide the upper teeth along the lower lip” and will be able to perform this action.
2. Practical– listen, watch and repeat. I think it's much easier this way. You simply repeat after the announcer, trying to imitate the sound as accurately as possible. Pay attention to articulation, try to repeat all movements of the lips and tongue. Ideally, of course, someone should supervise, but you can simply record yourself on a webcam and watch from the outside.

If you want to repeat after the speaker, imitating his speech, I recommend using the materials on Puzzle English, namely the “Video Puzzles” exercises, which are aimed at developing listening comprehension. In video puzzles, you can slow down your speech and, as in Lingvaleo, watch the translation of words by clicking on them directly in the subtitles.

In video puzzles, you first need to watch a video and then assemble sentences from words.

Detailed review of this service:

In addition, for practical classes different kind people Many videos have been shot and are available on YouTube. For example, these two videos examine in detail the sounds of English speech in the American and British versions:

British pronunciation

American pronunciation

When you start learning English, you shouldn’t strive to achieve “perfect” pronunciation. Firstly, there are a lot of varieties of pronunciation (the “generalized” British and American versions are presented above), and secondly, even native speakers who speak professionally (for example, actors) often take lessons from special trainers in order to master the features of or another version of pronunciation - practicing speech is not an easy task.

Just try to speak in a way that 1) is understandable and 2) doesn’t hurt your ears too much.

Reading rules in English: table and cards

Reading rules in English are, rather, not even rules, but generalized recommendations that are not particularly accurate. Not only can, say, the letter “o” in different combinations and syllable types be read in nine different ways, but there are also exceptions. For example, in the words food, too it is read as , and in the words good, look – as [u]. There is no pattern here, you just need to remember this.

If you look in different books, it turns out that the rules of reading, and phonetics in general, by different authors can be told differently to varying degrees diving into details. I think that there is no point in delving into the jungle of phonetic science (you can dive into it ad infinitum), and the easiest way is to take as a basis the most simplified version of the reading rules, that is reading rules in English for children.

For this article, I took as a basis the rules given in the textbook “English. Grades 1 – 4 in diagrams and tables” N. Vakulenko. Believe me, this is more than enough for both children and adults!

What is an open and closed syllable?

In English, there are open and closed syllables; it also matters whether it ends with the letter “r” and whether it is stressed.

A syllable is called open if:

• the syllable ends with a vowel and is the last in the word,
• a vowel is followed by another vowel,
• a vowel is followed by a consonant, and followed by one or more vowels.

A syllable is closed if:

• it is the last in the word, and ends with a consonant,
• A vowel is followed by two or more consonants.

In these cards and the table below you can see how different letters are pronounced in different combinations and syllable types.

Reading rules
Reading the letter “A”
A – in an open syllable	name, face, cake
A [æ] – in a closed syllable	hat, cat, man
A – in a closed syllable on r	far, car, park
A [εə] – at the end of the word vowel + re	dare, care, stare
A [ɔ:] – combinations all, au	all, wall, fall, autumn
Reading the letter “O”
O [əu] – in an open syllable	no, go, home
O [ɒ] – in a closed stressed syllable	not, box, hot
O [ɜ:] – in some words with “wor”	world, word
O [ɔ:] – in a closed syllable with r	form, fork, horse, door, floor
O – in combination “oo”	too, food
O [u] – in combination “oo”	book, look, good
O – in combination “ow”	town, down
O [ɔɪ] – in combination “oy”	toy, boy, enjoy
O [ʊə] – in combination “oo”	poor
Reading the letter “U”
U, – in an open syllable	pupil, blue, student
U [ʌ] – in a closed syllable	nut, bus, cup
U [u] – in a closed syllable	put, full
U [ɜ:] – in combination “ur”	turn, hurt, burn
Reading the letter “E”
E – in an open syllable, combination “ee”, “ea”	he, she, see, street, meat, sea
E [e] – in a closed syllable, combination “ea”	hen, ten, bed, head, bread
E [ɜ:] – in combinations “er”, “ear”	her, heard
E [ɪə] – in combinations of “ear”	hear, near
Reading the letter “I”
i – in an open syllable	five, line, night, light
i [ɪ] – in a closed syllable	his, it, pig
i [ɜ:] – in combination “ir”	first, girl, bird
i – in combination “ire”	fire, tired
Reading the letter “Y”
Y – at the end of a word	try, my, cry
Y [ɪ] – at the end of a word	family, happy, lucky
Y [j] – at the beginning or middle of a word	yes, year, yellow
Reading the letter “C”
C [s] – before i, e, y	pencil, bicycle
C [k] – except for combinations ch, tch and not before i, e, y	cat, come
C – in combinations ch, tch	chair, change, match, catch
Reading the letter “S”
S [s] – except: at the end of words after ch. and voiced acc.	say, books, six
S [z] – at the end of words after ch. and voiced acc.	days, beds
S [ʃ] – in combination sh	shop, ship
Reading the letter “T”
T [t] – except combinations th	ten, teacher, today
T [ð] – in combination th	then, mother, there
T [θ] – in combination th	thin, sixth, thick
Reading the letter “P”
P [p] – except for the combination ph	pen, penalty, powder
P [f] – in combination ph	photo
Reading the letter “G”
G [g] – except for combinations ng, not before e, i, y	go, big, dog
G – before e, i, y	age, engineer
G [ŋ] – in combination ng at the end of a word	sing, bring, king
G [ŋg] – in combination ng in the middle of a word	strongest

The most important reading rules

The table above looks very busy, even intimidating. From it we can highlight several of the most important rules, which have almost no exceptions.

Basic rules for reading consonants

• The combination ph is read as [f]: photo, Morpheus.
• The combination th is read as [ð] or [θ]: think there. These sounds do not exist in the Russian language; their pronunciation requires some practice. Do not confuse them with the sounds [s], [z].
• The combination ng at the end of a word is read as [ŋ] - this is a nasal (that is, pronounced as if in the nose) version of the sound [n]. A common mistake is to read it as . There is no “g” in this sound. Examples: strong, King Kong, wrong.
• The combination sh is read as [ʃ]: ship, show, shop.
• The letter “c” before i, e, y is read as [s]: celebrity, cent, pencil.
• The letter “g” before i, e, y is read as: age, magic, gym.
• The combination ch is read as: match, catch.

Basic rules for reading vowels

• In an open stressed syllable, vowels are usually read as in: no, go, name, face, pupil, he, five. These can be monophthongs and diphthongs.
• In a closed syllable, vowels are read as short monophthongs: nut, got, ten.

How to remember reading rules?

Most people who are fluent in English as a foreign language will not be able to immediately name even a few basic reading rules. Rules readings do not need to be memorized, you need to be able to use them. But is it possible to use what you don’t know? As much as possible! Thanks to frequent practice, knowledge turns into skills and actions begin to be performed automatically, unconsciously.

In order for the reading rules to quickly reach the automatic stage, I recommend:

• Study the rules themselves - read, comprehend, speak examples out loud.
• Practicing reading aloud will help develop pronunciation skills, and at the same time, the rules of reading will be reinforced. Take the text with audio, video with subtitles so that you have something to compare it with.
• Do small written works– writing practice is useful for development vocabulary, consolidating grammar knowledge and, of course, improving spelling.

Friends! I don't currently tutor, but if you need a teacher, I recommend this wonderful site- there are native (and non-native) language teachers there 👅 for all occasions and for any pocket 🙂 I myself took more than 80 lessons with the teachers I found there! I advise you to try it too!