smothered
PronouncedSMUH-therd
Covered thickly so you can barely see what's underneath.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Related words (same phonics pattern)
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: SM Blend
Sound“sm”·/sm/
S and M blend together — you hear both sounds! Like in 'small' and 'smile'.
The blend SM combines /s/ and /m/ spoken quickly together.
Examples
Phonics Rule: O says “uh”
Sound“uh”·/ʌ/
O sometimes says the “uh” sound (like short U), like in 'son', 'love', and 'month'.
In a set of common words, O says “uh” instead of short “o”: son, won, month, mother, brother, love, glove, dove, dozen, oven, money, honey.
Tip
O can say uh — son, love, month!
Examples
Phonics Rule: TH Digraph (Voiced)
Sound“th”·/ð/
TH can make a buzzy sound “th”, like in 'this' and 'the'. You can feel your throat vibrate!
The voiced TH “th” is the vibrating version. Put your hand on your throat — you can feel it buzz. This sound appears in very common words like 'the', 'this', 'that', 'they'.
Tip
Voiced TH buzzes — this, that, the!
Examples
Phonics Rule: R-Controlled ER
Sound“er”·/ɜːr/
When R comes after E, it makes the “er” sound, like in 'her' and 'fern'.
ER makes the same sound as IR and UR — they all say “er”. ER is the most common spelling of this sound, especially at the end of words.
Tip
ER, IR, and UR all sound the same — Bossy R wins again!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Suffix -ED (/d/ sound)
Sound“d”·/d/
After voiced sounds like /b/, /g/, /n/, -ED says /d/, like in 'played' and 'named'.
After voiced consonants and vowels, -ed says /d/. The E is silent.
Tip
After a buzzy sound, -ED says /d/!
Examples
What is SnapPhonics?
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