sunglasses
PronouncedSUHN-gla-sihz
Dark glasses you wear to protect your eyes from bright sunlight.
Syllables
3 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: Letter S
Sound“s”·/s/
The letter S usually makes the /s/ sound, like in 'sun', 'sit', and 'sock'. Air hisses through a small gap.
S is a voiceless alveolar fricative when it makes the /s/ sound. At the end of many words it can also make a /z/ sound (as in 'dogs' or 'has'). At the start of a word it is always /s/.
Tip
S hisses like a snake — sssssun!
Examples
When the letter U appears in a closed syllable, it usually makes the short U sound “uh”. This sounds like 'uh'.
Tip
U says “uh” like 'uh-oh, what's up?'
Examples
Phonics Rule: NG Digraph
Sound“ng”·/ŋ/
NG together makes the “ng” sound at the back of your mouth, like in 'ring' and 'song'.
The digraph 'ng' makes the nasal sound “ng”. This sound is made at the back of your mouth/throat. It almost always appears at the end of a word or syllable.
Tip
Sing a song — NG rings along!
Examples
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
When the letter A appears in a closed syllable (a syllable that ends with a consonant), it usually makes the short A sound “a”. This is one of the first vowel sounds students learn.
Tip
A says “a” like a cat that sat on a mat.
Examples
Phonics Rule: Double Consonant
Sound“one sound”
Two of the same consonant together make just one sound, like the LL in 'ball' or TT in 'butter'.
When two identical consonants appear together, they make just one consonant sound, and the doubling signals a short vowel before it. A common case is the FLOSS rule: a one-syllable word with a short vowel doubles a final f, l, s, or z (off, ball, miss, buzz). Examples: ball, butter, happy, mitten, egg, off.
Tip
Double consonants make one sound — ball, butter, egg!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Suffix -ES
Sound“iz”·/ɪz/
When a word already ends in a hissing or buzzing sound, -ES adds a whole extra syllable that says “iz” — like 'boxes' and 'pages'.
Try saying 'boxs' — you can't, the two hissing sounds run together. So the ending opens up into its own syllable: box → box-es. This happens after s, x, z, ch and sh (boxes, buzzes, watches, wishes), and also after a soft c or soft g, which are hissing and buzzing sounds themselves (faces, pages, bridges). When the word does NOT end in one of those sounds, the e goes quiet and the ending is just an /s/ or a /z/ — cakes, shoes.
Tip
-ES adds a whole extra syllable — box-es, wish-es!
Examples
What is SnapPhonics?
A phonics reference for teachers, parents and learners. Every English word, broken into the sounds that make it — with audio, syllables, and the rule behind each spelling.
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