Rules for reading English audio. According to the method of formation, consonant sounds are divided into

There are 26 letters in the English alphabet, which represent 24 consonants, 12 vowels and 8 diphthongs.
Reading vowels depends on which syllable the vowels are in. IN English language It is customary to distinguish 4 types of syllables:

1. An open syllable ends with a vowel. In English, a syllable followed by a consonant + an unpronounceable final “e” is conventionally considered an open syllable.
The vowels in this syllable are pronounced the same way as they are called in the alphabet.

2. A closed syllable ends with a consonant. In this type of syllable, vowels convey short sounds.

3. The third type of syllable is a syllable in which a vowel is followed by the letter "r" (at the end of the syllable) or "r" + consonant. In this syllable, all vowels convey long sounds.

4. The fourth type of syllable is a syllable in which the vowel is followed by the combination "r" + vowel. In this syllable, all vowels convey long and complex sounds.

Reading vowels in four syllable types

Table of basic rules for reading vowels and consonants

English letters	Transmitted sound	In which cases	Examples	Exceptions
A,a		V open syllable	place, take, make, same, state	have [æ], many [e]
		in combinations ay, ai	pay, way, play, day, main	said [e]
	[æ]	V closed syllable	that, lamp
		before r + consonant s + consonant	park, garden, fast, task	mass [æ]
	[εə]	before r + vowel	various, care	are
	[כּ]	after w,qu in a closed syllable	was
	[כּ:]	after w,qu in a closed syllable before r	war, quarter
		before l + consonant	call, wall, also, fall, ball
		in combination with u	autumn
		before w	law, saw
E,e		in an open syllable	be, Pete
		in combinations ee, ea	steel, stree, see, sea, mean
		in an open syllable	belt, set	English[i]
		in combinations ea +d	already, head, bread
	[ə:]	in combinations er, ear + consonant	heard, term, her
		in combinations ee+r, ea+r	hear, appear
		before w	knew, newspaper, few
		before w with preceding r	grew, drew
I, i		in an open syllable	five, pine	give, live [i]
		before ld, nd, gh	kind, mild, light
	[i]	in a closed syllable	did
		combined ie followed by a consonant	field	friend[e]
	[ə]	before r or r + consonant	sir, first
	["aiə]	before r + vowel	fire, tired
O, o		in an open syllable	note, go	done, come [٨]
		before the combination ld	old, cold
		in combinations oa, ow	road, low
	[ə]	in combinations or after w	word, world
	[כּ]	in a closed syllable	stop, not
	[כּ:]	before r	port, short
		in combinations oo	food, too	book, look [u]
		in combinations ou, ow	compound, town, down
	[כּi]	in combinations oi, oy	oil, enjoy
	["auə]	in combinations ow before er	power
		in combinations oo+r	poor	door, floor [כּ:]
U, u		in an open syllable	tube, produce, music
	[٨]	in a closed syllable	cut, cup, bus	put, push, pull, full [u]
		in an open syllable after l, r, j	lunar, rule, June
	[ə:]	before r + consonant	burn, turn
		before r + vowel	pure, cure
Y, y		in an open syllable	type, try
	[i]	in closed syllables and at the end of polysyllabic words	symbol, family
	[j]	at the beginning of a word and before a vowel	yet, year, beyond
C,c	[s]	before i, e, y	capacity, practice, cell, bicycle
	[k]	before all other vowels and consonants	come, exact, direction
		in combinations ch, tch	charge, watch	chemistry [k] technique [k] machine [∫]
	[∫]	before combinations ial, ient	special, efficient
S, s	[s]	at the beginning of words, in the middle of words with voiceless consonants and at the end of words after voiceless consonants	send, salt, say, system, facts, books
	[z]	after vowels, between vowels, after voiced consonants	as, position, days, supplies, beds
	[∫]	in combinations sh, ssion, ssure	shop, transmission, pressure
	[h]	before ure	measure, treasure
T,t	[ð]	in combination th 1) at the beginning of function words 2) between vowels	the, then, mother
	[θ]	in combination th at the beginning and end of significant words	thick, thin, seventh
P,p	[f]	in pH combinations	philosophy, photo
G, g		before i, e, y	age, engineer, gymnastics	give [g], get [g]
	[g]	before consonants, before vowels, except i, e, y at the end of words	great, go, big, dog
	[ŋ]	combined ng	bring, wrong, strong

