Check your knowledge

Exercise 1. Give a related word with the sound [S] to the following:

MODEL: atrocity – atrocious

finance delicacy suffice

grace benefice caprice

space office race

Exercise 2. Practise spelling the words given below. See if you can add some more words in -age and -ege to the list:

manage message package cottage carriage

heritage encourage advantage postage cabbage

luggage usage privilege college allege

Exercise 3. Four of the words given below are misspelled. Find them and correct their spelling.

essence announce responce expense since

coarse fierse course source sense

greace peace piece police tense

abuse adduse juice truce

Exercise 4. Insert the missing letters for [s].

1. He hasn’t ac-eded to thi- reque-t. 2. The ac-ent is on the -econd -yllable. 3. I cannot ac-ept -uch a -illy excuse. 4. The only ac-ess to the hou-e is across -ome ri-e fields. 5. We come to -chool every day ex-ept -unday. 6. The -uit is quite -ati-factory ex-ept the -leeves. 7. In May there was an ex-ess of imports over the export-. 8. The gue-t- were ex-ited by thi- news. 9. The mo-t effective defen-e is offen-e. 10. Let chan-e de-ide. 11. Whether a big gun is an offen-ive or defen-ive weapon is a difficult que-tion.

Exercise 5. Arrange the words listed below according to their root-vowel.

MODEL: [aI] – rise, revise, prize

[J] – please, tease, breeze, freeze

abuse accuse amuse arouse applause blouse cheese choose confuse cosy

daisy easy excuse music nasal noise pause please praise poison

raise rose resume rise revise season tease trousers wise

amaze blaze blowzy breeze Brazil crazy doze daze freeze glaze

haze frowzy lazy maize ozone prize razor seize sneeze squeeze

Exercise 6. Add the suffix –ism to the words given below, translate them into Russian.

social fatal Darwin

cube real impression

separate pure American

Mystic Fanatic sceptic

Exercise 7. Write down some words you think of rhyming with:

measure pleasure

vision provision

illusion profusion

Lesson 5 The Doubling of Consonant Letters

It is a general principle of English spelling that, as a rule, a single consonant letter between two vowel letters indicates the long or diphthongal sound value of the preceding vowel letter, while two or more consonant letters between two vowel letters (or when final) indicate the short sound value of the preceding vowel letter:

like – lick take – tackle

diner – dinner wining – winning

inducing – inductive reduce – reduction

Though there are many exceptions, knowledge of this general principle is often useful.

The principle of vowel quantity is at the basis of all the rules of the doubling of consonant letters.

RULE 1. DOUBLE FINAL CONSONANT LETTERS IN ROOT WORDS

A. One-syllable words ending in [f], [s], [l] and [z] always have a double final consonant letter (ff, ll, ss and zz) if the consonant is preceded by a vowel sound represented by a single letter:

fill mill ball

kiss miss pass

cuff stuff staff

buzz jazz fuzz

Notice as, bus, gas, has, his, if, is, nil, plus, us, this, thus, was, yes, quiz, which are the most common exceptions to this RULE.

NOTE 1. Though being unaccented, the suffixes –ess, -less, -ness have the double final consonant letter s:

lioness hostess

business readiness

careless fearless

NOTE 2. There are some two- and even three-syllable words with the double final f and s. They are subdivided into two groups:

1) Words with the double final s when the consonant it stands for is preceded by the accented vowel represented by a single letter:

ca’ress ad’dress dis’tress

re’gress (v.) pro’gress (v.) as’sess

suc’cess pro’fes con’fess

pos’sess dis’cuss pro’cess (v.)

2) Words with the double final f and s when the consonant it stands for is preceded by the unaccented vowel represented by a single letter:

‘tariff ‘sheriff ‘bailiff ‘plaintiff

‘regress (n.) ‘congress ‘progress (n.) ‘mattress

‘harass em’barass ‘access ‘process (n.)

‘canvass ‘compass

B. The other consonant letters are always single at the end of one-syllable words:

ten pen

cap map

bad lad

leg peg

Notice add, odd, Ann, inn, Finn, purr, egg, ebb, butt which have double final consonant letters either to lengthen a short word (add, egg, etc.) or to distinguish two homophones (in ‘в’ and inn ‘гостиница’).

NOTE 3. A word ending in a double consonant letter ordinarily keeps it in all derivative forms and in compounds:

ill – illness spell – spelling

inn – inn-keeper ball – football

possess – possessive class – classify

But there are some words which lose one consonant letter: fulfil (cf. full and fill), skilful (cf. skill), until (cf. till), welcome, welfare (cf. well), wilful (cf. will), always, almost and other words beginning with al- (cf. all).

NOTE 4. Words in -ll drop one l before -ly: full – fully, dull – dully.

