Main spellings (~99%)
⟨g⟩ ~71%
The letter ⟨g⟩ makes the /g/ sound in most positions, especially before ⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩, ⟨u⟩, and consonants.
G before E, I, Y: The letter ⟨g⟩ can make either /g/ or /ʤ/ before ⟨e⟩, ⟨i⟩, ⟨y⟩. Compare: get (/g/) vs gentle (/ʤ/), give (/g/) vs giant (/ʤ/).
Doubled consonants: When ⟨gg⟩ appears in the middle of a word, it still makes just one /g/ sound. Examples: bigger, egg, trigger.
Unusual spellings (~1%)
⟨gu⟩
Before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩, ⟨gu⟩ keeps the /g/ sound (the ⟨u⟩ is silent).
Why GU? The silent ⟨u⟩ in ⟨gu⟩ prevents the ⟨g⟩ from being pronounced as /ʤ/. Without it, "guard" would look like it should rhyme with "jarred."
Two ways to see this: You can think of ⟨gu⟩ as an unusual spelling of /g/, or as a silent ⟨u⟩ after ⟨g⟩ — see the
silent U page. Both are valid.
⟨gue⟩
At the end of words, ⟨gue⟩ makes just /g/ (both ⟨u⟩ and ⟨e⟩ are silent).
Two ways to see this: You can think of ⟨gue⟩ as an unusual spelling of /g/, or as a silent ⟨ue⟩ at the end of a word — see the
silent U page. Both are valid.
⟨gh⟩
In a few words, ⟨gh⟩ makes /g/.