"Mute" (unpronounceable) consonants

"Mute Letter"	In what letter combinations	Examples
b g n g k l w	bt gn whe, whi igh kn might alk who wr	doubt design, sign when, while height, weight, fight knowledge, knife should, could, would walk whos, whole write, wrong

Notes:
1. The letter u conveys the same sounds as the letter i, but is rarely found in the middle of a word.
2. The above rules apply only to stressed syllables. In an unstressed position, vowels are reduced to the sounds [ə] and [i].
For example: arrive [ə"raiv], return, illumination, difficult ["difikəlt].

Having studied the Russian alphabet, we can easily read any texts. But to read correctly in English you will have to put in more effort, because there are many discrepancies between the spelling and pronunciation of words. If you decide to learn this language on your own and cannot understand how to read words in English correctly, then this material– exactly what you need. Today we will look at the nuances of pronunciation of English letters and letter combinations, and find out how easy it is to learn to read English from scratch. A table that shows all the letters and their sounds will help you learn the rules of reading English for beginners.

First, let's get to know the most important law reading in English - the rule of open and closed syllables. There is no similar norm in the Russian language, so we will analyze in detail what it is. Please pay attention to the transcription.

An open syllable is a syllable that ends with a vowel sound. As a rule, it occurs in the following cases:

• The word ends in a vowel, so the last syllable is always open: t ake[take].*
• A vowel is followed by a consonant, followed by another vowel sound: ed uca tion [education].
• There are two vowels adjacent to the word: cr ue l [cruel].

*Final e in most cases it is considered “dumb”, that is, it is not pronounced, but appears at the heart of the word precisely to form an open syllable.

In open syllables, the vowel is always pronounced smoothly and drawn out. Accordingly, closed syllables are all those syllables in which the vowel sound is closed by a consonant and therefore sounds short and abrupt: c ut[cat].

In addition, special reading rules in English are characteristic of syllables in which the vowel sound ends with the letter r. The fact is that in the British version of the pronunciation of such syllables, the letter r is often completely omitted, i.e. not pronounced. Therefore, there are two options for reading such letter combinations:

1. In an open syllable, when r is surrounded by vowels, only both vowels are read: c are[keea]. In such cases, the last e will not be dumb.
2. In a closed syllable ( voice+r+acc.), r is also unreadable, but affects the sound of the vowel sound, making it longer: start [staat]

The rule of open and closed syllables is the basic law of reading in English, although there are many exceptions to it. But it’s too early to teach exceptions without knowing the main rules. Therefore, now we will look at the sound options of all letters and letter combinations.

Rules for reading English for beginners - letter and sound correspondence table

Even if you started learning English and reading it from scratch, you are probably already familiar with the spelling and sound of all the letters of the English alphabet. But, as we already learned from the previous section, when reading, the pronunciation of letters depends on the type of syllable or letter combination. Therefore, in the tables below you can find several sound options for the same letter. But don't be alarmed, there will be an accessible explanation for each case. So, let's continue to learn English for beginners and learn the rules of reading in English.

Consonants

Let's start with the easiest thing: with a table of consonants, the pronunciation of which is similar to the Russian sound.

Letter	Transcription	Russian pronunciation
B	[b]	b
D	[d]	d*
F	[f]	f
K	[k]	To
L	[l]	l
M	[m]	m
N	[n]	n
P	[p]	P
R	[r]	R
S	[s]	With
	[z]	z (only in special positions: after voiced consonants, between two vowels and in the suffix –ism.)
T	[t]	T*
V	[v]	V
W	[w]	V**
Z	[z]	h

*English d and t are pronounced with more aspiration than their Russian counterparts.

**w is pronounced with the lips extended into a tube, the result is something between the Russian sounds v and u.

Now let's look at more complex letters.

Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation and explanations
C	[s]	s (before vowels i, e, y)
	[k]	to (in other cases)
G		j (before vowels i, e, y)
	[g]	g (in other cases)
H	[h]	Very weakly pronounced Russian X (almost just a strong exhalation)
Q		kv
X		ks (before a consonant or at the end of a word)
		gz (between two vowels)
	[z]	z (at the beginning of a word before a vowel)

We will also study letter combinations of consonants in English.

