5-letter words with V as the 4th letter and E as the 5th letter

??VE is one of the biggest V frames in five letters, with 89 matches, and every one closes on a silent E because English will not end a word on V. S opens 17 of them, the largest single start. Thirty-seven sit on the Wordle answer list and 26 are common words.

??VE at a glance

• Eighty-nine matches, all ending in a silent E.
• S opens 17, C 10 and D and P six each.
• A fills the third square 21 times, I 16 and O 15.
• CHIVE and CHAVE top the scores at 13.
• Thirty-seven are Wordle answers and 26 are common words.

Why every one of these ends in a silent E

No standard English word finishes on V alone, so the language adds a silent E after a final V. LEAVE, DRIVE, SERVE and SOLVE all follow that rule, which is why ??VE dwarfs any frame that puts V further forward.

The E makes no sound here. Read the last two tiles as a single unit, VE, and the pattern behaves like a short word with a silent tail, which keeps the list wide and the endings uniform.

How the vowel before the V sorts the list

A leads the third square with 21 matches, from AGAVE and BRAVE to SHAVE and WEAVE. I supplies 16, O and E 15 each, and U just 3. Ten matches put R before the V, such as CARVE, CURVE and NERVE, and nine put L, such as CALVE, HELVE and SOLVE.

So the list is really five vowel families plus two liquid blends. Pick the vowel and the job is half done; the first tile then splits each family into four or five live candidates.

Where the K and CH scores come from