Business English: A Practice Book

Pronounce the following, making sure that each syllable is correct. Guard against slurring the words in the last column.

Enunciate carefully:

Be especially careful of the sounds th and wh. Add no syllable to a word and omit none. Consult a dictionary for any word below about which you are not certain:

A homonym is a word having the same sound as another but differing from it in meaning. Use each of the following in a sentence to show its meaning.

Do the same with the following:

What is a syllable?

Choose a word and notice that every vowel sound in it makes a syllable. Therefore, you never have two vowels in one syllable unless the two are pronounced as one sound.

In pronouncing notice carefully to which syllable a consonant belongs; as in dif-fer-ent, beau-ti-fy, dai-sy.

Divide the following words into syllables. If you cannot decide with which syllable a consonant belongs, consult a dictionary.

If a syllable, especially an accented syllable, ends in a vowel, what is usually the length of the vowel?

If the syllable ends in a consonant, what is usually the length of the vowel of the syllable?

When a consonant is doubled, the division is usually made between the two letters; as,

As a rule, a prefix constitutes one syllable; as,

As a rule, a suffix constitutes one syllable; as,

When two or more letters together give one sound, they must not be divided; as,

Can a word of one syllable be divided?

Do not divide a syllable of one letter from the rest of the word. The division ever-y is wrong.

Divide the following words into syllables, using the suggestions given in the preceding exercise:

What is accent?

Divide into syllables, indicate the accent, and pronounce the following:

In the following words the meaning changes with the accent. Use each word in a sentence to show its meaning.

Bring to class a list of words that you have heard mispronounced in your classes. Be sure that you can pronounce them correctly.

The following words are frequently mispronounced. Divide them into syllables, mark the accent, and pronounce carefully.

CHAPTER III

Name other words belonging to the group (b) above. Does a vowel or a consonant precede the y in each case?

Rule 2.—Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant (and nouns ending in quy) form the plural by changing y to i and adding es.

A few words are the same in both singular and plural; as,

Some nouns have two plurals which differ in meaning; as,

Consult a dictionary for the difference in meaning between the two plurals of each word.

Rule 3.—Compound nouns usually add the sign of the plural to the fundamental part of the word.

Note.—In spoonfuls the thought is of one spoon many times full.

Rule 4.—Letters and figures form the plural by adding the apostrophe (') and s; as,

The same rule applies to the plural of words which ordinarily have no plural; as,

Some nouns derived from foreign languages retain their original plural. The following are in common use.

Consult a dictionary for their pronunciation and definition.

Some words admit of two plurals, one the foreign plural, and one the regular English plural; as,

Consult a dictionary to see whether there is any difference of meaning between the two plurals of these words.

Rap is a monosyllable ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel. The final consonant in such words is doubled before a suffix beginning with a vowel is added.

In reap the final consonant is not doubled because it is preceded by two vowels.

Make the participles of the following verbs:

Why is the final consonant in trap doubled before ing or ed is added?

The final consonant in track is not doubled because track ends with two consonants.

Pine drops the silent e because the tendency in English is to drop endings that are not needed for pronunciation before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel.

Form the participles of the following verbs:

Exercise 36 applies also to words of more than one syllable accented on the last syllable, if they retain the accent on the same syllable after the suffix is added. Thus we have

Rule 5.—Monosyllables or words accented on the last syllable, ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel.

Form participles from the following words that are accented on the last syllable:

Form participles from the following words not accented on the last syllable:

Words in which the accent changes do not double the final consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel; as,

Explain why the final consonant is not doubled in each of the following words:

Rule 6.—In forming the present participle of verbs ending in y, retain the y before adding ing; as,

In forming the perfect participle, if in the present tense the y is preceded by a consonant, the y is changed to i and ed added; if the y is preceded by a vowel, the y is retained; as,

Compare with Rule 2.

Rule 7.—In words containing a long e sound spelled either ie or ei, ei follows c; ie follows one of the other consonants; as,

Exceptions.—Either, neither, weird, seize, leisure.

The following couplet may help in remembering when to write ie and when to write ei:

The letter c is pronounced sometimes like s and sometimes like k.

What sound does c have before a? Illustrate.

Before e? Illustrate.

Before i? Illustrate.

Before o? Illustrate.

Before u? Illustrate.

Before y? Illustrate.

If c is pronounced like k, it is called hard and is marked [\c].

If c is pronounced like s, it is called soft and is marked ç. The mark used to indicate the soft c is called the cedilla.

Make a statement telling when c is hard and when it is soft.

What sound does g have before each of the vowels, as in game, gone, gymnasium, Gunther, gentle?

Rule 8.—C and g usually are soft before e, i, and y.