Combination	Transcription	Pronunciation
ck	[k]	To
ch		h
tch
ng	[ŋ]	nasal n
ph	[f]	f
sh	[ʃ]	w
th	[θ]	1) sound intermediate between s and f (tongue between teeth) 2) the sound is average between z and v (tongue between teeth)
wr	[r]	R
wh	[w]	u/v x (only before o)
qu		kv

In addition, it is worth considering that the English language never allows consonants at the very end of a word to be deafened. Otherwise, you may say something completely different from what you wanted. For example: back [back] – behind, behind; bag [bag] – bag, sack.

Vowels

It is much more difficult to cope with reading English vowels, but the already familiar rules of open and closed syllables will help us understand it. We take them into service and learn to read the vowels of the English language correctly.

Closed syllable
Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation	Examples
A	[æ]	uh	bat, track, sad
E	[e]	uh	pet, red, check
I	[ɪ]	And	pit, fill, tin, system, myth, lynx
Y
O	[ɒ]	O	spot, not, cross
U	[ʌ]	A	spun, truck, butter

Do not forget that in a closed syllable all letters are pronounced briefly.

Open syllable
Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation	Examples
A		Hey	game, flame, lake
E		And	he, be, Pete
I		ah	mine, like, nine, cry, bye, type
Y
O	[əʊ]	OU	bone, tone, rose
U		Yu	pupil, music, cube

And the vowels of an open syllable are always smooth and drawn out.

Open syllable with r
Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation	Examples
A		ea	square
E	[ɪə]	ie	here
I		aye	tired
Y
O	[ɔː]	oo	more
U		Yue	cure

We remember that the letter r after a vowel, as a rule, is not pronounced.

Behindcovered syllable with r
Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation	Examples
A	[ɑː]	ahh	dark
O	[ɔː]	oo	sport
E	[ɜː]	e	pert, bird, myrtle, burn
I
Y
U

Now we know how to read vowels in English words Oh. But for perfect reading in English, it is necessary to study one more point.

Diphthongs and triphthongs in English

An important aspect of English for beginners is diphthongs and triphthongs, i.e. combinations of two or three letters that have a special sound. Their pronunciation is called sliding, because. First, the main sound is pronounced intensively, and then it is smoothly transferred to the secondary sound. Diphthongs are a kind of exception and do not obey general grammatical laws, so they can only be learned by heart. The table below will help us learn the rules for reading English diphthongs for beginners.

English diphthongs
Combinations	Transcription	Pronunciation
air, ear, are		uh*
ye, igh, uy, ie		ah
ea, ey, ay, ai, ei		Hey
ere, eer, ier, ear	[ɪə]	IEE
oh, oh	[ɔɪ]	Ouch
ou, ow		awww
ou, ow, oa, ol	[əu]	oooh
ure, ue, our, oor		wow
English triphthongs
ower, our		aaue
eur, ure		Yuyue
iet, ire, ier, iar, yre		aaye

*doubling the letter indicates the length of the first sound in relation to the second.

So, we have looked at the main nuances of reading in English. Treat the stated rules responsibly: conduct reading lessons more often and be sure to learn to distinguish between types of syllables in English. Otherwise, you will make gross mistakes in pronunciation, which will lead to a complete misunderstanding of your words by the interlocutor. Good luck in learning English and see you again!

When you study a foreign language, you learn not only a set of vocabulary and grammar, you in any case come across the culture and mentality of the people who speak this language. The best remedy knowledge of language and culture is reading in original. And to read on foreign language, you must first learn to read this language .

You don"t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. You can just make people stop reading them.

But, if at school or university you studied German or French languages, or your school base turned out to be smaller than you would like, and now you have decided to learn English, then let's start with the most primary and basic and find out several methods of where to start in order to master the rules of reading.

English alphabet

I think you know that English is different from Russian and German, in which we mainly write and read. In English the system is a little more complicated. The very first thing we need to do is learn the alphabet.

There are 26 letters in the English alphabet, including 21 consonants and 5 vowels. Knowledge of letters and the ability to pronounce them correctly is the key to successful and competent reading in English.

English alphabet with transcription of letter names.

Very easy way remembering letters visually and aurally is with the help of a song. Watch the video and sing the song until you remember the letters of the alphabet.

