hues
PronouncedHYOOZ
nounDifferent colors or shades of color.
nounDifferent shades based on the type of light that makes a color look red, yellow, green, blue, or something else.
nounDifferent qualities or characteristics of something.
Syllables
1 syllable
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: Open Syllable U — “yoo” (Long U)
Sound“yoo”·/juː/
When U is the last letter of a syllable, the syllable is open and the U says its name with a /j/ glide — like in 'mu-sic' and 'hu-man'.
This is the open-syllable pattern: a syllable that ends in a vowel leaves it 'open', so it says its long name. Here, a lone U at the end of a syllable says “yoo” (mu-sic, hu-man, u-nit). After L, R, S, or J the Y-glide drops and U says “oo” instead — see the companion Open Syllable U (“oo”) rule.
Tip
Long U says its name with a YOO sound!
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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