Question

The _____ sound of g, /g/, is more frequent than the soft sound. When the letter g is followed by a, o, or u, it usually has its hard sound, as in gas, gold, got, gum, and guess.

A) /dʒ/
B) /g/
C) /z/
D) /ʒ/

Answer 1

The correct answer is B) /g/, representing the hard G sound typically found when the letter G is followed by the vowels a, o, or u. The letter G can make a soft G sound /ʤ/ when followed by e, i, or y but can also produce a hard sound /g/ in certain words despite these vowel positions.

Step-by-step explanation:

The hard G sound, represented as /g/, occurs more frequently than the soft sound. This hard sound is heard when the letter G is followed by the vowels a, o, or u, as in the words like gas, gold, got, gum, and guess. Given the options A) /dʒ/ B) /g/ C) /z/ D) /ʒ/, the correct answer is B) /g/.

The distinction between a soft G and a hard G is important in English pronunciation. The letter G is termed soft G when it precedes the letters e, i, or y, and it typically makes the sound [j], as in the word gem. Conversely, it is termed hard G when proceeding a, o, or u, sounding as /g/.

It's notable that sometimes when a G precedes an e, i, or y, it still makes a hard G sound, as seen in words such as get, together, hunger, give, and girl. An example of both soft and hard G sounds in a single word is language, which contains both pronunciations.