You can use the same method to teach the alphabet to your children and sing the song with your kids.

Reading rules in English

After studying the alphabet, we will begin to study the combination of letters and reading short words. There are a number of rules in the English language that you need to learn, practice and remember if you want to read English words correctly.

Rules for reading English consonants

Many consonants are read similarly to Russian consonants, for example the letters m, n, l, b, f, z. You can see this in words like mom, lemon, finger, boy, zebra .

Letters like t And d sound similar, but pronounced with aspirated. For example words table, teacher, dad, dirty.

Letter c has two reading options. Before letters i,e,y it reads like [s]- city, face, cyber. And before other vowels it is read as [k]- cat, cake, factory.

Rule with vowels i,e,y also works with letters g. In front of them it reads like - gym, George, giant. Before other consonants the letter is read as [g].

Letter q always occurs in a combination of letters qu and reads like - quick, queen, square.

Letter j always reads like - jacket, jam, joy.

Table of the relationship between consonants and sounds in English.

How to read vowels in English

In English, a word can end in an open or closed syllable, which affects pronunciation. For example words cat, pot, sit end in a closed syllable and have vowels a, o, i give sounds .

Words such as name, home, five end with an open syllable, since there is a letter at the end of the word e, which is not readable. But, thanks to her, the vowels in the middle of the word are read exactly the same way as they are pronounced in the alphabet, that is, the word name read .

Types of reading English vowels in stressed syllables.

Reading vowel combinations in English

There are certain combinations of letters that have established reading rules, although English tongue-tongue exceptions, and when reading more difficult words you should consult a dictionary. The table below shows combinations of English vowels with examples how they are read and what sound they make.

Table of vowel combinations in English.

And of course, there are exceptions to all rules. However, don't worry and think that you will never be able to learn it. Everything can be understood, you just need to try and practice a little.

Diphthongs of the English language with transcription

When you study the basic rules of reading, you will see that in English there are diphthong sounds that are quite difficult to reproduce, especially if you start learning the language not in childhood, but in adulthood.

Table English diphthongs with transcription.

Transcription of sounds in English

Practice shows that when children learn a language, they must definitely study transcription, but adults do not want to learn it and it can be difficult for them.

If you still want to learn how to write and read transcriptions, then great! And if not, then you can use online dictionaries, where the word will be pronounced for you. One of the best dictionaries today are Multitran and online dictionary Lingvo.

Important!

Remember that you need to use dictionaries, not translators!

Here is an example of reading short words with transcription:

Table of vowel sounds in English and transcription.

Living in the Internet age has some advantages. While sitting at home, you can master various knowledge online. For your attention video lesson , which explains basic principles reading. However, even after gaining knowledge through an online lesson, it needs to be consolidated in order for a skill to be formed.

Learn English tongue twisters

Tongue twisters, which are often aimed at practicing one sound, can help you here. Here are some examples you can use.

Tongue twister in English	Translation into Russian
Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather will not. Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot. We"ll weather the weather whether we like it or not.	The weather will be good or the weather won't be good. The weather will be cold or the weather will be hot. We can withstand any weather whether we like it or not.
Three swiss witch-bitches, which wished to be switched swiss witch-bitches, watch three swiss Swatch watch switches. Which swiss witch-bitch", which wishes to be a switched swiss witch-bitch, wishes to watch which Swiss Swatch switch?	Three Swiss witch bitches those who want to change their gender, looking at the three buttons on the Swatch watch. What a Swiss witch bitch those who want to change their gender, looking at what button on the Swatch watch?

Don't worry about tongue twisters! At this stage, when you are just learning to read and practicing sounds, it is important to pronounce them correctly, albeit slowly. You can always speed up.

Learn to hear English speech

After learning the basic, basic rules of reading, you can use the method of repeating after the speaker. Your auditory memory will also work and you will hear how words are pronounced correctly and what intonation is in sentences.

For this, you can use short dialogues and audio books for beginners. At this level, it would be ideal if the text is in front of your eyes, you listen, read and repeat at the same time!

You can use such a great resource as Oxford bookworm Library, which features audiobooks for all levels. You can download the library for free

For those who continue to learn English, we recommend learning the language from films, which you can read about in the article

Work on your pronunciation

Learning to read is only the first step towards learning a language. Just like learning grammar and vocabulary, learning to pronounce and hear correctly is very important if you want to understand what is being said to you and say it so that you are understood. Especially if you speak with a native speaker.

