beautiful
PronouncedBYOO-tuh-fuhl
adjLovely to look at and pleasant to see.
adjVery nice and pleasant in any way.
adjNice to listen to or pleasing to hear.
adjElegant and clever in how something is made or done.
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: Letter B
Sound“b”·/b/
The letter B makes the /b/ sound, like in 'bat', 'big', and 'bug'. Both lips press together then release.
B is a voiced bilabial stop — both lips press together and release with voice. It always makes the /b/ sound except when silent at the end of words after m (as in 'lamb' or 'comb').
Tip
B looks like a bat — and bat starts with /b/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: EAU says “yoo”
Sound“yoo”·/juː/
The three letters EAU work together and say “yoo”, like in 'beauty'.
EAU is a three-letter vowel team (a trigraph) — the E, A and U make ONE sound together, they are not sounded separately. In beauty and beautiful it says “yoo”, the same sound as the EW in few. In a few words borrowed from French it says “oh” instead — see the companion rule (bureau, plateau).
Tip
EAU is three letters, one sound — beauty!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter T
Sound“t”·/t/
The letter T makes the /t/ sound, like in 'top', 'tap', and 'ten'. The tongue tip taps behind the upper teeth.
T is a voiceless alveolar stop. The tongue tip touches the ridge behind the upper teeth and releases with a puff of air. Double T (tt) makes the same /t/ sound.
Tip
T taps — touch your tongue to make /t/!
Examples
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: Suffix -FUL
Sound“ful”·/fəl/
Adding -FUL means 'full of', like 'helpful' (full of help) and 'beautiful'.
The suffix -ful means 'full of' or 'having the quality of'. Note: the suffix is spelled with one L (-ful), not two (-full).
Tip
FUL means full of — helpful is full of help!
Examples
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