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 Aa895 words
- EShort Eeh1,226 words
- IShort Iih1,111 words
- OShort Oah494 words
- UShort Uuh379 words
- OO says “oo”oo31 words
- OO says “uh”uh117 words
- AW changes A to “ah”ah31 words
Long Vowels
Vowels that say their own name
- AOpen Syllable A (Long A)ay351 words
- EOpen Syllable E (Long E)ee225 words
- IOpen Syllable I (Long I)eye267 words
- OOpen Syllable O (Long O)oh268 words
- UOpen Syllable U — “yoo” (Long U)yoo64 words
- UOpen Syllable U — “oo” (Long U)oo87 words
Vowel Teams
Two or more vowels working together to make one sound
- EEEE Vowel Teamee135 words
- EAEA Vowel Team (Long E)ee183 words
- OAOA Vowel Teamoh50 words
- AIAI Vowel Teamay103 words
- AYAY Vowel Teamay67 words
- OOOO (Long Sound)oo97 words
- OWOW (Long O Sound)oh87 words
- IGHIGH Patterneye54 words
- OOOO (Short Sound)oo (as in book)41 words
- EAEA Vowel Team (Short E)eh63 words
- EAEA Vowel Team (Long A)ay8 words
- AUAU Vowel Teamaw47 words
- AWAW Vowel Teamaw27 words
- IEIE Vowel Team (Long E)ee58 words
- IEIE Vowel Team (Long I)eye17 words
- EWEW says “oo”oo26 words
- UEUE Vowel Team (“oo”)oo19 words
- UIUI Vowel Teamoo14 words
- UEUE Vowel Team (“yoo”)yoo9 words
- EIEI says long Aay12 words
- EIGHEIGH Patternay27 words
- OUGHOUGH Patternseveral sounds20 words
- OOOO says “uh”uh2 words
- EYEY says long Aay11 words
- OEOE says “oo”oo3 words
- EIGHEIGH says long Ieye3 words
- ALAL says “aw”aw52 words
- OUOU says “oo”oo12 words
- OUOU says “uh”uh17 words
- OUOU says “oh”oh6 words
- EIEI says long Eee11 words
- EWEW says “yoo”yoo6 words
- OUOU says “oo”oo (as in book)7 words
- OUOU says “uh” (-ous)uh38 words
- AIAI says “uh” (-tain, -gain)uh13 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”yoo3 words
- EAUEAU says “oh”oh1 words
R-Controlled Vowels
A vowel followed by R changes its sound
- ARR-Controlled ARar310 words
- ERR-Controlled ERer331 words
- IRR-Controlled IRer66 words
- ORR-Controlled ORor271 words
- URR-Controlled URer119 words
- ORR-Controlled OR (as “er”)er20 words
- ARW changes AR to “or”or18 words
- AIRR-Controlled AIRair19 words
- AREARE says “air”air24 words
- EAREAR says “eer”eer39 words
- EERR-Controlled EEReer14 words
- EAREAR says “er” (earth)er13 words
- EREERE says “eer” (here)eer24 words
- EAREAR says “air” (bear)air7 words
- EREERE says “air” (there)air10 words
- OAROAR says “or”or18 words
- OREORE says “or”or20 words
- OOROOR says “or”or5 words
- OUROUR says “or”or25 words
- OUROUR says “ower”ower6 words
- UREURE says “oor”oor12 words
- IRER-Controlled IREire18 words
- OUROUR says “er”er7 words
- YRR-Controlled YRer3 words
Consonant Digraphs
Two consonants that make one new sound
- CHCH Digraphch146 words
- SHSH Digraphsh196 words
- THTH Digraph (Voiced)th66 words
- THTH Digraph (Unvoiced)th155 words
- WHWH Digraphw30 words
- PHPH Digraphf50 words
- CKCK Digraphk136 words
- NGNG Digraphng160 words
- CHCH Digraph (/k/ sound)k42 words
- CHCH Digraph (“sh” sound)sh14 words
- GHGH as /f/f5 words
- GEGE says “j”j27 words
Silent E
A silent E at the end makes the vowel say its name
- A_ESilent E with A (Magic E)ay205 words
- I_ESilent E with I (Magic E)eye202 words
- O_ESilent E with O (Magic E)oh96 words
- U_ESilent E with U — “yoo” (Magic E)yoo22 words
- E_ESilent E with E (Magic E)ee24 words
- U_ESilent E with U — “oo” (Magic E)oo29 words
- O_ESilent E with O — “oo” (Magic E)oo12 words
- Y_ESilent E with Y — “eye” (Magic E)eye5 words
Consonant Blends
Two or three consonants blended together — each sound is still heard
- BLBL Blendbl82 words
