survival
Pronouncedser-VEYE-vuhl
nounStaying alive when things are dangerous or hard.
nounAn old idea or practice that people still follow even though they have forgotten why.
nounWhen a sports team stays in its league instead of being moved down to a lower one.
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
Phonics Rule: R-Controlled UR
Sound“er”·/ɜːr/
When R comes after U, it makes the “er” sound, like in 'turn' and 'burn'.
UR makes the same “er” sound as ER and IR. It's the least common of the three spellings.
Tip
The nurse with fur says “er”!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter V
Sound“v”·/v/
The letter V makes the /v/ sound, like in 'van', 'vet', and 'vine'. Upper teeth touch the lower lip with voice.
V is a voiced labiodental fricative — the upper front teeth rest on the lower lip while air and voice flow through. It is the voiced partner of F. English words rarely end in V; they usually add an E (have, live, give).
Tip
V is for van — /v/ vibrates your lips!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Open Syllable I (Long I)
Sound“eye”·/aɪ/
When I is the last letter of a syllable, the syllable is open and the I says its name “eye” — like in 'hi' and 'fi-nal'.
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 I at the end of a syllable says “eye” (hi, si-lent). The I also says its long name before two consonants in the 'ind' and 'ild' families (find, kind, child, mild). The long I sound is also spelled other ways, each its own rule — silent E (bike) or igh (night) — but those are not open syllables.
Tip
Long I says its name — I!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter V
Sound“v”·/v/
The letter V makes the /v/ sound, like in 'van', 'vet', and 'vine'. Upper teeth touch the lower lip with voice.
V is a voiced labiodental fricative — the upper front teeth rest on the lower lip while air and voice flow through. It is the voiced partner of F. English words rarely end in V; they usually add an E (have, live, give).
Tip
V is for van — /v/ vibrates your lips!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Schwa
Sound“uh”·/ə/
In unstressed syllables, vowels often make a lazy 'uh' sound called schwa, like the A in 'about'.
Schwa “uh” is the most common vowel sound in English. Any vowel letter can make the schwa sound when it's in an unstressed syllable. It sounds like a quick, lazy 'uh'.
Tip
Schwa is lazy — any vowel can say 'uh' when it's not stressed!
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
What is SnapPhonics?
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