The Letter H in British English
In this lesson, we will learn about all the sounds of the letter H. It is the eighth letter of the English alphabet.I'm gonna tell you all there is about it.
H is the eighth letter in the English alphabet. It is also a consonant.
Consonants are sounds that are pronounced with restriction in the vocal tract.
Uppercase Form | H |
---|---|
Lowercase | h |
Name | aitch (pronounced /ˈeɪtʃ/) |
Main Sound | /h/ |
The Letter H: Sounds
Main Sound
The letter 'h' has two sounds.
Sound 1: /h/
The letter 'h' sounds /h/:
Sound 2: /∅/
1. 'h' sounds /∅/ when it precedes the letter 'o', so 'ho' sounds /ˈɑ/ in British English, in other words, 'h' is silent ∅:
2. 'ah' also sounds /ɑː/, 'h' is silent ∅:
d
cheet
3. 'gh' generally sounds /ɡ/, in other words, 'h' is silent /∅/:
yo
din
This word is also pronounced /ˈdɪŋi/.
4. 'gh' also sounds Ø (no sound, silent) as in:
throu
nei
ni
5. 'h' in 'rh' sounds /r/. In other words, 'h' is silent Ø:
The Letter H: Multigraphs
The letter 'h' can be positioned before or after other letters, mainly consonants.
xh
'xh' sounds /gz/:
e
e
e
Tip
'hi' in the word '
ve
ch
'c' in combination with 'h' generally represents /tʃ/:
tor
It also has the /ʃ/ sound in French loanwords:
ma
mousta
'c' combined with 'h' also sounds /k/:
ph
'ph' sounds /f/:
dol
gra
sh
'sh' sounds /ʃ/:
fi
th
'th' sounds /θ/:
mou
tee
'th' can also sound /ð/ if it is followed by the letter 'e':
smoo
bro
'th' also sounds /t/:
wh
'wh' sounds /w/, note that lips are rounded pronouncing this letter.
'wh' sounds /h/, that means 'w' is silent /∅/:
gh
'gh' after 'u' also sounds /f/:
lau
cou
rou
'gh' also sound silent /Ø/ when they follow 'ou':
drou
dou
thou
The Letter H: Uses
The letter 'h' can be:
The abbreviation of hydrogen
The abbreviation of an hour (in prescriptions)
The abbreviation of hours, like
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