SnapPhonics

shoots

SHOOTS/ˈʃuːts/noun

The young, tender new parts that grow on plants. Bamboo shoots are the soft parts we can eat.

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Syllables

shoots

1 syllable

Letters

Base word

shoot

Related words (same phonics pattern)

Phonics breakdown

sh

Phonics Rule: SH Digraph

S and H together make the quiet sound /ʃ/, like in 'ship' and 'fish'.

The digraph 'sh' makes the /ʃ/ sound. Think of the 'shh, be quiet' sound. It can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.

Tip

SH says 'shhh' — be quiet on the ship!

Examples

oo

Phonics Rule: OO (Long Sound)

OO often makes the long sound, like in 'moon' and 'food'.

The vowel team 'oo' has two sounds. The long sound /uː/ is more common and appears in words like 'moon', 'food', and 'school'.

Tip

OO like the moon — ooooo!

Examples

t

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

s

Phonics Rule: Plural -S (/s/ sound)

After a quiet sound like p, t, k or f, the plural ending says /s/ — like 'cats' and 'cakes'.

Say 'ssss' and then 'zzzz' with a finger on your throat — only 'zzzz' buzzes. When the word already ends in a quiet (unvoiced) sound like p, t, k or f, the plural ending stays quiet too and says /s/. This happens whether the word is spelled -s (cats) or -es (cakes, notes), because in cakes the e is silent and only the s is sounded.

Examples

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