Spellings from Greek, French and Latin
Spell words with etymological letter patterns from Greek (ch = /k/), French (ch = /ʃ/, -gue, -que), and Latin (sc = /s/) origins
What a learner can do afterwards
- Spell words with Greek ch such as 'scheme', 'chorus', 'chemist', 'echo' and explain the /k/ sound pattern
- Spell words with French ch such as 'chef', 'chalet', 'machine' and -gue/-que endings like 'league', 'unique'
- Spell words with Latin sc such as 'science', 'scene', 'discipline' and identify the silent letter pattern
The lesson
English borrowed thousands of words from Greek, French, and Latin. Those words often kept their original spelling pattern, even when it looks strange in English.
In Greek, the letters 'ch' make a k sound. You can hear it in 'chorus', 'chemist', 'echo', and 'scheme'. It looks like it should say 'ch' as in 'chair', but it says a plain k instead.
In French, the letters 'ch' often make a sh sound instead, like in 'chef', 'chalet', and 'machine'. French words can also end in '-gue' or '-que' instead of a plain 'g' or 'k', like 'league' and 'unique'.
Read this sentence: In science class, we watched a scene from history and learned about discipline. The words 'science', 'scene', and 'discipline' all use the Latin pattern 'sc', which makes a single s sound, not sk.
Ch can sound like k (Greek) or sh (French), and sc can sound like s (Latin) — the spelling shows you where the word came from.
Watch it
Where it sits
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.