As we said a little above, one of the best ways is listen carefully to native speakers and try to copy their pronunciation and intonation .

Special attention you need to pay attention to sounds that are not in your native language. Often, people learning English have a problem with the ‘r’ sound, since in Russian it is hard, but in English it is more guttural and growling.

There are also difficulties in pronouncing the two sounds that combination of letters 'th'. Students persistently pronounce it as ‘c’ and ‘z’. Although it is worth noting that in words such as this, that, there this sound is spoken as between ‘z’ and ‘d’. And in words like three, think, thief, it is pronounced as a sound between ‘f’ and ‘s’.

This may seem strange to you, since there are no such sounds in the Russian language, but if you listen to native speakers, you will understand that this is how they speak.

Don't worry if you can't say these words correctly the first time, it just takes a little practice. But, try to learn correctly from the very beginning, because it will be more difficult when you are forced to relearn.

Learn to pronounce phrases in English correctly

In English, words in sentences are not pronounced separately; they often merge as if into one whole, especially if it is a combination of a vowel and a consonant. Watch and practice with these transcription examples.

The same applies to phrases where one word ends with the letter ‘r’, and next word starts with a vowel. In such cases, the sound 'r' is pronounced. Here are some examples.

Transcription and reading rules in English are two closely related concepts. Reading rules explain how letters and letter combinations are pronounced 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 this way.

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. We simply do not have some sounds of English speech, as well as 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 Various kind people have made many videos that 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 that, say, the letter “o” in different combinations and syllable types can be read in nine different ways, 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 indeed phonetics in general, can be told differently by different authors with varying degrees of immersion in detail. 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 this 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.

Sounds expressed by letters are conveyed using transcription signs. How to read the transcription is described on the page: Transcription

What is open and closed type syllable: Open and closed syllable

Vowel sounds.

Stressed vowels

eɪ ]-c a se - [keɪs ]- case.

æ ] -t a nk - [tæŋk ]- tank, tank.

Vowel + r - [ ɑː ] -c a r - [kɑː ]- car, car.

Vowel + r + consonant - [ ɑː ] -p a rk - [pɑːk ]- a park.

Vowel + r + vowel - [ eə ]-v a ry - [ˈveəri ]- vary.

In an open syllable it reads like - [ iː ]- sh e - [ʃiː ]- she.

In a closed syllable it reads like - [ e ]-b e t - [bet]- bet, bet.

Vowel + r - [ zː ]-h e r - [hɜː ]- her, her.

Vowel + r + consonant - [ zː ]-t e rm - [tɜːm ]- term.

Vowel + r + vowel - [ ɪə ] -m e re - [mɪə]- only.

In an open syllable it reads like - [ aɪ ]-l i ne - [laɪn ]- line.

In a closed syllable it reads like - [ ɪ ] -b i t - [bɪt ]- bit, a little.

Vowel + r - [ zː ]-s i r - [sɜː ]- sir.

Vowel + r + consonant - [ zː ]- th i rd - [θɜːd ]- third.

Vowel + r + vowel - [ aɪə ]-h i re - [haɪə ]- rent.

In an open syllable it reads like - [ əʊ ] - z o ne - [zəʊn]- zone, district.

In a closed syllable it reads like - [ ɒ ] -l o t - [lɒt]- a lot of.

Vowel + r - [ ɔː ] - o r - [ɔː ] - or.

Vowel + r + consonant - [ ɔː ] -b orn - [bɔːn ]- was born.

Vowel + r + vowel - [ ɔː ] - st o ry - [ˈstɔːri ]- story.

In an open syllable it reads like - [ jʊː ]-n u de - [njʊːd ]- naked.

In a closed syllable it reads like - [ ʌ ] -c u t - [kʌt ]- a cut.

Vowel + r - [ zː ]- f u r - [fɜː ]- wool, skin.

Vowel + r + consonant - [ zː ]-b urn - [bɜːn ]- burn.

Vowel + r + vowel - [ jʊə ]-p u re - [pjʊə ]- clean.

In an open syllable it reads like - [ aɪ ]-m y - [maɪ ]- my.

In a closed syllable it reads like - [ ɪ ] -m y th - [mɪθ ]- myth.

