VII. Reading of consonant combinations (part 3)

Letter combination	Position	Pronunciation	Examples	Exceptions
qu	At the beginning of a word before a vowel	[ kw ]	queen, quick	Queue [ kju: ] - очередь
qua	At the beginning of a word	[ kwɔ: / kwɒ ]	quarter, quality
que	At the end of a word	[ k ]	technique, unique
gh	At the end of words	[ f ]	rough
	Usually before letter t	[ - ]	Light, flight
gn	At the end of words	[ n ]	Sign
gu	At the beginning of a word	[ g ]	Guess
gue	At the end of words	[ g ]	Dialogue
tion / sion	At the end of a word	[ ʃ(ə)n ] / [ ʒ(ə)n ]	Translation, invasion	Question [ ‘kwestʃən ]
sure	At the end of a word in unstressed syllables	[ ʒə ]	Pleasure, measure	Pressure [ ‘preʃə ]
ture	At the end of a word in unstressed syllables	[ tʃə ]	Lecture, culture

Exercise 48. Write down the phonetic symbol and read the words.

qu [ ] quickly, question, queen, quite, quiet, quote, quotation, quit, quiz;

qua [ ] quarter, quarrel, quality, quarts, quantity, squash;

que [ ] technique, unique, antique, picturesque, cheque;

[ ] rough, tough, cough, laugh;

gh

[ ] high, higher, right, night, fight, light, eight, weight, daughter, thought;

gn [ ] sign, design, designer, foreign, deign, feign, campaign;

gu [ ] guess, guest, guide, guilt, guilty, guise, guy, guarantee;

gue [ ] dialogue, colleague, tongue;

tion/sion [ ] institution, evolution, promotion, devotion, caution, precaution, motion, occupation, celebration, preparation, question, explosion, vision, division, invasion, mission;

sure [ ] treasure, pleasure, measure, leisure;

ture [ ] picture, mixture, fracture, future, nature, departure.

Exercise 49. Read and transcribe the words. Do not forget to put the stress mark if a word has two or more syllables.

Intention, quarrel, decision, guinea, departure, measure, antique, quit, division, feature, enough, qualification, rapture, technique, pollution, guard, question, nature, unique, invasion, equal, ambition, treasure, bright.

Exercise 50. Read the following sentences. Underline the words with consonant combinations, explain their reading and transcribe them.

1. The rhythm of this song is unique. 2. What’s your favourite leisure activity? – I prefer going for walks. - But why are you asking? 3. What kind of mixture is there in your glass? 4. My granny collects antique furniture. 5. The last night was calm and quiet. 6. Be careful! You are passing an ancient tomb. 7. The picture on that wall is something extraordinary. 8. The decision is made and we all know it’s right. 9. Our lecture is over. Does anybody have any questions? 10. I’ve always been interested in psychology. 11. How much does the cargo weigh? – The quantity of kilos doesn’t matter, the contents are important. 12. It’s a rhetoric question, isn’t it?

Exercise 51. Read the text. Explain the reading of the letters and letter combinations in bold.