The simplest rule that most native speakers follow - even if they don't consciously know it's a rule - is the (V)owel - (C)onsonant - Silent ("e") pronunciation pattern V-C-e at the end of a word. The easiest way to illustrate is with words: gate, late, mate, state, fate, date, rate, relate, debate and so on. In these words, the "a" in the "-ate" part sounds like [e] in the phonetic alphabet, "e" sounds like [i], "i" sounds like [ay], "o" like [oʊ], and "u" like [yu], with a "y" sound in front of the "u", as in "cute" [kyut] or without the "y" sound, as in "dude" [dud] or "flute" [flut].
kite vote cute complete
trite dote mute delete
cite tote flute compete
site mole assume
lime sole crude
mime hope attitude
crime cope dude
fine dope rule
wine mope mule
line rode cube
As you can see, there are a lot more words ending in -aCe, -iCe, -oCe, and -uCe than -eCe. I suspect that that probably means there are alternate spellings for the long "e" sound in English. And, of course, remember that the above "rule" (V-C-e) is only a rule of thumb. In other words, there are several exceptions to the rule, such as the irregular past participles, done and gone, whose "o's" are pronounced differently in each word and differently from lone, which does follow the rule.
kite vote cute complete
trite dote mute delete
cite tote flute compete
bite mode fume
mite pole perfume site mole assume
lime sole crude
mime hope attitude
crime cope dude
fine dope rule
wine mope mule
line rode cube
As you can see, there are a lot more words ending in -aCe, -iCe, -oCe, and -uCe than -eCe. I suspect that that probably means there are alternate spellings for the long "e" sound in English. And, of course, remember that the above "rule" (V-C-e) is only a rule of thumb. In other words, there are several exceptions to the rule, such as the irregular past participles, done and gone, whose "o's" are pronounced differently in each word and differently from lone, which does follow the rule.
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