44 Sounds of the English Language & How to Spell Them Sound

In Initial position, it's spelled: In Medial position, it's spelled:

In Final position, it's spelled:

Pattern Breakers

(ă) apple

a as in apple or hat

The (ă) sound does not occur in final position.

laugh

ay as in tray

aim, sail, eight, brain, quaint, sleigh, freight

aw as in saw

Paul, haul

(ā) apron (ar) star

(au) saucer

a-e as in ate or cake a in an open syllable as in apron or bacon ar as in art, harp, star a in a 1 syllable word with the (l) sound immediately after it as in all, salt au as in August or saucer b as in bat, album, grab

(b) bat

(ch) chair

bb in a 2 syll. word immediately after a short vowel as in rabbit or nibble

ebb

ch as in chair, enchant or ranch tch immediately after a short vowel as in kitchen, witch

rich, much, such, sandwich, ostrich

d as in dog, bandit, grid (d) dog

(ĕ) elephant

dd in a 2 syllable word immediately after a short vowel as in ladder e as in elephant, let

Suffix “ed” as in spelled, grinned

add, odd

The (ĕ) sound does not occur in final position.

said, head, sweater

Sound

In Initial position, it's spelled: In Medial position, it's spelled:

In Final position, it's spelled:

ee in a 1 syllable word as in eel, feet, three (ē) feet

(er) fern

e in an open syllable as in even or beyond e-e in a 2+ syllable word with a consonant after it as in athlete

y in a 2+ syllable word as in penny

each, scream, kidney, money, chief, receive

or in Latin words like conductor, educator

bird, thirst, thirteen, turtle, church, further, learn, earth, search, dollar, mustard, blizzard

er as in Ernest, fern, letter or after “w” as in world

Pattern Breakers

f as in fish, lift, golf

clef, if ff in a 2+ syllable word ff in a 1 syllable word Greek words: phone, alphabet, graph immediately after a short vowel as immediately after a in muffin short vowel as in staff

(f) fish

g as in goat, stagnant, shag (g) goat

(h) house (hw) whistle (ĭ) itch

(ī) iris

egg

gg in a 2+ syllable word immediately after a short vowel as in chigger, stagger h as in house, behave

wh as in when

The (h) sound does not occur in final position.

The (hw) sound does not occur in medial or final position.

i as in igloo, sit

Greek words: gym, The (ĭ) sound does not Olympics, sympathy, occur in final position. dyslexia

i-e as in ice, five i in an open syllable as in iris, fiber i in a 1 syllable word with 2 consonants after it as in kind, child

y as in fly, July

light, midnight Greek words: dynamite, thyroid, type, rhyme

Sound

In Initial position, it's spelled: In Medial position, it's spelled: j as in jam, enjoy

(j) jam

dge in a 1 syllable word immediately after a short vowel as in badge

g before e, i or y as in gem, margin, or energy

ge immediately after a long vowel, a vowel pair, or a consonant, dg in a 2+ syllable word immediately after a short vowel as as in page, stooge or hinge in budget

c as in cat, scan, cot, cup crust, act

(k) kite

In Final position, it's spelled:

k when e, i, or y is after it as in key, kite, sky

(ks)

(kw)

x in a 2+ syllable word immediately after a short vowel as in Texas

qu as in queen or squid

jelly, magic, majestic, legend

ck in a 1 syllable word immediately after a short vowel as in truck c in a 2+ syllable word immediately after a short vowel as in traffic

skate, skunk, hammock, derrick, barracks

ke after one long vowel as in lake

Greek ch: chemistry, school, stomach

ck in a 2+ syllable word immediately after a short vowel as k after a vowel pair or a consonant as in hook in bucket and dusk The (ks) sound does not occur in initial position.

Pattern Breakers

x as in box

The (kw) sound does not occur in final position.

l as in leaf, slid, tonsil (l) leaf

ll in a 2+ syllable word ll in a 1 syllable word immediately after a short vowel as immediately after a in yellow short vowel as in spell

pal

Sound

In Initial position, it's spelled: In Medial position, it's spelled:

In Final position, it's spelled:

Pattern Breakers

m as in man, stamp, slim (m) mitten

mm in a 2+ syllable word immediately after a short vowel as in summit n as in nest, sniff, ten

