awareness
Pronounceduh-WAIR-nuhs
nounKnowing or noticing something.
nounBeing awake and able to see, hear, and feel things around you.
Syllables
3 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: Schwa
Sound“uh”·/ə/
In unstressed syllables, vowels often make a lazy 'uh' sound called schwa, like the A in 'about'.
Schwa “uh” is the most common vowel sound in English. Any vowel letter can make the schwa sound when it's in an unstressed syllable. It sounds like a quick, lazy 'uh'.
Tip
Schwa is lazy — any vowel can say 'uh' when it's not stressed!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter W
Sound“w”·/w/
The letter W makes the /w/ sound, like in 'win', 'wet', and 'web'. The lips round into an O shape.
W is a voiced bilabial approximant — the lips round tightly then open as voice flows. W is sometimes silent (write, wrong) and can act as a vowel in some combinations (aw, ew, ow).
Tip
W rounds your lips — make an O then say /w/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: ARE says “air”
Sound“air”·/ɛər/
ARE at the end of a word makes the “air” sound, like in 'care' and 'share'.
ARE says “air” (the same 'air' sound as AIR): care, share, bare, scare, square, compare. The E is part of the team, not a magic E.
Tip
ARE says air — care, share, square!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Suffix -NESS
Sound“niss”·/nɪs/
Adding -NESS turns a describing word into a thing, like 'happy' → 'happiness'.
The suffix -ness turns an adjective into a noun. It means 'the state of being [adjective]'. 'Happy' → 'happiness' = the state of being happy.
Examples
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