engage
Pronouncedehn-GAYJ
verbTo hold someone's attention and keep them interested.
verbTo start talking with someone.
verbTo fight against an enemy in a battle.
verbTo hire someone to work or to book something for use.
verbTo promise that you will do something.
verbTo fit together or lock into place, like parts of a machine.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
When the letter E appears in a closed syllable, it usually makes the short E sound “eh”. This is often confused with short I by new readers.
Tip
E says “eh” like an egg on your head.
Examples
Phonics Rule: NG Digraph
Sound“ng”·/ŋ/
NG together makes the “ng” sound at the back of your mouth, like in 'ring' and 'song'.
The digraph 'ng' makes the nasal sound “ng”. This sound is made at the back of your mouth/throat. It almost always appears at the end of a word or syllable.
Tip
Sing a song — NG rings along!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Open Syllable A (Long A)
Sound“ay”·/eɪ/
When A is the last letter of a syllable, the syllable is open and the A says its name “ay” — like in 'ba-by' and 'pa-per'.
This is the open-syllable pattern: a syllable that ends in a vowel leaves that vowel 'open', so it says its long name. Here, a lone A at the end of a syllable says “ay” (ba-by, a-pron, lady). The long A sound is also spelled other ways, each its own rule — silent E (cake), or vowel teams (ai in rain, ay in play) — but those are not open syllables.
Tip
Long A says its name — A!
Examples
Phonics Rule: GE says “j”
Sound“j”·/dʒ/
GE at the end of a word says “j” (the J sound), like in 'large' and 'page'.
At the end of a word, GE says “j”. It follows a long vowel or consonant (large, page, cage, huge, stage), where DGE follows a short vowel (bridge, badge).
Tip
GE at the end says J — large, page, huge!
Examples
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