Episode 8: The Influential E

This episode is dedicated to the popularity, and influence, of the letter E. Music credit: Blue boi by LAKEY INSPIRED // Chill Lofi Hiphop.

Transcript

Welcome to Donald’s English Corner podcast. This podcast is dedicated to helping people express themselves in English in a relaxed and fun environment. Together, we will learn more about what the language has to offer: by expanding your vocabulary, strengthening your grammar, and sometimes investigating American culture. 

Welcome to Episode Eight: The Influential E


Part 1: E and its Friends.

There are 26 letters in the English alphabet. 20 of them are consonants — ABCD… and five of those letters are vowels… AEIOU. Oh — I should point out here that can be six vowels. In elementary school, we learned that the vowels were AEIOU and sometimes Y. Y can act like a vowel depending on the word. But, we’ll learn more about the letter Y during another episode. In this episode we’re going to focus on the letter E.

Let’s start with an interesting fact. Did you know that the letter E was the most commonly used letter in English? It’s true. The letter E appears in more words than any other… either consonant or vowel. This vowel appears so reliably that a hugely popular word game had to change its rules. 

Part 2: Wheel of Fortune

Are you familiar with the game show called “Wheel of Fortune”?  In this game, people try to figure out a hidden word, phrase, or combination of both.  The game is the combination of a popular children’s game called “Hangman” and the roulette wheel used in gambling. This show first hit the American airwaves in 1975 and remains incredibly popular in 2024. According to the Wheel of Fortune wiki page — which I had no idea existed until doing research for this podcast episode — the gameshow appears in 20 different countries. The contestant who wins the most money in the main part of the show proceeds to the final puzzle. In the final puzzle, the contestant has an opportunity to win major prizes (like cars or vacations) or money ($50,000 is common). The contestant has to choose five consonants and one vowel. Based on the results of their guessed letters, they have to figure out the puzzle. 

You might be wondering what this has to do with the letter E? Well, the letter E almost always appeared in Wheel of Fortune’s final puzzle. Players were choosing the letter E so often that it became predictable. Almost an unspoken rule. People *had* to choose E. This… was bad. It was bad for the show. If you’re a game show, the last thing you want is predictability. Predictability was a synonym of boring. The people watching the show at home knew that the contestant would choose the letter E. A few years ago, the show producers changed the rules of the game. Now, the letter E is given to the contestant by default. There is an expression in English: if you can’t beat them, join them. The show decided not to fight the popularity of the letter E. Instead, it gave the letter to the contestant right at the beginning. The players are then asked to choose an additional vowel. 

On a personal note, let me share that I don’t like Wheel of Fortune. My husband is the opposite. He especially likes the final puzzle — both to try guessing the answer and to see the prize. 

OKAY! So, back to the letter E. We learned in the previous part that the letter E was both common and popular. In part 3, we’re going to talk about how this letter is also powerful. I use the word powerful — though I could also use the word influential. The letter E influences the pronunciation of other vowels. This influence depends on where it is in relation to its neighbors. Let’s look at some examples of how E can make its siblings change their sound. 

Part 3: Vowel - Consonant - E.

For example, the words C-A-R, F-A-R, and S-T-A-R. As you can hear, the sound of the A is short. I’ll say them again: FAR and STAR. Now, what will happen when we add an E to the end of each word? Take a moment to say these new words: C-A-R-E, F-A-R-E, and S-T-A-R-E. …. You know have CARE, FARE, and STARE. The A in these new words is long. The presence of E at the end of the word forced the change in A’s sound. But… here’s the really interesting fact. Or the annoying fact —  for many English language learners: the letter E is silent. We do not pronounce it. Here are a few more examples of E changing the sound of the vowel before another consonant: DUD vs DUDE, MATH vs MATE, STATISTIC vs STATE.


Part 4 - Big Brother E.

The letter E often appears next to the letters A, I, and also itself. Many times the E forces the sound of the other vowel to change. 

For example, the words S-T-E-A-L and S-T-E-E-L sound identical. The double vowel forces us to say a long E. To STEAL is a verb that means to rob or take property that doesn’t belong to you. STEEL is a noun, and is a metal used in construction. Here are a few more examples of a double-vowel with E:  Ear / Fear / Gear / Dear / Rear / Pier / Leap

Part 5 - Double E
Words that contain a Double E are always pronounced with a long sound. So, we can say that these are the easiest words to pronounce. Let’s look at a few examples: Steep / Peel / Freeze / Sneeze / 

Part 6 - Exceptions
English is a… well, it’s a crazy language. All of the examples I gave above are rules of thumb. Or, general suggestions. They are usually true… but not always. Many people learning English struggle with these pronunciation exceptions. In my time as a teacher, I have found that native speakers of Spanish, Ukrainian, German, and many others think that pronunciation is the most difficult part of the English language. I sympathize completely. Having said that, let’s look at some exceptions to the Influential E. 

The Double Vowel. Here are some words that contain the double vowel. But, the letter E does not affect the pronunciation of the other letter. I’ll spell them out loud first. Take a moment to think of how to pronounce them: 
P-E-A-R, G-R-E-A-T,  D-E-A-T-H, and S-T-E-A-D-Y.

Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of the eighth episode of Donald’s English Corner podcast: The Influential E. Please check out my website at donaldinchicago.com, or any of my social media sites if you’d like to learn more about the English language and American culture. Thanks everybody, and see you next time in Episode Nine.