The Mute Final “e” The mute Final “e” and its Functions

1. It indicates the long or diphthongal sound value of the preceding vowel letter:

   bite

   note

   theme

2. It fixes the sound value of the letters “c”, “g” and the diagraph “th”:

   since

   large

   breathe

3. In some words it serves both the functions:

   ice

   nice

   rage

   bathe

4. It comes after “l” or “r” preceded by another consonant letter to indicate the syllabic character of [l] and vocalic [r]:

   table

   noble

   centre

   theatre

5. It follows the letters “v”, “u”, “i”, “o”, “s”, “z” which are seldom or never word-final:

   give

   league

   freeze

   dense

   die

   toe

   blue

6. I serves to distinguish homophones and words which look alike but differ in meaning and pronunciation:

   step – steppe [step]	please – pleas [plJz]
   do – doe [dqu]	moral – morale [mq'rRl]

7. It may be a part of a diagraph or triagraph:

care

fire

cure

Rule I.The final mute letter “e” is usually dropped before a suffix beginning with a vowel letter:

fame – famous	amuse – amusing
love – lovable	guide – guidance

Note:1. “e” is retained to show pronunciation in words ending in -ce, -ge. “e” is needed to preserve the sound of the soft “c”, “g”; but if the suffix begins with “i” the mute letter “e” is dropped:

change – changing – changeable

notice – noticing – noticeable

2. “e” is also kept after “o”:

toe – toeing	canoe – canoeing
shoe – shoeing	tiptoe – tiptoeing

3. Verbs ending in “-ie” change the “ie” into “y” before “ing” to avoid a double “i”:

   die - dying

   tie - tying

   lie - lying

4. Double “e“ is retained before all suffixes except those beginning with “e” (-ed, -er, -est)

   see – seeing

   agree – agreeable

5. Rule I is not strictly observed in the case of monosyllabic words when they are likely to be misread:

likeable	or	saleable
likable		salable

Rule II.The final mute letter “e” is retained before a suffix beginning with a consonant (to keep the pronunciation):

safe - safety

whole - wholesome

care - careful

Exceptions:

due – duly whole – wholly true – truly nine – ninth argue - argument

Exercises

1. Write the “ing-form” of the following verbs:

   leave	face	tiptoe	give	place	see
   use	save	wake	shake	promise	agree
   lie	raise	unite	clothe	come	strike
   ride	rise	take	bite	have	place
   canoe	tie	make	love	prepare	die

2. Write the initial form of the following words and give all the necessary explanations:

Abridging, amusement, arrival, bluish, changeable, continuous, creation, died, duly, dyeing, dying, freest, icy, nervous, tied, tiptoed, truly, wholly, valuable.