General Rules of Pronunciation - Phonetics - IV
PRONUNCIATION OF “C”
(1) When 'C' is followed by A,O,U,K & T and preceded by vowel, it is pronounced as ‘K’
"C" followed by "A"
pronounced as "K"
  • Cat
  • Can
  • Camara
  • Cater
  • Cattle
  • Cake
  • Castle
"C" followed by "O"
pronounced as "K"
  • Cock / Coke
  • Cot / Coat
  • Colon / Colony
  • Collect / Count
  • Coach
  • Could
  • Concern
"C" followed by "U"
pronounced as "K"
  • Cut
  • Custom
  • Cure
  • Culture
  • Custody
  • Customer
  • -
"C" followed by "K"
pronounced as "K"
  • Cock
  • Back
  • Sack
  • Rack
  • Crockery
  • -
  • -
"C" followed by "T"
pronounced as "K"
  • Act
  • Action
  • Fact
  • Pact
  • Practice
  • Duct
  • -
(2) When word begins with ‘C’ and is followed by ‘E’, ‘I’, ‘Y’, it is pronounced as ‘S’
"C" followed by "E"
pronounced as "S"
  • Rice / Mice
  • Piece / Peace
  • Dice
  • Practice
  • Grocer
  • Celebrate
"C" followed by "I"
pronounced as "S"
  • Circle
  • Cinema
  • Citizen
  • Fascinate
  • Circus
  • Criticism
"C" followed by "Y"
pronounced as "S"
  • Cycle
  • Cyclist
  • Cyclone
  • Cyst
  • Cyanide
  • -
(3) When ‘C’ is followed by ‘IA’ or ‘EA’, it is pronounced as ‘SH’
"C" followed by "IA"
pronounced as "SH"
  • Social
  • Special / Speciality
  • Crucial / Financial
"C" followed by "EA"
pronounced as "SH"
  • Ocean
  • Panacea
  • -
PRONUNCIATION OF “G”
When a word ends with ‘GE’ or ‘GE’ is a part of a word, it is pronounced as ‘J’ and others ‘G’
word ends with "GE"
pronounced as "J"
  • Cage / Cottage
  • Coinage
  • Page / Wage
  • Lodge
  • Mortgage
"GE" or "GI" is a part of word
pronounced as "J"
  • Merger
  • Ginger
  • Germ
  • Pigeon
  • Religion
"GE" or "G" is a part of word
pronounced as "G"
  • Finger / Singer
  • God
  • Give
  • Ground
  • Grass
Note: There are many exceptions to this rule.
PRONUNCIATION OF “S”
(1) When the word ends with g, gg, ee, oe, ie and y, ‘S’ is pronounced as ‘Z’
word ends with "g", "gg", "ee" and "oe"
"S" is pronounced as "Z"
  • Songs
  • Eggs
  • Sees
  • Rupees
  • Heroes
word ends with "ie" and "y"
"S" is pronounced as "Z"
  • Carries
  • Worries
  • Boys
  • Rays
  • Toys
(2) When a word ends with e, f, p, pe and te, 'S' is pronounced as ‘S’
word ends with "e", "f" and "p"
"S" is pronounced as "S"
  • Jokes
  • Roofs / Proofs
  • Craps / Crops
  • Shops
  • Traps / Helps
word ends with "pe" and "te"
"S" is pronounced as "S"
  • Hopes
  • Pipes
  • Slopes
  • Bites
  • Kites
(3) When a word with ‘s’ and ‘ss’ is followed by IA and ION, 'S' is pronounced as ‘SH’
"S" and "SS" followed by "IA"
"S" is pronounced as "SH"
  • Asian
  • Persian
  • Russian
"S" and "SS" followed by "ION"
"S" is pronounced as "SH"
  • Pension / Passion
  • Profession / Session
  • Mansion / Mission
PRONUNCIATION OF “T”
(1) When ‘T’ is followed by ie and io, it is pronounced as ‘sh’
"T" followed by "IE" and "IO"
"T" is pronounced as "SH"
  • Patient
  • Nation / Ration
  • Motion / Creation / Mention
(2) When ‘S’ is followed by ‘TIAN’, ‘TION’ or ‘TURE’, 'T' is pronounced as ‘CH’
‘S’ followed by "TIAN", "TION" or "TURE"
"T" is pronounced as "CH"
  • Christian / Question
  • Vulture / Culture / Future
(3) When ‘T’ is followed by ‘H’ then it is pronounced as “TH” or “DH”
word with "T" followed by "H"
"T" is pronounced as "TH"
  • Three
  • Thirteen
  • Throw
  • Thrive
word with "T" followed by "H"
"T" is pronounced as "DH"
  • This / That
  • Then
  • There
  • Than
WHEN CONSONANTS ARE SILENT
In following words Consonants remains Silent
"B" Silent
  • Doubt
  • Dumb
  • Thumb
"L" Silent
  • Chalk
  • Talk / Walk
  • Palm / Clam
"K" Silent
  • Know
  • Knowledge
  • Knife / Knight
"GH" Silent
  • Right
  • Light
  • Plight / Flight
"N" Silent
  • Column
  • Autumn
  • Solemn
"P" Silent
  • Psychology
  • Pneumonia
  • Pneumatic
Related Topics :
English Alphabet letters
English Alphabet letters
Articles : 'A', 'An' and 'The'
Articles 'a' 'an' and 'the' in english language
Parts of Sentence(s)
Parts of Sentences in English
Vowels and Consonants
Vowels and Consonants in English

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