sweater
PronouncedSWEH-ter
nounA warm knitted top made of wool or similar material.
nounA thick woollen jacket worn by athletes to keep warm before or after exercise.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: SW Blend
Sound“sw”·/sw/
SW blends /s/ and /w/ together, like in 'swim', 'sweet', and 'swing'.
SW appears only at the beginning of words or syllables. Both sounds are clearly heard — the /s/ hiss followed immediately by the /w/ glide.
Tip
SW swoops — /sw/ swim, sweet, swing!
Examples
Phonics Rule: EA Vowel Team (Short E)
Sound“eh”·/ɛ/
Sometimes EA makes the short E sound, like in 'bread' and 'head'.
In some common words, 'ea' makes the short E sound “eh” instead of the expected long E. These words need to be memorized since there's no reliable rule to predict when EA says short E.
Tip
Bread, head, dead — EA says “eh” instead!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter T
Sound“t”·/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
Phonics Rule: Suffix -ER
Sound“er”·/ɜːr/
Adding -ER can mean 'more' (bigger) or 'a person who' (teacher).
The suffix -er has two main uses: comparative ('big' → 'bigger' = more big) and agent ('teach' → 'teacher' = a person who teaches).
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.
Save words to study lists, build flashcard decks, and scan your own worksheets and books.