What does a consonant e mean?

You're likely referring to the "silent e" at the end of a word. This is not a "consonant e" but rather a silent e.

Here's how it works:

* The silent e is NOT pronounced. It's there to change the pronunciation of the vowel that comes before it.

* It makes the preceding vowel long. For example, "cat" has a short "a" sound, but "cate" would have a long "a" sound (pronounced like "cay-tee").

* It's often used to indicate a long vowel sound in words ending in a single consonant. For example, "hope", "like", "smile", "bike".

Here are some examples:

* Short vowel sound: "hat", "mat", "bet", "fin", "run"

* Long vowel sound: "hate", "mate", "bete", "fine", "rune"

So, the silent e doesn't have its own sound, but it significantly influences the pronunciation of the preceding vowel.