Flash drive or flash drive - which is correct? Almost every modern person has asked this question at least once. But in order to get the correct answer, you need to familiarize yourself with some of the rules of the Russian language that relate to the spelling of the letters "e" and "e".
General information
How do you spell "flash drive" or "flash drive"? The problem of the correct answer is that if we follow one rule, then we must write the letter "e", and if we follow others - "e". It is this inconsistency that makes a person think about the correct spelling of the word "flash drive". Let's try to solve this problem and get acquainted with the basic rules for writing the letters "e" and "e".
The letter "e" is not at the junction of morphemes as part of the root of foreign words
Perhaps, it is with the help of this rule that we will determine how the word "flash drive" is spelled. So, "e" is used:
- at the unconditional beginning of a word (egofuturism, evolution, acquiring, existential, instance, eclair,ecru, ecology, exclusive, ecstasy, express cafe, extrovert, elevator, erythrocytes, ex-champion, electroinductive, epochal, endocrine, etc.);
- after vowels in open syllables (Venezuela, aeration, duet, Kalanchoe, influenza, Cornish, maestro, lues, maestozo, poetics, muezzin, pre-Raphaelites, spirituals, figurine, Puerto Ricans, Tower, oued, Schopenhauer, fuete, etc..);
- after solid consonants (blackout, rem, vice mayor, Gaelic, gag, kendo, laptop, cat, Manhattan, City Hall, Maine, minivan, racketeer, netsuke, rayleigh, sensei, sandwich, taekwondo, udege, Thatcherism, etc.).
The letter "e" at the junction of morphemes in foreign words
"Flash drive" or "flash drive"? The letter "e" in foreign words is written:
- in post-prefix position (demulsification, aemotional, dielectric, coenzymes, co-evolution, re-evacuation, superelite, sub-equatorial, re-export, etc.);
- in complex and compound words after a stem ending in a vowel (bioecological, antielectron, bicycle ergometer, cryoelectronics, epic cinema, lyrical-epic, meningoencephalitis, macroeconomics, metaethnic, neoendemic, multi-screen, polyethylene, television, ultra-extremism, stereo screen and etc.), as well as in words ending in -hedron (octahedron, polyhedron, hexahedron, etc.);
- in compound and compound words after a stem ending in a consonant (demecology, bromoethane, quintessence, counter-enamel, color equivalent, laminectomy, medical examination, life squadron, no-etiquette,rhythm and blues, pan-Hellenism, etc.).
The letter "e" in foreign full and letter-by-letter abbreviations
Such words are written according to the names of the letters of the source language. For example, the letter "e" is written in the word CNN.
Letters "e" and "e" in foreign words after vowels
The spelling of the letters "e" and "e" is determined by the following rules:
After the vowels "e" and "and" we write "e". For example: registry, hell, extravaganza, hygiene, diet, sharp, siesta, re altor, fiesta, spaniel. Words that end in "-ent" are spelled with the letter "e". In some cases, it conveys a stressed vowel (client, applicant, coefficient, patient, ingredient, etc.). In certain words, "e" is intended to convey an unstressed vowel: leer, fan, Jesuit, player, hieroglyph, Jesuit, hierarchy, pyelite, myelite, trier, piety, requiem
Exceptions:
1. After "e" can be written "ye". This applies to the words fireworks and conveyor.
2. Some proper names contain the letter "e", which is written after "and": Gliere, Marietta.
"E" is written after the letters "a", "o", "y", "yu". The letter "e" in the word conveys a vowel under stress: duet, duel, minuet, maestro, poet, pirouette, poem, poetry, figurine, silhouette. Words that have the initial part “aero-” are also written with “e”: airfield. The letter "e" conveys a vowel without stress: canoe, firewall, lues, coefficient, maestoso, phaeton, muezzin, fuete. And also in proper names: Wales, Puerto Rico, Hemingway, Laertes, Aelita, Maugham
Exceptions: these words spell "e":
1)project, project, projector, projection and other single root;
2) introjection, trajectory;
3) in words ending in "-er": gaer, buer, interviewer, fraer, etc.
In addition, the letter "e" is written in words that have "-hedron" as the second part, regardless of the previous letter: octahedron, hexahedron, rhombohedron, tetrahedron, polyhedron, trihedron.
Spelling "e" in Russian words
According to the rules of the Russian language, the letter "e" is written only in the following Russian words: this, uh, that way, sort of, ek, eky, eh, hey, eva, ehma, ege.
Letters "e" and "e" after a hard consonant
"Flash drive or flash drive" - which is correct? After consonants not at the beginning of the root, the letter “e” is written to convey the vowel “e” and indicate the hardness of the consonant in front, in such cases:
- In some foreign common nouns: master, mayor, peer, plein air, rap, racket, sir. Also in words derived from the words just listed: peerage, city hall, racketeer. If there are other words in which “e” is written after consonants, then they are regulated by the spelling dictionary.
- In a large list of proper names of foreign origin: 1) in personal names and surnames - David, Bacon, Deng Xiaoping, Salinger, Rambo, Davis, Sam, Rayleigh, Sasson, Taffy, Thatcher; 2) in geographical names - Ulan-Ude, Taipei, Huang He, Maryland. Also, "e" is preserved in derivative words from proper names and when they turn into a common noun: Rayleigh, Ulan-Uden, Sesson, etc.
- If the word is spelled withthe letter "e", then it is also written after adding the prefix to it: save, otekzamenovat.
- The letter "e" is also written in abbreviations and compound words: NEP, political economy.
"Flash drive" or "flash drive"? In other cases, after consonants not at the beginning of the root, "e" is written. But still, in foreign words that are written with “e”, the consonant in front of it is sometimes pronounced firmly. So, in such words, “e” is written after letters that convey a solid consonant: dandy, baby, model, delta, cousin, eczema, slang, inertia, businessman, phonetics, rugby, cappella, dispensary, rating, setter, parterre, cottage, pace, stand and many more.
The letter "e" is written in indeclinable common nouns after successively written consonants: chimpanzee, meringue, macrame, pince-nez, resume, tour, corrugation, coupe, mash, cabaret, dash, fricassee, essay, highway, variety show, cafe, karate, neckline.
In addition to the above cases, "e" is written in foreign words with the suffix "-essa": poetess, baroness, stewardess. And also in some proper names: Nehru, Carmen, Brem, Roerich, Taylor, Dantes, Saint Gotthard, Delphi.
How do you spell the word "flash drive"? Summing up
Having studied the above rules, we can conclude how the word "flash drive" is spelled correctly. Using the rule that says that in words of foreign origin, after a consonant that sounds hard, the letter "e" is written, we can say that in this word the consonant "l" sounds hard, soit seems to be how to write the letter "e". But we know that there are exceptions to this rule, and an “e” can be written after a hard consonant.
That is, it turns out that you can write the word "flash drive" with "e". So we have a contradiction. Still, "flash drive" or "flash drive"? We see that our word does not apply to the main words (peer, mayor, rap, etc.) that have an “e” written after a hard consonant. Therefore, we recommend that, due to the wide prevalence of this word in Russian speech, which is associated with the rapid development of information technology, we still write the word "flash drive" through "e". After all, even if you study well-known search engines, you can see that the word "flash drive" is written everywhere with the letter "e". If you still need to explain the spelling of the word "flash drive" with the letter "e" on the basis of existing rules, then you can rely on some sources that claim that in Russian and foreign words after consonants "e" is written, but the words peer, sir, etc. are exceptions.
