OnTrack Reading

The letter g comes close to following the same rule as the letter c in that it is always pronounced /g/ unless it is followed by an e, i or y. However, when it is followed by e, i or y, you can’t be certain that it will be pronounced /j/.

Words with ge usually follow the rule, but then we have the very common word get, plus words like rugged and shrugged. The gy combination usually works, but it isn’t a very common occurrence and then the gi words are all over the lot, with giant, ginger and gist offset by words like gift, gill and give.

Because of the much lower reliability of the pattern in the case of the letter g, it is less productive to teach this as any sort of hard and fast rule. However, here is a worksheet that makes the point that the letter g represents two different sounds, /g/ and /j/.

Download Reading the Letter G Worksheet

Note that the above worksheet does not refer to a rule governing which pronunciation to use in a particular situation. You can decide whether or not your child is old enough to understand the somewhat different circumstances about when g is /g/ and when it is /j/. You should, in any case, make sure that your child understands that he should be prepared to try both sounds in an unfamiliar word.

Incidentally, one additional reason not to worry quite as much about this situation is that the initial blends gl and gr are difficult to pronounce using the /j/ sound for the letter g (jlad? and jrip?) unlike the case with the letter c where cl could be pronounced “sl” and clip could be misread as slip.

If you’ve been working your way through the Tidbits section of the Guide, the next Page discusses a spelling tip which is useful if your child fully grasps the Rule of c.

Next: Spelling Tips for the K Sound, or return to the OnTrack Reading Home Page.