Hard and soft G

In the <a href="/facts/Latin_script/7EWeJjUV">Latin-based</a> orthographies of many European languages, the letter ⟨g⟩ is used in different contexts to represent two distinct <a href="/facts/Phoneme/EXGHlJ7a">phonemes</a> that in English are called hard and soft ⟨g⟩. The sound of a hard ⟨g⟩ (which often precedes the <a href="/facts/Back_vowel/gyHoGCH0">non-front vowels</a> ⟨a o u⟩ or a consonant) is usually the voiced velar plosive [ɡ] (as in gain or go) while the sound of a soft ⟨g⟩ (typically before ⟨i⟩, ⟨e⟩, or ⟨y⟩) may be a <a href="/facts/Fricative_consonant/1FQuuhfX">fricative</a> or <a href="/facts/Affricate_consonant/Fn2y7FIA">affricate</a>, depending on the language. In English, the sound of soft ⟨g⟩ is the affricate /<a href="/facts/Voiced_postalveolar_affricate/o7oYJUqz">dʒ</a>/, as in general, giant, and gym. A ⟨g⟩ at the end of a word usually renders a hard ⟨g⟩ (as in "rag"), while if a soft rendition is intended it would be followed by a <a href="/facts/Silent_e/7mmszfQq">silent ⟨e⟩</a> (as in "rage").

Hard and soft G open-in-new

Hard and soft G