Vowel + r + vowel - [ aɪə ]-t y re - [taɪə ]- tire.

Vowel combinations

[iː ]

ee-s ee - [ˈsiː ]- see

ea-s ea - [siː ]- sea

ie-bel ie ve - [bɪˈliːv ]- believe

[ɑː ]

a + ss - gr ass - [ɡrɑːs ]- grass

a + st - l ast - [lɑːst]- last

a + sk - t ask - [tɑːsk ]- task

a + sp - gr asp - [ɡrɑːsp ]- grasping

a + lm - c alm - [kɑːm ]- calm

ea + r - h ear t - [hɑːt ]- heart

[ɔː ]

au- au thor - [ˈɔːθə ] - author

aw-s aw - [ˈsɔː ]- saw, saw

oo + r - d oor - [dɔː ]- door

aught-t aught - [tɔːt ]- learned

ought-th ought - [θɔːt]- thought

a + l - w al l - [wɔːl ]- wall

a + lk - t alk - [ˈtɔːk ]- conversation, conversation

wa + r - war m - [wɔːm ]- warm

[ɒ ]

wa- wa nt - [wɒnt]- want

[uː ]

oo-t oo - [tuː ]- too, too

ou - gr ou p - [ɡruːp ]- group

[juː ]

ew-n ew - [njuː ]- new

[ʊ ]

oo-b oo k - [bʊk ]- book

[zː ]

ea + r - l ear n - [lɜːn ]- teach, study

wo + r - wor k - [ˈwɜːk ]- Job

[ʌ ]

o-s o n - [sʌn ]- son

ou-c ou ntry - [ˈkʌntri ]- a country

oo-fl oo d - [flʌd ]- flood

[eɪ ]

ai-r ai n - [reɪn]- rain

ay-d ay - [deɪ ]- day

ey-th ey - [ˈðeɪ ]- They

eigh- eigh t - [eɪt ]- eight

[aɪ ]

i + gn - s ign - [saɪn ]- sign

i + ld - ch ild - [tʃaɪld ]- child

i + nd - bl ind - [blaɪnd]- blind

igh-n high t - [naɪt ]- night

[ɔɪ ]

oi- oi l - [ɔɪl]- oil, petroleum

oy-t oh - [tɔɪ ]- toy

[aʊ ]

ou - ou t - [aʊt ]- from, outside

ow-d ow n - [daʊn ]- down

[əʊ ]

oa-c oa t - [ˈkəʊt ]- coat

ow-kn ow - [nəʊ ]- know

o + ll - t oll - [təʊl ]- losses

o + ld - c old - [kəʊld ]- cold

[ɪə ]

ea + r - n ear - [nɪə ]- near, about

ee + r - engin eer - [ɛndʒɪˈnɪə ]- engineer

[eə ]

ai + r - ch air - [tʃeə ]- chair

e + re - th here - [ðeə]- there, there

ea + r - b ear - [beə ]- bear

[ʊə ]

oo + r - p oor - [pʊə ]- poor

our-t our - [tʊə ]- tour, travel

Consonant sounds.

Consonant combinations

[k ]-lu ck - [lʌk ]- luck, chance

[ʃ ] - sh ip - [ʃɪp ]- ship

[tʃ ] - ch ip - [tʃɪp ]- chip

[tʃ ]-ca tch - [kætʃ ]- catch, catch

[ɵ ] - th ick - [θɪk ]- thick

[ð ] - th is - [ðɪs]- this, this, this

[f ] - pH one - [fəʊn ]- telephone

[kw] - qu ite - [kwaɪt ]- enough

[n] - kn ife - [naɪf ]- knife

[ƞ ] -thi ng - [θɪŋ ] -

[ƞk ]-si nk - [sɪŋk ]- sink, drain

wh + o - [h ] - wh o - [huː ]- Who

wh + other vowels - [w] - wh at - [wɒt ]- What

wr at the beginning of a word before vowels - [r] - wr iter - [ˈraɪtə]- writer

Consonant sounds with two reading options.

Reads like [ s] before: e, i, y. ni c e - [naɪs ]- good, city - [ˈsɪti ]- city.

And How [ k ] in other cases: with ome - [kʌm ]- come, c atch - [kætʃ ]- catch.

