grandfathers
PronouncedGRAN-dfah-therz
nounThe fathers of someone's parents.
nounMale ancestors from a long time ago.
verbTo be a grandfather to someone.
verbTo allow someone to keep an old rule even after a new one starts.
Syllables
3 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: GR Blend
Sound“gr”·/ɡr/
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
When the letter A appears in a closed syllable (a syllable that ends with a consonant), it usually makes the short A sound “a”. This is one of the first vowel sounds students learn.
Tip
A says “a” like a cat that sat on a mat.
Examples
Phonics Rule: ND End Blend
Sound“nd”·/nd/
ND at the end of a syllable blends /n/ and /d/ together, like in 'hand', 'sand', and 'send'.
ND is a common end blend (coda blend). The nasal /n/ and voiced stop /d/ are both heard. It appears very frequently in English words.
Tip
ND ends with a d-d-d — hand, sand, send!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter F
Sound“f”·/f/
The letter F makes the /f/ sound, like in 'fish', 'fun', and 'fox'. The upper teeth touch the lower lip.
F is a voiceless labiodental fricative — the upper front teeth rest on the lower lip while air flows through to make the /f/ sound. It is very consistent.
Tip
F is for fish — and fish starts with /f/!
Examples
When the letter A appears in a closed syllable (a syllable that ends with a consonant), it usually makes the short A sound “a”. This is one of the first vowel sounds students learn.
Tip
A says “a” like a cat that sat on a mat.
Examples
Phonics Rule: TH Digraph (Voiced)
Sound“th”·/ð/
TH can make a buzzy sound “th”, like in 'this' and 'the'. You can feel your throat vibrate!
The voiced TH “th” is the vibrating version. Put your hand on your throat — you can feel it buzz. This sound appears in very common words like 'the', 'this', 'that', 'they'.
Tip
Voiced TH buzzes — this, that, the!
Examples
Phonics Rule: R-Controlled ER
Sound“er”·/ɜːr/
When R comes after E, it makes the “er” sound, like in 'her' and 'fern'.
ER makes the same sound as IR and UR — they all say “er”. ER is the most common spelling of this sound, especially at the end of words.
Tip
ER, IR, and UR all sound the same — Bossy R wins again!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Plural -S (/z/ sound)
Sound“z”·/z/
After a buzzing sound or a vowel, the plural ending says /z/ — like 'dogs' and 'shoes'.
Put a finger on your throat and say 'zzzz' — you feel a buzz. When the word ends in a buzzing (voiced) sound or a vowel, the plural ending buzzes too and says /z/. This happens whether the word is spelled -s (dogs) or -es (shoes, trees), because in shoes the e is silent and only the s is sounded. Most people never notice they are doing this.
Examples
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