Sound Right
Silent letters
› U
Silent U
when ⟨u⟩ is not pronounced
⟨gu⟩ — silent U after G
The ⟨u⟩ keeps the ⟨g⟩ "hard" (/g/ instead of /ʤ/) before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩.
Two ways to see this:
You can think of ⟨gu⟩ as a silent ⟨u⟩, or as an unusual spelling of /g/ — see the
G sound
page. Both are valid.
Common words
g
u
ar
a
n
t
ee
g
u
ar
d
g
u
ar
d
i
a
n
g
u
e
ss
g
u
e
s
t
g
ui
d
e
g
u
i
l
t
g
u
i
l
t
y
g
u
i
t
ar
g
u
y
Guard / guest compounds
b
o
d
y
g
u
ar
d
g
u
ar
d
i
a
n
sh
i
p
g
u
ar
d
r
ai
l
g
u
ar
d
s
m
a
n
g
u
ar
d
s
m
e
n
g
u
e
s
t
h
ou
s
e
g
u
e
ss
t
i
m
a
t
e
g
u
e
ss
w
or
k
h
ou
se
g
u
e
s
t
l
i
f
e
g
u
ar
d
s
a
f
e
g
u
ar
d
u
n
g
u
ar
d
e
d
v
a
n
g
u
ar
d
w
i
s
e
g
u
y
Other words
b
e
l
ea
g
u
e
r
ed
c
a
t
a
l
o
g
u
i
ng
f
a
t
i
g
u
i
ng
g
u
ar
a
n
t
or
g
u
ar
a
n
t
y
g
u
e
r
i
ll
a
g
u
e
rr
i
ll
a
g
u
e
ss
t
i
m
a
t
e
g
u
i
l
d
g
u
i
l
d
h
a
ll
g
u
i
l
t
l
e
ss
g
u
i
nn
e
ss
g
u
i
t
ar
i
s
t
g
u
i
ll
o
t
i
n
e
i
n
t
r
i
g
u
i
ng
l
ea
g
u
e
r
m
ar
g
u
e
r
i
t
e
p
l
a
g
u
i
ng
v
a
g
u
e
s
t
Proper nouns
b
a
g
u
e
tt
e
g
u
e
rr
e
g
u
e
v
ar
a
g
u
i
a
n
a
g
u
i
ll
au
m
e
g
u
i
n
ea
g
u
e
r
n
se
y
g
u
y
a
n
a
g
u
y
o
t
g
u
y
t
on
h
u
g
u
e
n
o
t
p
or
t
u
g
u
e
s
e
r
o
d
r
i
g
u
e
z
⟨gue⟩ — silent UE at the end of a word
Two ways to see this:
You can think of ⟨gue⟩ as a silent ⟨ue⟩, or as an unusual spelling of /g/ — see the
G sound
page. Both are valid.
Common words
c
a
t
a
l
o
g
u
e
c
o
ll
ea
g
u
e
d
i
a
l
o
g
u
e
f
a
t
i
g
u
e
i
n
t
r
i
g
u
e
l
ea
g
u
e
p
l
a
g
u
e
r
o
g
u
e
v
a
g
u
e
v
o
g
u
e
Less common
a
n
a
l
o
g
u
e
d
e
m
a
g
o
g
u
e
e
p
i
l
o
g
u
e
f
u
g
u
e
m
o
n
o
l
o
g
u
e
m
or
g
u
e
p
r
o
l
o
g
u
e
s
e
g
u
e
s
yn
a
g
o
g
u
e
t
r
a
v
e
l
o
g
u
e
Proper nouns and rare
b
o
g
u
e
d
e
n
g
u
e
d
r
o
g
u
e
h
a
g
u
e
l
o
g
u
e
p
r
a
g
u
e
t
ea
g
u
e