laughing
PronouncedLA-fihng
verbMaking the sounds and movements that show you find something funny or amusing.
verbMaking fun of someone or something in a unkind way.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: Letter L
Sound“l”·/l/
The letter L makes the /l/ sound, like in 'lamp', 'leg', and 'lip'. The tongue tip touches behind the upper teeth.
L is a voiced lateral approximant — the tongue tip touches the ridge behind the upper teeth while air flows around the sides. Double L (ll) makes the same /l/ sound.
Tip
L is for lamp — light it up with /l/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: AU says “a” (laugh, aunt)
Sound“a”·/æ/
In a few words AU says short A “a” instead of “aw” — 'laugh' rhymes with 'staff'.
AU almost always says “aw” (author, autumn, because, sauce). A small group of words says short A “a” instead: laugh, laughter, aunt and draught. In laugh and draught the GH says /f/, so laugh is simply “laf”. These are worth learning by sight — the spelling gives no clue.
Tip
Laugh rhymes with staff — not with sauce!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Silent GH
Sound“silent”
GH is often silent after a vowel, like in 'daughter' and 'taught'.
The combination GH is silent in many common words after vowel teams IGH, OUGH, AUGH, EIGH. Examples: night, through, daughter, eight, taught.
Tip
GH hides silently — night, through, daughter!
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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