Sample Words From List
guard
vague
guitar
plague
fatigue
league
guide
dialogue
guest
shrug
guidance
guilty
Take a look at the sample words.
What do you notice about these words?
They all have gu-, -gue, or -g.
What do you think vogue means?
(noun) fashion or style
What do you think intrigue means?
(noun) plot or scheme
Some -gue words are spelled this way because they come into the English language through French from earlier languages like Latin and Greek. We kept the spelling because the u and e play a role in how we pronounce the words. However, in some words like dialogue they do not. That is why some people spell it dialog. In fact catalog used to be spelled catalogue, but sometimes spelling changes over time.
What do you notice about the sound of g and the sound of u?
A g has a hard sound when followed by u, and the u is usually silent.
How might we sort these words?
By gu-, -gue, or -g.
Let's practice sorting the words. Practice Sort
If the u is silent in many of the words, why do you think the u is there at all?
The pronunciation of the word would change. For example, the g might become soft because it would be followed by e like in vague. It would become vage.