On the previous page, we discussed the
[mute _e_](#/lesson/SpellingAndPronunciation.17). There is yet another peculiarity about the _e_:
the letter 'e' is the only vowel
allowed in duplo at the end of a word (ee).
The reason for this is related to the mute _e_. Remember the rule of thumb above that a single _e_ at the end of a word is always a mute _e_. So what if we want a word to end in a long _e_? The only way to establish this is by writing _e_ in duplo, violating the rule that a syllable never ends in two identical vowels. Examples are: mee (along), thee (tea), wee (pain), zee (sea).
Bear in mind that this only applies to a long _e_ at the _end_ of a word!
Double ee within a word
There are (two) situations where _ee_ forms the end of a syllable _within_ a word.
- Compound word: a word is composed of a word that ends in _ee_ plus another word.
mee-lo-pen | consisting of the words _mee_ and _lopen_ | to go/walk along
thee-kop | consisting of the words _thee_ and _kop_ | teacup
- The plural form of a noun that ends in _ee_
A plural is normally formed by adding -en to the singular.
wee-en - weeën | (labour) pain | zee-en - zeeën | seas
Note the dieresis.