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2.8: Soft and Hard <g>

Last updated

Jun 15, 2022
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- 2.7: Soft and Hard <c>
- 2.9: The Consonant Sound [j]

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Overview of Soft and Hard <g>

A soft <c> spells the sound [s], as in acid, and a hard <c> spells the sound [k], as in actor. Also, a soft <c> has to have either an <e>, , or <y> right after it.

The letter <g> sometimes spells the sound [j] as in gem, and it sometimes spells the sound [g] as in gum. When it spells the [j] sound, it is called soft <g>. When it spells the [g] sound, it is called hard <g>.

Examples

The hard-soft distinction can help you keep straight the often-confused angle and angel:

Angel has <g> = [j] because of the <e> immediately following, while angle has <g> = [g] because there is no <e>, , or <y> immediately following.

Review

Pronounce each of the following words. Pay special attention to the sounds being spelled by the <g> in each of them. Sort the words into the matrix:

$\begin{align*} &\text{agent} && \text{ignorance} && \text{agriculture} && \text{college} && \text{angel}\\ &\text{recognize} && \text{grower} && \text{gypped} && \text{digest} && \text{angle}\\ &\text{argue} && \text{genies} && \text{intelligence} && \text{disgusted} && \text{regret}\\ &\text{sergeant} && \text{discharge} && \text{glimpse} && \text{goddess} && \text{legislator}\\ &\text{challenge} && \text{gleamed} && \text{twig} && \text{biology} && \text{frog}\end{align*}$

Words in which <g> spells ...
	[j]:	[g]:
Words with <e>, <i>, or <y> right after the <g>:
Words with no <e>,<i>, or <y> after the <g>:

You should have found that the letter <g> spells the [j] sound only when it has one of three letters right after it. The three letters are _______, _______, and _______.
The letter <g> is called soft <g> when it spells the sound ______.
A soft <g> always has one of three letters right after it: _______, _______, or _______.
Soft <g> always will have <e>, , or <y> after it. But not every <g> that has one of these three letters after it is a soft <g>! Look at these words, with hard <g>s where we'd expect soft ones: get, together, hunger, give, and girl.
So we can't say that any <g> with <e>, , or <y> after it will be soft. But we can say that any soft <g> will have <e>, , or <y> after it.
The letter <c> is soft when it has the letters _______, _______, or _______ after it. The soft <c> spells the sound _______.

Soft <c> and <g> always have the letters _______, _______, or _______ after them.

Combine these free stems and suffixes. Watch for cases of twinning and final <e> deletion:

Free Stem	+ Suffix	= Word
8. god	+ ess	=
9. biologist	+ s	=
10. disgust	+ ing	=
11. gold	+ en	=
12. gyp	+ ing	=
13. intelligent	+ ly	=
14. legislate	+ or	=
15. ignore	+ ance	=

Show Answer

Words in which <g> spells ...
	[j]:	[g]:
Words with <e>, <i>, or <y> right after the <g>:	agent digest sergeant biology challenge angel genies legislator discharge gypped intelligence college
Words with no <e>,<i>, or <y> after the <g>:		recognize goddess argue angle ignorance regret grower frog gleamed agriculture glimpse twig disgusted

You should have found that the letter <g> spells the [j] sound only when it has one of three letters right after it. The three letters are <e> , , and <y>.
The letter <g> is called soft <g> when it spells the sound [j].
A soft <g> always has one of three letters right after it: <e>, , or <y>.
Soft <g> always will have <e>, , or <y> , after it. But not every <g> that has one of these three letters after it is a soft <g>! Look at these words, with hard <g>'s where we'd expect soft ones: get, together, hunger, give, and girl.
The letter <c> is soft when it has the letters <e> , , or <y> after it. The soft <c> spells the sound [s].

Soft <c> and <g> always have the letters <e> , , or <y> after them.

Free Stem	+ Suffix	= Word
8. god + d	+ ess	= goddess
9. biologist	+ s	= biologists
10. disgust	+ ing	= disgusting
11. gold	+ en	= golden
12. gyp +p	+ ing	= gypping
13. intelligent	+ iy	= intelligently
14. legislate	+ or	= legislator
15. ignore	+ ance	= ignorance

Soft <g> and Silent Final <e>

Although not all <g>s followed by an <e>, , or <y> are soft, all <g>s followed by a silent final <e> are soft.

Examples

The following words have a soft <g> followed by a silent final <e>:

refuge college urge

Review

Use the following words to answer the questions below.

$\begin{align*} &\text{waterlog} && \text{package} && \text{jog} && \text{challenge}\\ &\text{beg} && \text{refuge} && \text{catalog} && \text{enrage}\\ &\text{drug} &&\text{discharge} && \text{earwig} && \text{discourage}\\ &\text{zigzag} &&\text{college} && \text{frog} && \text{urge}\end{align*}$

Do the words in the left column end with soft <g> or with hard <g>? _______
Do the words in the right column end with soft <g> or with hard <g>? _______
Why are the <g>s in the right column soft <g>s? ______________________________
Why are the <g>s in the left column hard <g>s? ______________________________
In the words in the right column the final <e>s are all marking preceding <g>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. The two words are _______ and _______.
So far you’ve seen three 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 _______.
Final <e> can mark a preceding <g> as being _______.
And final <e> can mark both a long vowel and a soft <c> or <g> at the same time.
Sort the following words into the matrix below.

