Classzone: The Language of Literature, Grade 8

Name _______________________________________

Lesson 31 Pronunciation problems

general postpone

several quantity

interest et cetera

probably environment

gardener government

decimal recognize

privilege handsome

chocolate budget

sophomore kitchen

favorite whistle

1.	Do the words in the first column have two or three syllables? ___________________________________________________ Is the underlined vowel in each word stressed or unstressed? ___________________________________________________ If the unstressed vowel is dropped when the words are pronounced, do the words sound as though they have two syllables or three syllables? ___________________________________________________
2.	Are the underlined letters in the second column vowels or consonants? _______________ When the first six words are pronounced carefully, can the underlined letters be heard? __________
3.	The last four words in the second column each have a silent letter. What two words have a silent d? __________ __________ What two words have a silent t? __________ __________

Lesson Generalization
An unstressed middle vowel is sometimes dropped when the word is pronounced. The three-syllable word seems to shrink to a two-syllable word:

gen-er-al sounds liked gen-ral fav-or-ite sounds like fav-rite
Certain consonant combinations do not blend together smoothly: tp mn gn. One of the consonants may accidentally be dropped when the word is pronounced.

gover-ment instead of government

reco-nize instead of recognize

pos-pone instead of postpone

In some other words, the difficult consonant is retained in the spelling, but is never pronounced: kit chen whistle
Remember these often unspoken letters when you spell any of these words.