Which word has a hard C pronounced as K?

Which word has a hard C pronounced as K?

• A. City
• B. Civic
• C. Coin
• D. Cold

Answer: (D)

Hard C is the /k/ sound. It appears when C is followed by A, O, U, or most consonants; soft C, which sounds like /s/, happens when C is followed by E, I, or Y. In city and civic, the C comes before I, so you hear /s/ (city = /ˈsɪti/, civic = /ˈsɪvɪk/). In coin and cold, the C comes before O, giving the /k/ sound. Among these options, the example that clearly shows the hard C before O is cold, since the C is directly before the vowel O and pronounced as /k/ at the start. (Coin also has the hard /k/ before O, but cold is the straightforward, simple instance often used to teach this pattern.)

Hard C is the /k/ sound. It appears when C is followed by A, O, U, or most consonants; soft C, which sounds like /s/, happens when C is followed by E, I, or Y. In city and civic, the C comes before I, so you hear /s/ (city = /ˈsɪti/, civic = /ˈsɪvɪk/). In coin and cold, the C comes before O, giving the /k/ sound. Among these options, the example that clearly shows the hard C before O is cold, since the C is directly before the vowel O and pronounced as /k/ at the start. (Coin also has the hard /k/ before O, but cold is the straightforward, simple instance often used to teach this pattern.)