graduation
nounFinishing school or university and receiving a certificate that shows you have completed your studies.
nounA ceremony where students receive their certificates after finishing school or university.
nounA small mark on a measuring cup or ruler that shows how much or how long something is.
Syllables
4 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: GR Blend
G and R blend together — you hear both sounds! Like in 'green' and 'grow'.
The blend GR combines /ɡ/ and /r/ spoken quickly together.
Examples
Phonics Rule: Short A
The letter A makes a short sound, like in 'cat' and 'bat'.
When the letter A appears in a closed syllable (a syllable that ends with a consonant), it usually makes the short A sound /æ/. This is one of the first vowel sounds students learn.
Tip
A says /æ/ like a cat that sat on a mat.
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter D
The letter D makes the /d/ sound, like in 'dog', 'day', and 'dig'. The tongue tip touches behind the upper teeth.
D is a voiced alveolar stop. The tongue tip touches the ridge just behind the upper front teeth, then releases with voice. It reliably makes the /d/ sound in almost all positions.
Tip
D is for dog — and dog starts with /d/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Open Syllable U — /uː/ (Long U)
In an open syllable, when U follows L, R, S, or J it says 'oo' instead of 'yoo' — like in 'su-per' and 'tru-ly'.
Same open-syllable pattern as the companion Open Syllable U (/juː/) rule, but when the lone U follows L, R, S, or J it drops the Y-glide and says pure /uː/ (su-per, ru-by, tru-ly). Same letter, different sound depending on what comes before it.
Tip
After L, R, S, J — U says oo, not yoo!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Open Syllable A (Long A)
When A is the last letter of a syllable, the syllable is open and the A says its name /eɪ/ — like in 'ba-by' and 'pa-per'.
This is the open-syllable pattern: a syllable that ends in a vowel leaves that vowel 'open', so it says its long name. Here, a lone A at the end of a syllable says /eɪ/ (ba-by, a-pron, lady). The long A sound is also spelled other ways, each its own rule — silent E (cake), or vowel teams (ai in rain, ay in play) — but those are not open syllables.
Tip
Long A says its name — A!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Suffix -TION
-TION says /shun/! It turns verbs into nouns, like 'action' and 'nation'.
The suffix -tion is pronounced /ʃən/ (shun). It usually turns a verb into a noun: 'act' → 'action'. The TI makes a /ʃ/ sound, which is unusual for T.
Tip
TION says SHUN — the nation takes action!
Examples
What is SnapPhonics?
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