Reads like [ ʤ ] before: e, i, y. lar g e - [lɑːdʒ ]- big, en gine - [ˈendʒɪn ]- engine.

Exceptions: g et - [ɡet ]- receive, be g in - [bɪˈɡɪn]- start, g ive - [ɡɪv]- give.

And How [ g ] in other cases: g ood - [ɡʊd]- good, pleasant, g o - [ɡəʊ ] - go, go.

Reading types

Additional material, partially duplicating the previous one. Taken from another source and given for a deeper understanding of this topic.

The tables indicate how to correctly pronounce diphthongs, vowels and consonants in the English language.. The sound conveyed by a letter or letter combination is indicated using transcription signs, and the pronunciation of English sounds indicated in Russian letters should be understood as a hint to transcription, and not as an exact pronunciation of English sounds.

Rules for reading vowel sounds

	Phonetic symbols	Approximate Russian sound
			Word	Transcription
Table. Types of reading in English. Vowel sounds.
I,Y	ɪ	And Short, open "and"	i t it	ɪt	(it)
			si x six	sɪks	(six)
			empty	ˈɛm(p)ti	(empty)
E	e	uh How "uh" in the word "this"	e mpty empty	ˈɛm(p)ti	(empty)
			ten ten	ten	(ten)
A	æ	uh Open sound "e" (between "e" and "a")	a nt ant	ænt	(ent)
			ma p card	mæp	(map)
O	ɒ	O Short "o" sound	ho t hot	hɒt	(hot)
			o range orange	ˈɒrɪn(d)ʒ	(orinch)
U	ʌ	A Short sound "a"	under	ˈʌndə	(ande)
			su n sun	sʌn	(san)
U,OO	u	y short "y" lips are rounded	put it down	ˈput	(put)
			boo k book	buk	(beech)
A, E, ER	ə	uh Short sound "e" (between "e" and "a")	a bout oh, oh, oh	əˈbaʊt	(about)
			sile nce silence	ˈsʌɪləns	(silence)
			lawyer	ˈlɔːjə	(l oh yeah)
EE, EA	i:	And Long "i" sound	ea sy easy	ˈiːzi	(i:zi)
			Queen n queen	kwiːn	(kui:n)
			see see	ˈsiː	(si: )
A, AR	ɑ:	A Long and deep "a" sound	ha lf half	hɑːf	(ha:f)
			car a car	kɑː	(ka: )
O.O.	u:	at Long “u” sound without rounding the lips	foo d food	fuːd	(ugh:d)
			too too, too	tuː	(that: )
ER, IR	h:	e Reminds me of the “e” sound in the word “beet”	bir d bird	bзːd	(byo:d)
OR,AW	ɔ:	O Long "o" sound	or or	ɔː	(O: )
			for m form	ˈfɔːm	(fo:m)
			law law	lɔː	(lo: )

