hurting
verbCausing someone or something physical pain or injury.
verbCausing someone to feel sad or upset.
verbBeing painful or uncomfortable.
verbDamaging or making something worse.
adjectiveFeeling physical or emotional pain.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: Letter 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: R-Controlled UR
When R comes after U, it makes the /ɜːr/ sound, like in 'turn' and 'burn'.
UR makes the same /ɜːr/ sound as ER and IR. It's the least common of the three spellings.
Tip
The nurse with fur says /ɜːr/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter T
The letter T makes the /t/ sound, like in 'top', 'tap', and 'ten'. The tongue tip taps behind the upper teeth.
T is a voiceless alveolar stop. The tongue tip touches the ridge behind the upper teeth and releases with a puff of air. Double T (tt) makes the same /t/ sound.
Tip
T taps — touch your tongue to make /t/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Suffix -ING
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
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.
Save words to study lists, build flashcard decks, and scan your own worksheets and books.