$\begin{align*} &\text{refuge} && \text{twice} && \text{lace} && \text{challenge} && \text{recognize}\\ &\text{legislate} && \text{license} && \text{embrace} && \text{since} && \text{urge}\\ &\text{enrage} && \text{college} &&\text{courage} && \text{charge} && \text{intelligence}\\ &\text{ignorance} && \text{office} &&\text{civilize} && \text{expense} && \text{price}\end{align*}$

Words in which final <e> ...
	marks a soft <c> or soft <g>:	does not mark a soft <c> or soft <g>:
Words in which final <e> marks a long vowel
Words in which final <e> does not mark a long vowel

A silent final <e> will mark a <g> right in front of it as being __________ — that is, as spelling the sound ______.

Show Answer

Do the words in the left column end with soft <g> or with hard <g>? hard <g>
Do the words in the right column end with soft <g> or with hard <g>? soft <g>
Why are the <g>s in the right column soft <g>s? because they have an <e> following them
Why are the <g>s in the left column hard <g>s? because they do not have an <e>, , or <y> following them
In the words in the right column the final <e>s are all marking preceding <g>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. The two words are refuge and enrage.
So far you've seen three 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 (or pronounced [s]).
Final <e> can mark a preceding <g> as being soft (or pronounced [j]).

Words in which final <e> ...
	marks a soft <c> or soft <g>:	does not mark a soft <c> or soft <g>:
Words in which final <e> marks a long vowel	refuge enrage twice lace embrace price	legislate civilize recognize
Words in which final <e> does not mark a long vowel	ignorance college office courage challenge since charge urge intelligence	license expense

A silent final <e> will mark a <g> right in front of it as being soft — that is, as spelling the sound [j] .

Explore More

Word Venn. In circle A put only words that contain a hard <g>. In circle B put only words that contain a soft <g>. In circle C put only words that contain a silent final <e>.

catalog	geography	gypped	office
ignorance	accept	motor	courage
license	garbage	goddess	generates

Show Answer

Soft <g> and Deleting Silent Final <e>

Final <e> Deletion Rule. You delete the final <e> that marks a soft <c> or soft <g> only when you add a suffix that starts with <e>, , or <y>; you delete final <e>s that only mark long vowels when you add a suffix that starts with any vowel.

Examples

Now let’s see what changes the final <e> that marks soft <g> will make in the Final <e> Deletion Rule. Here are some words analyzed for you.

Free Stem	+ Suffix	= New Word	Was a final <e> deleted?
cag e	+ ed	= caged	Yes
discourage	+ ment	= discouragement	No

Each word has been analyzed into its free stem and suffix. Any final <e>s were deleted.

Word	= Free Stem	+ Suffix	Was a final <e> deleted?
largeness	= large	+ ness	No
orangy	= orang e	+ y	Yes

Review

Here are some words analyzed for you. Write ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in the right hand column:

Free Stem	+ Suffix	= New Word
1. urge	+ ing	= urging
2. orange	+ y	= orangy
3. challenge	+ s	= challenges
4. package	+ ing	= packaging
5. manage	+ able	= manageable
6. refuge	+ ee	= refugee
7. large	+ est	= largest
8. urge	+ ency	= urgency
9. marriage	+ able	= marriageable

Analyze each word into its free stem and suffix. Replace any final <e>s that were deleted. Then write ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in the right hand column:

Word	= Free Stem	+ Suffix
10. encouragement	=	+
11. urged	=	+
12. challenger	=	+
13. refuges	=	+
14. discouraged	=	+
15. marriages	=	+
16. manager	=	+

17. You should have found that when the final <e> was deleted, the suffix started with one of three letters: _____, _____, or _____.

18. Which three letters must always follow a soft <g>? _____, _____, and _____.

19. Final <e> Deletion Rule. You delete a final <e> that marks a soft <c> or a soft <g> only when you add a suffix that starts with _____, _____, or _____; you delete a final <e> that is only marking a long vowel when you add a suffix that starts with any _____.

Analyze each of the following words into its free stem and suffix. Be sure your analysis shows any final <e> deletions that occurred.

Word	= Free Stem	+ Suffix
20. manageable	=	+
21. oranges	=	+
22. challenging	=	+
23. marriageable	=	+
24. largest	=	+

Show Answer

Free Stem	+ Suffix	= New Word	Was a final <e> deleted?
1. urg e	+ ing	= urging	Yes
2. orang e	+ y	= orangy	Yes
3. challeng e	+ s	= challenges	No
4. packag e	+ ing	= packaging	Yes
5. manag e	+ able	= manageable	No
6. refug e	+ ee	= refugee	Yes
7. larg e	+ est	= largest	Yes
8. urg e	+ ency	= urgency	Yes
9 .marriag e	+ able	= marriageable	No

Word	= Free Stem	+ Suffix	Was a final <e> deleted?
10. encouragement	= encourage	+ ment	No
11. urged	= urg e	+ ed	Yes
12. challenger	= challeng e	+ er	Yes
13. refuges	= refuge	+ s	No
14. discouraged	= discourag e	+ ed	Yes
15. marriages	= marriage	+ s	No
16. manager	= manag e	+ er	Yes

17. You should have found that when the final <e> was deleted, the suffix started with one of three letters: <e> , , or <y>.

18. Which three letters must always follow a soft <g>? <e>, , and <y> .

19. Final <e> Deletion Rule. You delete a final <e> that marks a soft <c> or a soft <g> only when you add a suffix that starts with <e> ,  , or <y>; you delete a final <e> that is only marking a long vowel when you add a suffix that starts with any vowel.

Word	= Free Stem	+ Suffix
20. manageable	= manage	+ able
21. oranges	= orange	+ s
22. challenging	= challeng e	+ ing
23. marriageable	= marriage	+ able
24. largest	= larg e	+ est

Overview of Soft and Hard <g>

Examples

Review

Soft <g> and Silent Final <e>

Examples

Review

Explore More

Soft <g> and Deleting Silent Final <e>

Examples

Review

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