acre

cadre

centre (US center)

fibre (US fiber)

goitre (US goiter)

litre (US liter)

louvre (US louver)

lucre

lustre (US luster)

manoeuvre (US maneuver)

meagre (US meager)

metre (US meter)

mitre (US miter)

ogre

quatre

sabre (US saber)

sombre (US somber)

spectre (US specter)

timbre

calibre (US caliber)

kilometre (US kilometer)

massacre

mediocre

reconnoitre (US reconnoiter)

saltpetre (US saltpeter)

sceptre (US scepter)

sepulchre (US sepulcher)

theatre (US theater)

 

2 responses to “re as in centre”

  1. Chris Guy says:

    Hi Alison – would you explain this (re) to students as schwa?

    • alison says:

      When spelling I usually encourage kids to say each syllable as it is spelt, so for the “re” in centre I would encourage them to say it like an American as /r/. Australian kids have all heard American accents so they aren’t phased by this. I tell them that in English we often reduce syllables to just a schwa vowel, or even drop them out altogether (as in every, separate, family etc) when we are speaking, but when spelling we have to remember to include them, and the best way to do that is to have a “recording” of how to say each word in our heads when we write it, in our “spelling voice”. Hope that makes sense.

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