hey
PronouncedHAY
A word you shout to get someone's attention.
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: EY says long A
Sound“ay”·/eɪ/
EY can say the long A sound “ay”, like in 'they' and 'obey'.
The vowel team EY often makes the long A sound “ay”: they, obey, grey, prey, hey, survey. (EY also says long E “ee” at the end of many words — money, key, honey — where the Y is doing the 'long E' job.)
Tip
EY says long A — they obey!
Examples
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