haunting
PronouncedHAWN-tihng
adjectiveSomething that stays in your mind and is hard to forget.
nounWhen a ghost visits or lives in a place.
verbVisiting a place again and again, especially as a ghost.
verbFollowing someone or staying close to them.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
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
Phonics Rule: AU Vowel Team
Sound“aw”·/ɔː/
When A and U are together, they make the “aw” sound, like in 'author' and 'pause'.
The vowel team AU makes the “aw” sound (same as AW). It appears in the middle of words. Examples: author, pause, fault, haunt, cause.
Tip
AU says aw — author, pause, fault!
Examples
Phonics Rule: NT End Blend
Sound“nt”·/nt/
NT at the end of a syllable blends /n/ and /t/ together, like in 'tent', 'mint', and 'want'.
NT is a very common end blend. The nasal /n/ flows into the stop /t/. In fast speech the /t/ is sometimes barely voiced, but both sounds are present.
Tip
NT tents up at the end — tent, mint, hunt!
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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