- BRBR Blendbr86 words
- CLCL Blendkl91 words
- CRCR Blendkr95 words
- DRDR Blenddr57 words
- FLFL Blendfl59 words
- FRFR Blendfr64 words
- GLGL Blendgl36 words
- GRGR Blendgr129 words
- PLPL Blendpl81 words
- PRPR Blendpr122 words
- SLSL Blendsl62 words
- SMSM Blendsm52 words
- SNSN Blendsn42 words
- SPSP Blendsp98 words
- STST Blendst314 words
- STRSTR Blendstr73 words
- TRTR Blendtr95 words
- SCSC Blendsk47 words
- SKSK Blendsk32 words
- QUQU Blendkw52 words
- SWSW Blendsw34 words
- TWTW Blendtw36 words
- SPRSPR Blendspr12 words
- SCRSCR Blendskr17 words
- SPLSPL Blendspl11 words
- NDND End Blendnd218 words
- NKNK End Blendngk41 words
- NTNT End Blendnt334 words
- MPMP End Blendmp101 words
- FTFT End Blendft42 words
- LTLT End Blendlt34 words
- LKLK End Blendlk13 words
- NCHNCH End Blendnch20 words
- LPLP End Blendlp18 words
- PTPT End Blendpt23 words
- CTCT End Blendkt117 words
Trigraphs
Three letters that make one sound
- TCHTCH Trigraphch40 words
- DGEDGE Trigraphj25 words
Diphthongs
Two vowels that glide together into one sound
- OIOI Diphthongoy49 words
- OYOY Diphthongoy30 words
- OUOU Diphthongow94 words
- OWOW Diphthongow50 words
Silent Letters
Letters that are written but not pronounced
- KNSilent K in KNn25 words
- WRSilent W in WRr24 words
- GNSilent G in GNn43 words
- MBSilent B in MBm28 words
- LSilent Lsilent13 words
- MNSilent N in MNm4 words
- HSilent Hsilent18 words
- TSilent Tsilent27 words
- USilent Usilent23 words
- GHSilent GHsilent10 words
- GHGH says /g/g2 words
Soft & Hard C and G
C and G can make different sounds depending on the letter that follows
- CSoft Cs309 words
- GSoft Gj116 words
- SCSoft SC says /s/s22 words
- SCSC says “sh”sh12 words
- CICI says “sh”sh24 words
- TITI says “sh”sh39 words
- CHard Ck702 words
- GHard Gg250 words
Schwa
The unstressed vowel sound found in many words
- ƏSchwauh1,575 words
Suffixes
Word endings that change meaning or function
- -INGSuffix -INGing347 words
- -EDSuffix -ED (/t/ sound)t93 words
- -EDSuffix -ED (/d/ sound)d220 words
- -EDSuffix -ED (“id” sound)id89 words
- -ERSuffix -ERer237 words
- -ESTSuffix -ESTist68 words
- -LYSuffix -LYlee172 words
- -TIONSuffix -TIONshun175 words
- -NESSSuffix -NESSniss82 words
- -FULSuffix -FULful54 words
- -SPlural -S (/s/ sound)s187 words
- -SPlural -S (/z/ sound)z495 words
- -AGESuffix -AGEij24 words
- -SIONSuffix -SION (“shun”)shun11 words
- -SIONSuffix -SION (“zhun”)zhun10 words
- -TURESuffix -TUREcher22 words
- ESSuffix -ESiz47 words
- MENTSuffix -MENTmunt32 words
- LESSSuffix -LESSliss31 words
- ABLESuffix -ABLEuh-bul25 words
Prefixes
Word beginnings that change meaning
- UN-Prefix UN-uhn76 words
- RE-Prefix RE-ree169 words
- PRE-Prefix PRE-pree29 words
- DIS-Prefix DIS-diss26 words
- MIS-Prefix MIS-miss10 words
Y as a Vowel
Y acting as a vowel at the end of words
- YY as Long Eee338 words
- YY as Long Ieye79 words
- YY as Short Iih38 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 sound591 words
Basic Consonants
Single consonant letters and the sounds they make
- BLetter Bb489 words
- DLetter Dd802 words
- FLetter Ff438 words
- HLetter Hh320 words
- JLetter Jj96 words
- KLetter Kk248 words
- LLetter Ll1,125 words
- MLetter Mm804 words
- NLetter Nn1,256 words
- PLetter Pp600 words
- QLetter Qkwtoo few words yet
- RLetter Rr429 words
- SLetter Ss826 words
- TLetter Tt1,190 words
- SS says “zh”zh10 words
- VLetter Vv475 words
- WLetter Ww239 words
- XLetter Xks110 words
- YLetter Y (Consonant)y31 words
- ZLetter Zz81 words
- XX says “gz”gz16 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.