Exercise 1. Copy out the words listed below under two headings: a) Double Consonant, b) Single Consonant Letter. Be ready to explain: 1) why the final consonant letter is double, 2) why it is single.

MODEL: Mass. Final s is double because the consonant it stands for is preceded by the accented vowel represented by a single letter.

Thus. Final s is single. The word thus is an exception to the Rule.

gas class as ass his hiss bus plus fuss discuss

till until pool pull welfare farewell unwell school skill skilful

fill fulfil add sad egg beg oppress lioness useless witness

of off if stiff grief tariff quiz buzz inn fin

Exercise 2. Read aloud the sentences given below and comment on the meaning of the italicized words. Explain the difference in spelling.

1. The clock has already struck eight. They are all ready for the trip. 2. Mr. Brown is always complaining. Mrs. Brown is in all ways different form him. 3. John also went to the club. Is was all so amusing and interesting there. 4. We are almost happy it happened. We are all most happy to see you. 5. He is altogether confused. Let us sing all together for a change.

Exercise 3. Combine the following pairs into a correctly spelled new word.

Well, come; well, fare; fare, well; full, fill; full, grown; skill, full; will, full; glass, full; class, mate; down, fall; foot, ball; inn, keeper; all, most; all, though.

Exercise 4. Write the missing letter(s) for the sound given in brackets:

a) a[d] ba[d] o[d] no[d] e[g] le[g] le[s] gue[s]	conger[s] posse[s]] i[l] ni[l] hea[l] hi[l] fee[l] fi[l]	coa[l] coo[l] ki[l] pa[s] compa[s] ga[s] gra[s] embarra[s]	bu[z] bu[s] plu[s] discu[s] roo[f] stu[f] baili[f] belie[f]
b) du[l] du[l]y du[l]ne[s]	wi[l] wi[l]fu[l] wi[l]fu[l]ne[s]	fu[l] fu[l]y fu[l]ne[s]	a[l] a[l]ways a[l]together

c) dre[s] pre[s] che[s] fi[n]

addre[s] distre[s] profe[s] Fi[n]ish

adder[s]ing distre[s]ed profe[s]or gree[n]ish

Exercise 5. Distinguish in from inn, mist from missed, past from passed. Insert the appropriate word.

1. The car ______ us at seventy miles an hour just as we were walking ______ the college (past, passed). 2. Everything was hidden in ______. We lost our way and ______ the 10.30 train (mist, missed). 3. ______ the morning we left the ______ and went straight to the station (in, inn).

RULE 2. DOUBLE CONSONANT LETTERS INSIDE ROOT WORDS

A. In disyllabic and polysyllabic words the single consonant sound on the syllable boundary is represented by a double consonant letter if it is preceded by a short and accented vowel expressed by a single letter:

differ coffee

letter little

merry cherry

butter bottom

rubber cabbage

A double consonant letter inside a root word indicates the short sound value of the preceding vowel letter.

B. There is no doubling if the consonant

1) is preceded by a long vowel or a diphthong: table, sofa, metre;

2) comes after a short and accented vowel represented by a digraph: courage, steady;

3) is followed by another consonant: picture, chapter;

4) is represented by a digraph or trigraph: mother, butcher;

5) is represented by monographs which are never doubled: h, j, k, q, w, x, and v (except in flivver).

Exercise 1. Study the words listed below, read them aloud and explain why the consonant letters are double.

arrow ballet barrel berry bitter bottle brilliant butter channel college

cotton current dazzle fellow flatter gallery horror latter lobby luggage

manner matter message middle narrow patter penny possible quarrel riddle

settle shallow shilling sorrow stammer suffer supper swallow terror valley

Exercise 2. Study the words listed below and explain why the medial consonant graphemes are not double.

MODEL: Pleasure. There is no doubling of s because it is preceded by two vowel letters (a digraph).

Brother. Digraphs and trigraphs are never doubled.

butcher courage

ready budget

satchel sickle

shiver shelter

feather candle

Exercise 3. Insert the missing letters for the consonants given in brackets. Double the consonant letter, if necessary.

be[r]y ve[r]y bo[r]ow bu[f]et bu[C]er bu[G]et ca[b]age co[p]er chi[k]en che[r]y

ca[r]ot ca[r]iage cou[r]age cha[n]el co[f]ee di[f]icult fe[l]ow ha[p]en ke[t]le ki[t]en

le[s]on li[s]ten lu[g]age ma[n]er ma[r]y pi[l]ow po[k]et po[r]idge ra[b]it ru[b]er

rou[b]le su[d]en sou[D]ern squi[r]el sy[l]able te[n]is te[r]ible tro[l]ey trou[b]le wo[r]y