Quiet, Quite, and Quit

Read three look-alike words carefully: quiet, quite, and quit.

These three words look so alike that readers often swap them, but each has its own sound and meaning. 'Quiet' has two syllables, qui-et, and means making little noise: 'The library is quiet. ' 'Quite' has one syllable with a silent e making the i long, and means very or completely: 'It is quite cold today. ' 'Quit' has one short syllable and means to stop: 'He quit the team.

' Notice how the letters guide you: the e between i and t in 'quiet' gives a second vowel sound; the e at the end of 'quite' is silent and makes the i long; 'quit' is a closed syllable with a short i. Read: 'The room went quite quiet when the music quit. '

• 1quiet (qui-et) = not loud; two syllables.
• 2quite = very; silent e makes the i long.
• 3quit = stop; short i, closed syllable.