The 5 jobs, one by one
Make the vowel long (the famous "Magic E")
The e reaches back over one consonant and makes the vowel say its name. cap → cape · kit → kite · hop → hope · cub → cube · Pet → Pete
Soften C or G
An e after c or g makes it soft — /s/ and /j/. dance · prince · cage · large · strange · orange
Give the syllable a vowel
Every syllable needs a vowel — so the -le ending carries a silent e. table · little · candle · simple (the consonant-le syllable →)
No English word ends in V
So an e is always added after a final v — even when it changes nothing. have · give · love · live · above. That's why "hav" and "giv" look wrong.
Voice the TH · advanced
A final e can voice the th and mark the verb form. Say bath, then bathe — hear the buzz. breathe · clothe · bathe
🔊 Hear Magic-E in action
Blend the sounds to read the word — then add the magic e and hear the vowel change from short to long.
Real phoneme & whole-word audio, recorded for the ReadingCraft app.
Magic-E word lists (Job 1) by vowel
cake, gate, name, tape, whale
these, Pete, theme, eve
bike, kite, time, five, slide
home, bone, note, rose, hole
cube, tune, cute, June, rule
The rule-breakers (e with no job)
A handful of very common words end in e for none of the 5 reasons — leftovers from older English. Name them as "rule-breakers" so your child doesn't doubt the system: some · come · done · gone · one · none · love*. Just memorise these few.
Silent E is Module 8 — teach every rule the right way
The 5 jobs of silent e, syllables, plurals, the "shun" sound, doubling and 20+ more modules — with interactive practice, worksheets and games. Built for ages 7–14.
See the Spelling Course →Still learning letter sounds? Start with Phonics.