Silent e has many jobs! If you found this article, I’m guessing you recently discovered that silent e has more than one job and you’re wondering about silent e words with soft c and g. Let’s dive in!
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I’m sure you know about silent e’s main job: making the preceding vowel represent its long sound/its name in words like cone and made.
What if I told you that words with silent e only follow this rule 50% of the time?
I was surprised when I first learned that, too! Here is a list of the many jobs of silent e from Denise Eide’s book, Uncovering the logic of English: A common-sense approach to reading, spelling, and literacy:
1. Making the Preceding Vowel Long (About Half the Time)
In roughly 50% of words with a final silent e, the vowel before it represents its long sound.
Examples: cone, made
This is the job most students learn first. It’s a good starting point, as long as it’s not presented as the only job.
2. Preventing Words from Ending in V or U
English words do not end with v or u, so silent e is added.
Examples: give, true.
This explains why giv isn’t a word, and why the e stays even though it doesn’t change the vowel sound.
3. Softening C and G
Silent e can soften the sounds of c and g.
Examples: cage, face.
4. Giving Every Syllable a Written Vowel
Every syllable must have a written vowel, so sometimes a silent e is added. Think of consonant-le endings.
Examples: bubble, tackle.
That e isn’t silent because it’s useless. It’s there to make the syllable work!
5. Distinguishing Meaning
Silent e can help distinguish between singular and plural nouns.
Examples: moos versus moose
Without the e, how would we know whether we’re talking about an animal or multiple “moo” sounds?
6. Making Words Look Like Real Words
This might sound silly, but sometimes a silent e is added to make a word look bigger.
Examples: awe, owe, tie.
7. Changing the Sound of TH
A silent e can change the /th/ sound from unvoiced to voiced.
Examples: breath becomes breathe, bath becomes bathe.
This is especially helpful for older students who are working on spelling and meaning together.
8. Clarifying Meaning Between Homophones
Silent e can differentiate words that sound the same but have different meanings.
Examples: or versus ore, for versus fore
Again, the e is doing meaningful work, even when it’s silent!
Where to Begin with Silent e Rules
Phew! That’s a lot of jobs for one letter. If you’re feeling overwhelmed about teaching all of this to your students, let’s focus on one important thing:
When you first introduce silent e rules, mention to your students that the main job (making the preceding vowel represent the long sound) is not the only job of silent e. Even if you are not prepared to teach the other jobs of silent e now, it will prevent future confusion if you make the children aware that there is not just one strict rule for silent e.
I like to think of silent e as a ninja, no matter which job it is doing because it is silent and sneaky. This is why I created my Ninja e Phonics Units. In these resources, Ninja e sneaks up on the word and changes other sounds in the word. There’s a unit for rules 1, 3, and 4 (basic silent e, soft c and g, and consonant -le.)
Let’s chat more about job #3: Silent e can soften the sounds of c and g.
In words like cage and face, Ninja e sneaks up on the word and surprises the vowel, as well as the c or g. The vowel and the c or g are both so surprised that they change their sounds! The silent e makes the preceding vowel represent its long sound (its name) and it softens the sound of c or g.
What are hard and soft sounds?
Hard c sounds like /k/. Soft c sounds like /s/.
Fact has a hard c. Face has a soft c.
Hard g sounds like /g/. Soft g sounds like /j/.
Hug has a hard g. Huge has a soft g.
Add a ninja to your phonics lesson to capture your students’ attention and make for a memorable lesson!
The soft c and g Ninja e unit comes with a slide deck where Ninja e swoops in to perform its job, as well as several worksheets that provide your students opportunities to read and spell silent e words with soft c and g at the word and sentence levels. It also includes phoneme-grapheme mapping boxes for silent e words with soft c and g from the Dolch and Fry lists, which means you can align your high-frequency word instruction with your phonics instruction.
Teachers say these units were their students’ favorite activities of the year!
I hope this information makes you feel more confident teaching the jobs of silent e, and especially silent e words with soft c and g! If you want to know more, check out my recent post about silent e’s main job and be on the lookout for a new post about silent e in consonant le words! I also highly recommend that you check out Denise Eide’s book.
