Why are different words pronounced differently with the same letters

Different words are pronounced differently with the same letters because English is kind of like a big game of scrabble — and there are no rules! It’s really just a matter of convention and tradition. For example, the letter C is pronounced like a ‘K’ in “cat” and like an ‘S’ in “city.” It’s not like math where there’s one right answer; it’s more like art, where you can choose whatever you like. Fun fact: English is actually the only language that has so many variations of pronunciation for the same set of letters!