SnapPhonics

heavenly

PronouncedHEH-vuhn-lee

/ˈhɛ.vən.liː/adjective
  1. adjectiveExtremely nice, beautiful, or pleasant.

  2. adjectiveRelating to the sky, the sun, moon, planets, and stars.

  3. adjectiveRelating to Heaven, the place where God or the gods live.

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Syllables

heavenly

3 syllables

Letters

Base word

heaven

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

ea

Phonics Rule: EA Vowel Team (Short E)

Sound“eh”·/ɛ/

Sometimes EA makes the short E sound, like in 'bread' and 'head'.

In some common words, 'ea' makes the short E sound “eh” instead of the expected long E. These words need to be memorized since there's no reliable rule to predict when EA says short E.

Tip

Bread, head, dead — EA says “eh” instead!

Examples

v

Phonics Rule: Letter V

Sound“v”·/v/

The letter V makes the /v/ sound, like in 'van', 'vet', and 'vine'. Upper teeth touch the lower lip with voice.

V is a voiced labiodental fricative — the upper front teeth rest on the lower lip while air and voice flow through. It is the voiced partner of F. English words rarely end in V; they usually add an E (have, live, give).

Tip

V is for van — /v/ vibrates your lips!

Examples

e

Phonics Rule: Schwa

Sound“uh”·/ə/

In unstressed syllables, vowels often make a lazy 'uh' sound called schwa, like the A in 'about'.

Schwa “uh” is the most common vowel sound in English. Any vowel letter can make the schwa sound when it's in an unstressed syllable. It sounds like a quick, lazy 'uh'.

Tip

Schwa is lazy — any vowel can say 'uh' when it's not stressed!

Examples

n

Phonics Rule: Letter N

Sound“n”·/n/

The letter N makes the /n/ sound, like in 'net', 'nap', and 'nut'. The tongue tip touches behind the upper teeth.

N is a voiced alveolar nasal — the tongue tip touches the ridge behind the upper teeth while voice hums through the nose. It is one of the most common consonants in English.

Tip

N hums through the nose — say /n/ and feel the buzz!

Examples

ly

Phonics Rule: Suffix -LY

Sound“lee”·/li/

Adding -LY to a word usually makes it describe HOW something is done, like 'slowly' and 'quickly'.

The suffix -ly usually turns an adjective into an adverb. 'Slow' → 'slowly' means 'in a slow way'.

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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