osprey
PronouncedAWS-pree
A large bird that hunts fish from the water.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: Short O
Sound“ah”·/ɑ/
The letter O makes a short sound, like in 'hot' and 'dog'.
When the letter O appears in a closed syllable, it usually makes the short O sound “ah”. In American English, this sounds like 'ah'.
Tip
O says “ah” like 'Ahh!' said the doctor.
Examples
Phonics Rule: SPR Blend
Sound“spr”·/spr/
SPR blends three consonants together: /s/, /p/, and /r/, like in 'spring', 'spray', and 'spread'.
SPR is a three-letter onset blend. All three sounds are heard: the /s/ hiss, the /p/ pop, and the /r/ glide — say them quickly together.
Tip
SPR springs — /spr/ like flowers in spring!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Open Syllable E (Long E)
Sound“ee”·/iː/
When E is the last letter of a syllable, the syllable is open and the E says its name “ee” — like in 'he' and 'me'.
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 E at the end of a syllable says “ee” (he, me, we, be). The long E sound is also spelled other ways, each its own rule — vowel teams (ee in tree, ea in read) — but those are not open syllables.
Tip
Long E says its name — E!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Y as Long E
Sound“ee”·/iː/
When Y is at the end of a longer word, it says long E, like in 'happy' and 'funny'.
When Y appears at the end of a multi-syllable word, it makes the long E sound “ee”. Very common in adjectives (happy, funny, silly) and nouns (baby, candy).
Tip
Y at the end of a long word says EEE — happy, funny, baby!
Examples
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