SnapPhonics

customer

KUHS-tuh-mer/ˈkʌs.tə.mər/noun
  1. nounA person who buys something from a shop or business.

  2. nounA person you have to deal with or interact with.

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Syllables

customer

3 syllables

Letters

Related words (same phonics pattern)

Phonics breakdown

c

Phonics Rule: Hard C

C makes the /k/ sound before A, O, U, or a consonant, like in 'cat' and 'cup'.

The letter C makes the hard /k/ sound when followed by A, O, U, or a consonant. This is the default C sound. Examples: cat, cup, coat, cold, crab, class.

Tip

C says K before A, O, U — cat, cup, coat!

Examples

u

Phonics Rule: Short U

The letter U makes a short sound, like in 'cup' and 'bus'.

When the letter U appears in a closed syllable, it usually makes the short U sound /ʌ/. This sounds like 'uh'.

Tip

U says /ʌ/ like 'uh-oh, what's up?'

Examples

st

Phonics Rule: ST Blend

S and T blend together — you hear both sounds! Like in 'stop' and 'fast'.

The blend ST combines /s/ and /t/ spoken quickly together. It can appear at the beginning or end of a word.

Examples

o

Phonics Rule: O says /ʌ/

O sometimes says the /ʌ/ sound (like short U), like in 'son', 'love', and 'month'.

In a set of common words, O says /ʌ/ instead of short /ɒ/: son, won, month, mother, brother, love, glove, dove, dozen, oven, money, honey.

Tip

O can say uh — son, love, month!

Examples

m

Phonics Rule: Letter M

The letter M makes the /m/ sound, like in 'map', 'mud', and 'mop'. Both lips press together with voice through the nose.

M is a voiced bilabial nasal — both lips press together while the voice hums through the nose. Double M (mm) makes the same /m/ sound.

Tip

M hums like mmm — press your lips and hum!

Examples

er

Phonics Rule: Suffix -ER

Adding -ER can mean 'more' (bigger) or 'a person who' (teacher).

The suffix -er has two main uses: comparative ('big' → 'bigger' = more big) and agent ('teach' → 'teacher' = a person who teaches).

Examples

What is SnapPhonics?

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