English phonics rules
Every spelling pattern in English, with the words that use it. Tap a rule to see how it works and which words follow it.
Short Vowels
Single vowels that make their short sound
- AShort Aa708 words
- EShort Eeh1,028 words
- IShort Iih893 words
- OShort Oah403 words
- UShort Uuh322 words
- OO says “oo”oo26 words
- OO says “uh”uh98 words
- AW changes A to “ah”ah27 words
Long Vowels
Vowels that say their own name
- AOpen Syllable A (Long A)ay289 words
- EOpen Syllable E (Long E)ee184 words
- IOpen Syllable I (Long I)eye215 words
- OOpen Syllable O (Long O)oh216 words
- UOpen Syllable U — “yoo” (Long U)yoo51 words
- UOpen Syllable U — “oo” (Long U)oo70 words
Vowel Teams
Two or more vowels working together to make one sound
- EEEE Vowel Teamee122 words
- EAEA Vowel Team (Long E)ee166 words
- OAOA Vowel Teamoh40 words
- AIAI Vowel Teamay88 words
- AYAY Vowel Teamay58 words
- OOOO (Long Sound)oo87 words
- OWOW (Long O Sound)oh81 words
- IGHIGH Patterneye46 words
- OOOO (Short Sound)oo (as in book)37 words
- EAEA Vowel Team (Short E)eh54 words
- EAEA Vowel Team (Long A)ay8 words
- AUAU Vowel Teamaw38 words
- AWAW Vowel Teamaw25 words
- IEIE Vowel Team (Long E)ee50 words
- IEIE Vowel Team (Long I)eye17 words
- EWEW says “oo”oo24 words
- UEUE Vowel Team (“oo”)oo15 words
- UIUI Vowel Teamoo11 words
- UEUE Vowel Team (“yoo”)yoo9 words
- EIEI says long Aay12 words
- EIGHEIGH Patternay24 words
- OUGHOUGH Patternseveral sounds19 words
- OOOO says “uh”uh2 words
- EYEY says long Aay10 words
- OEOE says “oo”oo3 words
- EIGHEIGH says long Ieye3 words
- ALAL says “aw”aw41 words
- OUOU says “oo”oo10 words
- OUOU says “uh”uh15 words
- OUOU says “oh”oh6 words
- EIEI says long Eee10 words
- EWEW says “yoo”yoo5 words
- OUOU says “oo”oo (as in book)4 words
- OUOU says “uh” (-ous)uh30 words
- AIAI says “uh” (-tain, -gain)uh10 words
- AIAI says “eh” (said, again)eh3 words
- AYAY says “ee” (day names)ee6 words
- AUAU says “a” (laugh, aunt)a7 words
- OAOA says “aw” (broad)aw4 words
- EAUEAU says “yoo”yoo2 words
- EAUEAU says “oh”oh1 words
R-Controlled Vowels
A vowel followed by R changes its sound
- ARR-Controlled ARar252 words
- ERR-Controlled ERer267 words
- IRR-Controlled IRer56 words
- ORR-Controlled ORor214 words
- URR-Controlled URer95 words
- ORR-Controlled OR (as “er”)er18 words
- ARW changes AR to “or”or14 words
- AIRR-Controlled AIRair16 words
- AREARE says “air”air19 words
- EAREAR says “eer”eer33 words
- EERR-Controlled EEReer12 words
- EAREAR says “er” (earth)er10 words
- EREERE says “eer” (here)eer17 words
- EAREAR says “air” (bear)air7 words
- EREERE says “air” (there)air8 words
- OAROAR says “or”or15 words
- OREORE says “or”or17 words
- OOROOR says “or”or3 words
- OUROUR says “or”or24 words
- OUROUR says “ower”ower6 words
- UREURE says “oor”oor11 words
- IRER-Controlled IREire12 words
- OUROUR says “er”er7 words
- YRR-Controlled YRer2 words
Consonant Digraphs
Two consonants that make one new sound
- CHCH Digraphch125 words
- SHSH Digraphsh156 words
- THTH Digraph (Voiced)th59 words
- THTH Digraph (Unvoiced)th135 words
- WHWH Digraphw24 words
- PHPH Digraphf41 words
- CKCK Digraphk119 words
- NGNG Digraphng139 words
- CHCH Digraph (/k/ sound)k37 words
- CHCH Digraph (“sh” sound)sh14 words
- GHGH as /f/f5 words
- GEGE says “j”j25 words
Silent E
A silent E at the end makes the vowel say its name
- A_ESilent E with A (Magic E)ay161 words
- I_ESilent E with I (Magic E)eye168 words
- O_ESilent E with O (Magic E)oh85 words
- U_ESilent E with U — “yoo” (Magic E)yoo16 words
- E_ESilent E with E (Magic E)ee23 words
- U_ESilent E with U — “oo” (Magic E)oo26 words
- O_ESilent E with O — “oo” (Magic E)oo11 words
- Y_ESilent E with Y — “eye” (Magic E)eye3 words
Consonant Blends
Two or three consonants blended together — each sound is still heard
- BLBL Blendbl65 words
- BRBR Blendbr76 words
- CLCL Blendkl75 words
