2.7: Soft and Hard <c>

Overview of Soft and Hard <c>

When the letter <c> spells the [s] sound, it is called soft <c>. When it spells the [k] sound, it is called hard <c>. 

Examples

The letter <c> sometimes spells the sound [s] – as in acid.

Sometimes <c> spells the sound [k] – as in actor.

Review

1. Pronounce each of the following words. Pay special attention to the sounds being spelled by the <c> in each one. Then sort the twenty words into the matrix:
   
\begin{align*} &\text{service} && \text{elected} && \text{deceptive} && \text{miscue} && \text{concept}\\ &\text{republic} && \text{decided} && \text{agriculture} && \text{embrace} && \text{democratic}\\ &\text{ignorance} &&\text{comics} && \text{center} && \text{actively} && \text{since}\\ &\text{juicy} && \text{producer} &&\text{recover} && \text{notice} && \text{discount}\end{align*}

service	elected	deceptive	miscue	concept
republic	decided	agriculture	embrace	democratic
ignorance	comics	center	actively	since
juicy	producer	recover	notice	discount

 

	Words with soft <c>:	Words with hard <c>:
Words with <e>, <i> or <y> right after the <c>:
With no <e>, <i>, or <y> right after the <c>:

2. You should have found that the letter <c> always spells the [s] sound when it has one of three letters right after it. The letters are _______, _______, or _______.

3. The letter <c> is called soft <c> when it spells the sound _______. The letter <c> is called hard <c> when it spells the sound _______. A soft <c> always has one of three letters right after it: _______, _______, or _______.

4. Sort these twelve words into the following matrix:
   

\begin{align*} &\text{rejoice} && \text{civilize} && \text{fiercely} && \text{license}\\ &\text{recognized} && \text{victim} && \text{affection} && \text{arc}\\ &\text{emergency} &&\text{officer} && \text{surface} && \text{fabric}\end{align*}

	Words with soft <c>:	Words with hard <c>:
Words with <e>, <i>, or <y> right after the <c>:
Words with no <e>, <i> , or <y> right after the <c>:

5. When the letter <c> has an _______, _______, or _______ right after it, it spells the sound _______ and is called __________. Otherwise, it spells the sound _______ and is called _______.

Show Answer

1. 	Words with soft <c>:	Words with hard <c>:
   Words with <e>, <i> or <y> right after the <c>:	service embrace ignorance notice juicy concept decided since producer deceptive center
   With no <e>, <i>, or <y> right after the <c>:		republic elected comics agriculture recover miscue actively concept democratic discount

2. You should have found that the letter <c> always spells the [s] sound when it has one of three letters right after it. The letters are <e>, <i>, or <y>.

3. The letter <c> is called soft <c> when it spells the sound [s]. The letter <c> is called hard when it spells the sound [k]. A soft <c> always has one of three letters right after it: <e>, <i> , or <y>.

4. 	Words with soft <c>:	Words with hard <c>:
   Words with <e>, <i>, or <y> right after the <c>:	rejoice emergency civilize officer fiercely surface license
   Words with no <e>, <i> , or <y> right after the <c>:		recognized victim affection arc fabric

5. When the letter <c> has an <e>, <i>, or <y> right after it, it spells the sound [s] and is called soft <c>. Otherwise, it spells the sound [k] and is called hard <c> .

Soft <c> and Silent Final <e>

When the letter <c> has an <e>, <i>, or <y> right after it, it spells the sound [s] and is called soft <c>. Otherwise, it spells the sound [k] and is called hard <c>.

Examples

Below are examples of words that have a soft <c> and final silent <e>:

twice       ignorance       office       fierce

The words below are examples of the sound [k] also known as a hard <c>:

comic       traffic         fabric        maniac

Review

Pronounce these words:

\begin{align*} &\text{fabric} && \text{price}\\ &\text{arc} && \text{ignorance}\\&\text{traffic} && \text{rejoice}\\&\text{democratic} && \text{twice}\\&\text{mechanic} && \text{office}\\&\text{maniac} && \text{fierce}\\&\text{comic} && \text{since}\end{align*}

1. Do the words in the left column end with a hard <c> or with a soft <c>? ________
2. Do the words in the right column end with a hard <c> or with a soft <c>? _________
3. Why are the <c>s in the right column soft <c>s? _________.
4. Why are the <c>s in the left column hard <c>s? _________.
5. One of the jobs of silent final <e> is to mark a <c> right before it as soft. In the words in the right column the final <e>s are all marking <c>’s as being soft. But in two of the words in the right column the final <e> is also marking the preceding vowel as being long. Those two words are: ____________ and ___________.
6. So far you’ve seen two different jobs that final <e> can do: Final <e> can mark a preceding vowel as being __________ . Final <e> can mark a preceding <c> as being __________. And sometimes a final <e> can do both things at once — as in the word lace.

