Trap 19 of 22 · French speakers
Endings -age, -ine, -ite, -ile: village, medicine
Les terminaisons -age, -ine, -ite, -ile : village, medicine
What French speakers do
You keep the French ending, long and stressed: vil-LAGE (-azh), méde-CINE (-een), favo-RITE (-eet), fra-GILE (-zheel).
The American rule
In these words the ending is unstressed and short: -age → -ij, -ine → -in / -un, -ite → -it, -ile → -ul. Stress the start.
These endings look French and in French they carry the stress. In English they are the weakest part of the word:
- -age — not -azh but -ij: village = VIL-ij
- -ine — not -een but -in or -un: medicine = MED-uh-sun
- -ite — not -eet but -it: favorite = FAYV-rit
- -ile — not -eel but -ul: fragile = FRAJ-ul
Exceptions keep the French sound, because English borrowed them recently: garage (guh-RAHZH), massage (muh-SAHZH), machine (muh-SHEEN), routine (roo-TEEN), elite (ih-LEET). When in doubt, the older and more common the word, the more English it sounds.
The words
village
/ˈvɪlɪdʒ/
✗vi-LAZH
✓VIL-ij
“They live in a small village.”
message
/ˈmɛsɪdʒ/
✗mé-SAZH
✓MES-ij
“I sent you a message.”
language
/ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
✗lan-GAZH
✓LANG-gwij
Note the W sound: lang-GWIJ.
“English is a funny language.”
image
/ˈɪmɪdʒ/
✗i-MAZH
✓IM-ij
“The image is too small.”
manage
/ˈmænɪdʒ/
✗ma-NAZH
✓MAN-ij
“I can manage it alone.”
courage
/ˈkɝɪdʒ/
✗ku-RAZH
✓KUR-ij
“It took courage to say that.”
average
/ˈævrɪdʒ/
✗a-vé-RAZH
✓AV-rij
“The average age is thirty.”
medicine
/ˈmɛdəsən/
✗mé-de-SIN
✓MED-uh-sun
“Did you take your medicine?”
examine
/ɪɡˈzæmɪn/
✗ég-za-MIN
✓ig-ZAM-in
“The doctor will examine you now.”
favorite
/ˈfeɪvrɪt/
✗fa-vo-RIT
✓FAYV-rit
“This is my favorite song.”
opposite
/ˈɑpəzɪt/
✗o-po-ZIT
✓AH-puh-zit
“The bank is opposite the station.”
definite
/ˈdɛfənɪt/
✗dé-fi-NIT
✓DEF-uh-nit
“We need a definite answer.”
fragile
/ˈfrædʒəl/
✗fra-ZHIL
✓FRAJ-ul
“Be careful, it's fragile.”
mobile
/ˈmoʊbəl/
✗mo-BIL
✓MOH-bul
“Download the mobile app.”