SnapPhonics

hatter

PronouncedHA-ter

/ˈhæ.tər/noun

A person who makes or sells hats.

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Syllables

hatter

2 syllables

Letters

Base word

hat

Related words (same phonics pattern)

Phonics breakdown

h

Phonics Rule: Letter H

Sound“h”·/h/

The letter H makes the /h/ sound, like in 'hat', 'hop', and 'hen'. It is a soft breath of air.

H is a voiceless glottal fricative — just a puff of air with no friction. It always appears before a vowel and is sometimes silent (as in 'hour' or 'honest').

Tip

H is a puff of air — breathe out and say /h/!

Examples

a

Phonics Rule: Short A

Sound“a”·/æ/

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 “a”. This is one of the first vowel sounds students learn.

Tip

A says “a” like a cat that sat on a mat.

Examples

tt

Phonics Rule: Double Consonant

Sound“one sound”

Two of the same consonant together make just one sound, like the LL in 'ball' or TT in 'butter'.

When two identical consonants appear together, they make just one consonant sound, and the doubling signals a short vowel before it. A common case is the FLOSS rule: a one-syllable word with a short vowel doubles a final f, l, s, or z (off, ball, miss, buzz). Examples: ball, butter, happy, mitten, egg, off.

Tip

Double consonants make one sound — ball, butter, egg!

Examples

er

Phonics Rule: Suffix -ER

Sound“er”·/ɜːr/

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?

A phonics reference for teachers, parents and learners. Every English word, broken into the sounds that make it — with audio, syllables, and the rule behind each spelling.

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