(n) nest

(ng) sink

(ŏ) octopus

(ō) open

(oi) boy

(oo) book

(oo) moon

know, knee, kneel, knock, knife, gnat, sign, gnarly

nn in a 2+ syllable word immediately after a short vowel as in penny The (ng) sound does not occur in initial position.

n as in sink, uncle, jungle

o as in octopus, pop a after w and sq as in watch, squad o-e as in ode, rope o in open syllables as in open, promote o in a 1 syllable word with 2 consonants after it as in old, stroll oi as in oil, coil

The (oo) sound sound does not occur in initial position.

oo as in book, stood

oo as in oodles, moon, shampoo

ng as in king, sang

The (ŏ) sound does not occur in final position. oath, boat, coach, ow as in snow, grow bowl, grown, shown, toe, doe, solo, banjo

oy as in boy

oyster, loyal, royal

The (oo) sound does not occur in final position.

could, should, would

French words: soup, crouton, group

Sound

In Initial position, it's spelled: In Medial position, it's spelled:

In Final position, it's spelled:

Pattern Breakers

(or) fork

or as in orbit, fork

ore as in more, chore

or, for, nor

ow as in cow

foul

ou as in out, pound (ou) out

ow with the (n), (l), (el), or (er) sounds immediately after it as in brown, owl, towel, shower p as in pig, spell, drip

(p) pig

pp in a 2+ syllable word immediately after a short vowel as in supper, apple r as in rabbit, grip, tire, steer

(r) rabbit

(s) sock

rr in a 2+ syllable word immediately after a short vowel as in carrot, berry

s as in sock

s as in past, basket

ss in a 1 syllable word immediately after a short vowel in an accented syllable as in dress, success

c before e, i or y as in biceps, recite, fancy

s immediately after a short vowel in an unaccented syllable as in campus, cactus

ss in a 2+ syllable word se as in horse, mouse, immediately after a short vowel as dense in lesson

cent, circle, cereal, bus, plus, us, this, thus, gas

Sound (sh) ship

In Initial position, it's spelled: In Medial position, it's spelled:

In Final position, it's spelled:

Pattern Breakers French words: parachute, chef, chaperone

sh as in ship, bishop, fish

t as in table, still, dust (t) table

Voiced (th)

mother

tt in a 2+ syllable word immediately after a short vowel as in glitter, bottle

Suffix ed as in jumped, dropped

th as in this, mother, smooth

Unvoiced

(th) thimble

(ŭ) umbrella

(ū) unicorn

th as in thimble, menthol, bath u in a closed syllable as in umbrella, run a as in soda

“Scribal o”: money, oven, government

ue as in statue

you, menu

a in an open syllable as in about, parade, banana u-e as in use, cube u in an open syllable as in unicorn, unite

(v) valentine

v as in valentine, invent, seven (even after a short vowel because the letter v never doubles)

ve as in twelve

(w) wagon

w as in win, twin

The (w) sound does not occur in final position.

y as in yarn, canyon

The (y) sound does not occur in final position.

(y) yarn

Sound

In Initial position, it's spelled: In Medial position, it's spelled: s as in pansy, music

(z) zipper

(zh) explosion

z as in zipper

In Final position, it's spelled:

Pattern Breakers

s in a few 1 syllable words immediately after a short vowel as in his, as, has, is

zz in a 2+ syllable word immediately after a short vowel as se after one long in puzzle vowel or a vowel pair as in nose, cheese

si at the beginning of the syllable

[sion as in explosion, version, contusion

Other Helpful Spelling Tips: Doubling Rule – When adding a vowel suffix (like est, er, ing, ed, ish, etc.) to a base word that ends in one vowel, one consonant and an accent, double the final consonant of the base word before adding the vowel suffix. Examples: hop + ed = hopped red + ish = reddish

Non-Examples: omit' + ed = omitted run + er = runner

or'bit + ing = orbiting respond + er = responder

black + est = blackest kind + ness = kindness

Dropping Rule – When adding a vowel suffix (like est, er, ing, ed, ish, etc.) to a base word that ends with a silent e, drop the silent e before adding the vowel suffix. Examples: hope + ed = hoped nice + est = nicest

Non-Examples: code + er = coder browse + ing = browsing

nice + ness = niceness green + est = greenest

cook + ing = cooking hope + ful = hopeful

FLŏSS Rule – When a one syllable word with one short vowel ends with (f), (l) or (s), spell the final consonant ff, ll, or ss. Examples: floss

mess

Non-Examples: pill staff

hoof coil

claps pool