Show Answer

1. Do the words in the left column end with a hard <c> or with a soft <c>? hard<c>

2. Do the words in the right column end with a hard <c> or with a soft <c>? soft <c>

3. Why are the <c>s in the right column soft <c>s? Because they have an <e> following them.

4. Why are the <c>s in the left column hard <c>s? Because they do not have <e>, <i>, or <y> following them.

5. One of the jobs of silent final <e> is to mark a <c> right before it as soft. In the words in the right column the final <e>s are all marking <c>’s as being soft. But in two of the words in the right column the final <e> is also marking the preceding vowel as being long. Those two words are: price and twice.

6. So far you've seen two different jobs that final <e> can do: Final <e> can mark a preceding vowel as being long . Final <e> can mark a preceding <c> as being soft . And sometimes a final <e> can do both things at once.

Soft <c> and Deleting Silent Final <e>

When the letter <c> has an <e>, <i>, or <y> right after it, it spells the sound [s] and is called soft <c>.

Rule for Deleting Silent Final <e>: If a word ends with a silent <e> that shows that the vowel sound in the word is long, you delete the silent final <e> when you add a suffix that starts with a vowel.

Examples

A soft <c> must have an <e>, <i>, or <y> right after it, so if a stem ends in <ce> and the suffix being added does not start with an <e>, <i>, or <y>, we must keep the final <e> in the stem to keep the <c> soft. Thus, there is no final <e> deletion like in the word noticeable.

But if the suffix starts with an <e>, <i>, or <y>, we no longer need the final <e> in the stem to keep the <c> soft, so it is deleted like in the word announcer.

Review

We must revise our final <e> deletion rule a little, because the final <e> that marks a soft <c> doesn’t behave quite like the final <e> that just marks a long vowel. Here are some words analyzed for you. Show any final <e> deletions as we have done with announcer. Write “Yes” or “No” in the right hand column to show whether a final <e> was deleted when the suffix was added to the free stem:

Free Stem + Suffix = Word	Was a final <e> deleted?
1. announc e + er = announcer	Yes
2. choice + est = choicest
3. juice + y = juicy
4. embrace + able = embraceable
5. surface + s = surfaces
6. notice + able = noticeable
7. introduce + ing = introducing
8. scarce + ly = scarcely
9. service + able = serviceable
10. price + ed = priced

Combine each stem word and suffix to make a new word. Mark any final <e>s that are deleted:

Stem Word	+ Suffix	= word
11. lac e	+ y	= lacy
12. practice	+ ed	=
13. service	+ s	=
14. announce	+ ment	=
15. juice	+ y	=
16. fierce	+ est	=
17. embrace	+ able	=
18. office	+ er	=
19. sentence	+ ed	=
20. rejoice	+ ing	=

21. Look at the cases where the final <e> was deleted. You should have found that in each case the suffix started with one of three letters: ______, ______, or ______. Which three letters must follow a soft <c>? _____, _____, or _____.

22. You delete the final <e> that marks a soft <c> only when you add a suffix that starts with ______, ______, or ______; you delete a final <e> that is only marking a long vowel whenever you add a suffix that starts with any ______.

Show Answer

Free Stem + Suffix = Word	Was a final <e>; deleted?
1. announc e + er = announcer	Yes
2. choic e + est = choicest	Yes
3. juic e + y = juicy	Yes
4. embrace + able = embraceable	No
5. surface + s = surfaces	No
6. notice + able = noticeable	No
7. introduc e + ing = introducing	Yes
8. scarce + ly = scarcely	No
9. service + able = serviceable	No
10. pric e + ed = priced	Yes

Free Stem	+ Suffix	= Word
11. lac e	+ y	= lacy
12. practic e	+ ed	= practiced
13. service	+ s	= services
14. announce	+ ment	= announcement
15. juic e	+ y	= juicy
16. fierc e	+ est	= fiercest
17. embrace	+ able	= embraceable
18. offic e	+ er	= officer
19. sentenc e	+ ed	= sentenced
20. rejoic e	+ ing	= rejoicing

21. Look at the cases where the final <e> was deleted. You should have found that in each case the suffix started with one of three letters: <e> , <i> or <y>. Which three letters must follow a soft <c>? <e> , <i> , or <y> .

22. You delete the final <e> that marks a soft <c> only when you add a suffix that starts with <e> , <i>, or <y> ; you delete a final <e> that is only marking a long vowel whenever you add a suffix that starts with any vowel.

Explore More

Word Changles. Word Changles are a combination of Word Changes and Word Scrambles. Follow the directions carefully. Write the words you make in the column on the right. The shaded boxes will contain free stems that you worked with in this lesson:

1. write the word clue	clue
2. change the <l> to <j>, add an <i> and scramble the letters
3. change <ju> to <pr>
4. change <i> to <a> and <p> to <s> and scramble the letters
5. add a <c> and scramble the letters
6. change <d> to <d> and scramble the letters

Show Answer

1. write the word clue	clue
2. change the <l> to <j>, add an <i> and scramble the letters	juice
3. change <ju> to <pr>	price
4. change <i> to <a> and <p> to <s> and scramble the letters	acres, cares, races , scare
5. add a <c> and scramble the letters	scarce
6. change <d> to <d> and scramble the letters	scared, sacred, cedars