Heart Words have, give, live

Learn why these words end in e even though the vowel is short.

Usually, an e at the end makes a vowel say its name, like in 'hope'. But 'have', 'give', and 'live' break that pattern. Their vowels are short: 'hav', 'giv', 'liv'. So why is the e there? English words almost never end with the letter v.

The e is added to keep v from being last. Read: 'I have a gift to give you. We live by the lake. ' When you see -ave, -ive, or -ove, try a short vowel if the long one doesn't make a word.

• 1'have', 'give', 'live' have short vowels.
• 2English words almost never end in v.
• 3The e keeps v from being last.