Rules for reading consonant sounds

English letters and letter combinations	Phonetic symbols	Approximate Russian sound	Examples of pronunciation of English sounds
			Word	Transcription	Pronunciation in Russian letters
Table. Types of reading in English. Consonant sounds.
P	p	P	pen pen	pen	(pen)
			pap er paper	ˈpeɪpə	(P e´ ypa)
			cup cup	kʌp	(cap)
B	b	b	b oy boy	ˌbɔɪ	(the battle )
			tab le table	ˈteɪb(ə)l	(T e´ybl)
			pub beer	pʌb	(Pub )
T	t	t Sound “T” but the tongue is not at the teeth, but at the gums.	t en ten	ten	(ten)
			sixteen sixteen	ˌsɪkˈsti:n	(sykstin)
			eight eight	eɪt	(eith)
D	d	d	d og dog	dɒɡ	(dane)
			ladd er staircase	ˈladə	(l a´ta)
			bed bed	bed	(trouble)
C, K, CK	k	To	c at cat	kæt	(ket)
			tick and ticket	ˈtɪkɪt	(T and´ whale)
			cake	keɪk	(cake)
G	g	G	g irl girl	ɡɜ:l	(gel)
			tiger tiger	ˈtʌɪɡə	(T a´yga)
			big big	bɪɡ	(big)
CH, TCH	ʧ	h	ch air chair	tʃɛ	(h e´)
			watch ing	ˈwɒtʃɪŋ	(V rank)
			match match	matʃ	(match)
J, G, DGE	ʤ	j	j ump jump	dʒʌmp	(jump)
			log ic logic	ˈlɒdʒɪk	(l o´jik)
			fridg e refrigerator	frɪdʒ	(fridge)
F, PH	f	f	ph oto photography	ˈfəʊtəʊ	(f o´utau)
			coff ee coffee	ˈkɒfi	(To o´fi)
			cliff	klɪf	(cleave)
V	v	V	v iew view	vju:	(ugh)
			lov er favorite	ˈlʌvə	(l a´va)
			five e five	faɪv	(five)
T.H.	θ	c Like the sound "s" but tongue between teeth	th in thin	θɪn	(syn)
			Cath erine Catherine	ˈkæθrɪn	(To eh´srin)
			month month	mʌnθ	(mons)
T.H.	ð	h Like sound "z" but tongue between teeth	th is this	ðɪs	(zys)
			moth er mother	ˈmʌðə	(m a´ze)
			breathe e breathe	bri:ð	(bri:z)
S, C	s	With	six six	sɪks	(syks)
			parc el package	ˈpɑ:s(ə)l	(P a´ sl)
			class	klɑ:s	(cla:s)
S, Z	z	h	z oo zoo	zu:	(zu)
			laz y lazy	ˈleɪzi	(l e´zi)
			dogs dogs	dɒɡz	(dogz)
SH	ʃ	w	sh e she	ʃi	(shi)
			fish fishing	ˈfɪʃɪŋ	(f and´ tires)
			wash	wɒʃ	(fosh)
S	ʒ	and	vis ion vision	ˈvɪʒ(ə)n	(V i´zhen)
			beige beige	beɪʒ	(beizh)
H	h	X Short exhalation - “x”	have to have	hæv	(hav)
M	m	m	m e me, me	mi:	(mi: )
			farmer	ˈfɑ:mə	(f a´ma)
			hom e house	həʊm	(home)
N	n	n	name name	ˈneɪm	(n e´ im)
			runn er runner	ˈrʌnə	(R a´ on)
			son son	sʌn	(san)
NG	ƞ	n Nasal sound "n" using the back of the tongue	singer singer	ˈsɪŋə	(With and´nya)
			boxing	ˈbɒksɪŋ	(b o´ xin)
L	l	l	I like it	ˈlaɪk	(l a´ yk)
			ball et ballet	ˈbaleɪ	(b a´lay)
			football football	ˈfʊtbɔ:l	(f u´ solid waste:l)
R	r	R “r” - without vibration	red red	red	(ed)
			lorr y truck	ˈlɒri	(l o´ri)
Y	j	th	y ou you	ju	(Yu )
			lawy er lawyer	ˈlɔ:jə	(l oh yeah)
W	w	at the sound is similar to “u”; the lips are stretched and rounded	w in to win	wɪn	(vin)
			flow er flower	ˈflaʊə	(ow a´ ua)

Diphthongs. Reading rules.

English letters and letter combinations	Phonetic symbols	Approximate Russian sound	Examples of pronunciation of English sounds
			Word	Transcription	Pronunciation in Russian letters
Table. Types of reading in English. Diphthongs.
A,AY,AI	eɪ	Hey	ai m goal	eɪm	(eym)
			say	ˈseɪ	(With Hey)
I, UY, Y	ai	ah	I I	ai	(ay)
			buy	baɪ	(bye)
OY, OI	ɔɪ	Ouch	oi l oil	ɔɪl	(oil)
			toy toy	tɔɪ	(that one)
O.O.W.	əu	OU	ow n own	əʊn	(oun)
			ho me home	həʊm	(home)
			low low	ləʊ	(low)
OW, OU	au	aw	out out	ˈaʊt	(out)
			cow	kaʊ	(kaw)
EA, EAR, ERE	ɪə	ie “and” + between “e” and “a”	ear ear	ɪə	(ie)
			bear d beard	bɪəd	(beed)
			here here	hɪə	(hie)
AIR, ARE	eə	ea "e" + between "e" and "a"	care	keə	(kee)
			hair hair	heə	(heh ´ )
URE, OUR	uə	uh "y" + between "e" and "a"	tour travel	tʊə	(tue)
			insure	ɪnˈʃuə	(inshue ´ )