- CRCR Blendkr79 words
- DRDR Blenddr49 words
- FLFL Blendfl48 words
- FRFR Blendfr52 words
- GLGL Blendgl33 words
- GRGR Blendgr111 words
- PLPL Blendpl66 words
- PRPR Blendpr104 words
- SLSL Blendsl54 words
- SMSM Blendsm42 words
- SNSN Blendsn39 words
- SPSP Blendsp84 words
- STST Blendst262 words
- STRSTR Blendstr59 words
- TRTR Blendtr73 words
- SCSC Blendsk38 words
- SKSK Blendsk31 words
- QUQU Blendkw44 words
- SWSW Blendsw32 words
- TWTW Blendtw34 words
- SPRSPR Blendspr10 words
- SCRSCR Blendskr13 words
- SPLSPL Blendspl9 words
- NDND End Blendnd180 words
- NKNK End Blendngk35 words
- NTNT End Blendnt256 words
- MPMP End Blendmp80 words
- FTFT End Blendft38 words
- LTLT End Blendlt30 words
- LKLK End Blendlk10 words
- NCHNCH End Blendnch15 words
- LPLP End Blendlp16 words
- PTPT End Blendpt17 words
- CTCT End Blendkt99 words
Trigraphs
Three letters that make one sound
- TCHTCH Trigraphch36 words
- DGEDGE Trigraphj25 words
Diphthongs
Two vowels that glide together into one sound
- OIOI Diphthongoy43 words
- OYOY Diphthongoy26 words
- OUOU Diphthongow83 words
- OWOW Diphthongow44 words
Silent Letters
Letters that are written but not pronounced
- KNSilent K in KNn23 words
- WRSilent W in WRr23 words
- GNSilent G in GNn40 words
- MBSilent B in MBm25 words
- LSilent Lsilent11 words
- MNSilent N in MNm3 words
- HSilent Hsilent18 words
- TSilent Tsilent26 words
- USilent Usilent22 words
- GHSilent GHsilent8 words
- GHGH says /g/g1 words
Soft & Hard C and G
C and G can make different sounds depending on the letter that follows
- CSoft Cs257 words
- GSoft Gj87 words
- SCSoft SC says /s/s20 words
- SCSC says “sh”sh11 words
- CICI says “sh”sh23 words
- TITI says “sh”sh27 words
- CHard Ck579 words
- GHard Gg200 words
Schwa
The unstressed vowel sound found in many words
- ƏSchwauh1,241 words
Suffixes
Word endings that change meaning or function
- -INGSuffix -INGing298 words
- -EDSuffix -ED (/t/ sound)t73 words
- -EDSuffix -ED (/d/ sound)d189 words
- -EDSuffix -ED (“id” sound)id72 words
- -ERSuffix -ERer196 words
- -ESTSuffix -ESTist63 words
- -LYSuffix -LYlee155 words
- -TIONSuffix -TIONshun158 words
- -NESSSuffix -NESSniss80 words
- -FULSuffix -FULful53 words
- -SPlural -S (/s/ sound)s150 words
- -SPlural -S (/z/ sound)z380 words
- -AGESuffix -AGEij23 words
- -SIONSuffix -SION (“shun”)shun10 words
- -SIONSuffix -SION (“zhun”)zhun8 words
- -TURESuffix -TUREcher19 words
- ESSuffix -ESiz33 words
- MENTSuffix -MENTmunt26 words
- LESSSuffix -LESSliss29 words
- ABLESuffix -ABLEuh-bul17 words
Prefixes
Word beginnings that change meaning
- UN-Prefix UN-uhn69 words
- RE-Prefix RE-ree133 words
- PRE-Prefix PRE-pree26 words
- DIS-Prefix DIS-diss20 words
- MIS-Prefix MIS-miss10 words
Y as a Vowel
Y acting as a vowel at the end of words
- YY as Long Eee291 words
- YY as Long Ieye61 words
- YY as Short Iih26 words
Doubled Consonants
Two of the same consonant make one sound and signal a short vowel (the FLOSS rule)
- LL, SS, FF, TT, PP, BB, DD, GG, RR, NN, MM, CC, ZZDouble Consonantone sound464 words
Basic Consonants
Single consonant letters and the sounds they make
- BLetter Bb405 words
- DLetter Dd650 words
- FLetter Ff375 words
- HLetter Hh267 words
- JLetter Jj92 words
- KLetter Kk213 words
- LLetter Ll927 words
- MLetter Mm662 words
- NLetter Nn1,017 words
- PLetter Pp494 words
- QLetter Qkwtoo few words yet
- RLetter Rr350 words
- SLetter Ss693 words
- TLetter Tt963 words
- SS says “zh”zh10 words
- VLetter Vv398 words
- WLetter Ww195 words
- XLetter Xks93 words
- YLetter Y (Consonant)y29 words
- ZLetter Zz64 words
- XX says “gz”gz14 words
What is SnapPhonics?
A phonics reference for teachers, parents and learners. Every English word, broken into the sounds that make it — with audio, syllables, and the rule behind each spelling.
Save words to study lists, build flashcard decks, and scan your own worksheets and books.