How do you pronounce that combination of letters?!
English pronunciation is notoriously difficult, largely due to the many influences of the language; mostly Latin, French, Germanic, Greek, and others.
The inspiration for this post came from the Fidel Chart, which is a language-teaching method created by Caleb Gattegno that makes extensive use of silence as a teaching method (Wikipedia).
As both a teacher and a student, I am not a fan of the Silent Way method of teaching, but the Fidel Chart does have value in learning.
However, I noticed that the Fidel Chart was missing two key details: the target sound in the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), and examples of words that contain the target sound!
I have generally arranged the sounds according to the IPA and separated them into two groups: vowels and diphthongs, which are the most tricky; and consonants and glides.
Note that silent letters are grouped in where most appropriate, and that pronunciation changes from region to region. The pronunciation we use here is Standard Canadian English, which is spoken mostly across central and western Canada, or Pacific Northwest English, which includes British Columbia, Washington State, Oregon, and some of California and Idaho.
If I have missed any letter/sound combination, please let me know and I will add it 🙂
Vowels and Diphthongs
| /i/ | /u/ | ||||||||||
| e | me | ew | new | ||||||||
| ee | meet | o | to | ||||||||
| ea | each | oo | too | ||||||||
| ei | receipt | oe | shoe | ||||||||
| eo | people | eu | maneuver | ||||||||
| ey | monkey | ou | you | ||||||||
| i | ski | ough | through | ||||||||
| ie | piece | oup | coup | ||||||||
| y | only | u | student | ||||||||
| ue | blue | ||||||||||
| ueue | queue | ||||||||||
| ui | juice | ||||||||||
| /ɪ/ | /ʊ/ | ||||||||||
| a | purchase | oo | took | ||||||||
| ai | captain | ou | would | ||||||||
| ee | breeches | ||||||||||
| ei | forfeit | ||||||||||
| i | sit | ||||||||||
| ie | sieve | ||||||||||
| u | busy | ||||||||||
| ui | guitar | ||||||||||
| y | hypocrite | ||||||||||
| /ei/ | /ɘ/ | /ow/ | /oi/ | ||||||||
| a | alien | a | another | au | mauve | oi | voice | ||||
| ai | e | enough | eau | plateau | oy | boy | |||||
| au | gauge | i | cigar | ew | sew | ||||||
| ay | day | o | together | o | no | ||||||
| e | there | oo | brooch | ||||||||
| ee | fiancé(e) | oe | toe | ||||||||
| ea | break | ol | folk | ||||||||
| et | ballet | ou | soul | ||||||||
| ey | they | ough | dough | ||||||||
| ei | eight | ow | low | ||||||||
| /ɛ/ | /ʌ/ | ||||||||||
| e | bed | o | mother | ||||||||
| ea | heaven | oo | blood | ||||||||
| eo | leopard | ou | touch | ||||||||
| ai | said | u | but | ||||||||
| ay | says | ||||||||||
| u | bury | ||||||||||
| ei | friend | ||||||||||
| /æ/ | /aɪ/ | /aw/ | /ɒ/ | ||||||||
| a | and | ai | aisle | ou | about | a | father | ||||
| au | laughter | ei | neither | ough | plough | al | palm | ||||
| eye | eye | ow | how | aw | dawn | ||||||
| i | bite | au | daughter | ||||||||
| ic | indict | e | entrée | ||||||||
| ie | die | ea | Sean | ||||||||
| is | island | o | not | ||||||||
| uy | buy | oi | reservoir | ||||||||
| y | my | ou | cough | ||||||||
| ye | bye | ow | knowledge |
Consonants and Glides
| /p/ | /b/ | /m/ | |||||
| p | pen | b | big | m | more | ||
| pp | happy | bb | bubble | mm | hammer | ||
| mb | thumb | ||||||
| /t/ | /t/ | /d/ | /n/ | ||||
| t | top | d | door | n | new | ||
| tt | butts | dd | middle | gn | sign | ||
| ght | night | t (ɾ) | thirty | kn | knew | ||
| pt | pterodactyl | tt (ɾ) | better | pn | pneumonia | ||
| nt | winter | ||||||
| /k/ | /c/ | /g/ | ʔ | ||||
| c | cup | g | good | t before n | button | ||
| ch | choir | gg | bigger | ||||
| k | key | gh | ghost | ||||
| ck | back | gu | guest | ||||
| qu | quiet | ||||||
| /m/ | /m/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | ||||
| m | me | n | no | ing | sing | ||
| mm | hammer | nn | running | ||||
| mn | autumn | ||||||
| /f/ | /f/ | /v/ | |||||
| f | fun | v | van | ||||
| ff | stuff | vv | divvy | ||||
| gh | laugh | ||||||
| ph | photo | ||||||
| /θ/ | /θ/ | /ð/ | |||||
| th | think | th | the | ||||
| th | breathe | ||||||
| /s/ | /z/ | ||||||
| ci | cider | es | goes | ||||
| s | sun | se | please | ||||
| ss | pass | z | zoo | ||||
| ps | psychologist | zz | buzz | ||||
| sc | science | ||||||
| /ʃ/ | /ʒ/ | /h/ | |||||
| ch | machine | su | usually | h | house | ||
| ci | special | si | vision | ||||
| ss | mission | ||||||
| se | Sean | ||||||
| sh | ship | ||||||
| su | sugar | ||||||
| ti | station | ||||||
| /d͡ʒ/ | /t͡ʃ/ | ||||||
| dge | bridge | ch | chat | ||||
| g | general | tu | nature | ||||
| j | just | ||||||
| /l/ | /ɫ/ | ||||||
| l | like | milk | |||||
| /w/ | /j/ | ||||||
| w | wet | y | yes | ||||
| wh | white | u | use | ||||
| /ɹ/ | ɚ | ||||||
| r | run | er | her | ||||
| rr | berry | ir | shirt | ||||
| ur | turn | ||||||
Present Simple ESL 