chewing
PronouncedCHOO-ihng
nounThe action of biting and grinding something in your mouth with your teeth.
nounThe eating of tobacco leaves by holding them in your cheek.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: CH Digraph
Sound“ch”·/tʃ/
C and H together make a new sound: “ch”, like in 'chop' and 'much'.
When C and H are together, they don't say /k/ + /h/. They make a completely new sound: “ch”. This is called a digraph — two letters making one sound.
Tip
CH — choo choo goes the train!
Examples
Phonics Rule: EW says “oo”
Sound“oo”·/uː/
EW usually says the “oo” sound, like in 'flew' and 'grew'.
The vowel team EW most often makes the pure “oo” sound at the end of a syllable: flew, grew, chew, crew, blew. After some consonants it adds a Y-glide and says “yoo” — see the companion 'EW says “yoo”' rule (few, mew, pew).
Tip
EW says oo — flew, grew, chew!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Suffix -ING
Sound“ing”·/ɪŋ/
Adding -ING to a verb shows something is happening right now, like 'running' and 'playing'.
The suffix -ing is added to verbs to show an ongoing action (present participle). Sometimes the base word changes: drop silent E ('make' → 'making'), double final consonant ('run' → 'running').
Examples
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