mountains
PronouncedMOWN-tuhnz
nounVery large hills with steep sides that rise high above the land around them.
nounVery large amounts of something; huge heaps.
nounDifficult tasks or big challenges to overcome.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: Letter M
Sound“m”·/m/
The letter M makes the /m/ sound, like in 'map', 'mud', and 'mop'. Both lips press together with voice through the nose.
M is a voiced bilabial nasal — both lips press together while the voice hums through the nose. Double M (mm) makes the same /m/ sound.
Tip
M hums like mmm — press your lips and hum!
Examples
OU glides from “ah” into “oo”, which together make the “ow” sound. It usually appears in the middle of a word. OU has several possible sounds, but “ow” is the most common.
Tip
OU — ouch! I'm out of the house!
Examples
Phonics Rule: NT End Blend
Sound“nt”·/nt/
NT at the end of a syllable blends /n/ and /t/ together, like in 'tent', 'mint', and 'want'.
NT is a very common end blend. The nasal /n/ flows into the stop /t/. In fast speech the /t/ is sometimes barely voiced, but both sounds are present.
Tip
NT tents up at the end — tent, mint, hunt!
Examples
Phonics Rule: AI says “uh” (-tain, -gain)
Sound“uh”·/ə/
At the end of a word in -TAIN or -GAIN, AI relaxes to the lazy schwa “uh” — 'mountain' ends like 'mount-uhn', not 'mount-TAIN'.
AI usually says long A “ay” (rain, train). But in the unstressed endings -tain and -gain the syllable is spoken quickly and the vowel relaxes to schwa “uh”: mountain, captain, certain, curtain, bargain. Say the word naturally and listen to the last syllable — it is “uhn”, not “ayn”. This is the same relaxing that turns the OU of famous into a schwa.
Tip
Mountains are tall but the ending is lazy — mount-uhn!
Examples
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
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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