SnapPhonics

turkey

PronouncedTER-kee

/ˈtɜːr.kiː/noun
  1. nounA large farm bird with dark feathers that people eat, especially at Thanksgiving.

  2. nounThe meat from this bird that people cook and eat.

  3. nounA wild bird similar to a farm turkey.

  4. nounA country in Europe and Asia, with its capital in Ankara.

  5. nounThree strikes thrown one after another in bowling.

  6. nounSomething that does not work or go well.

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Syllables

turkey

2 syllables

Letters

Related words (same phonics pattern)

Phonics breakdown

t

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

ur

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

k

Phonics Rule: Letter K

Sound“k”·/k/

The letter K makes the /k/ sound, like in 'kite', 'kit', and 'king'.

K always makes the /k/ sound. It is used before E, I, and Y where C would make an /s/ sound instead. K is silent before N at the start of a word (knife, know).

Tip

K is for kite — and kite starts with /k/!

Examples

Sound“ee”·/iː/

When E is the last letter of a syllable, the syllable is open and the E says its name “ee” — like in 'he' and 'me'.

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 E at the end of a syllable says “ee” (he, me, we, be). The long E sound is also spelled other ways, each its own rule — vowel teams (ee in tree, ea in read) — but those are not open syllables.

Tip

Long E says its name — E!

Examples

y

Phonics Rule: Y as Long E

Sound“ee”·/iː/

When Y is at the end of a longer word, it says long E, like in 'happy' and 'funny'.

When Y appears at the end of a multi-syllable word, it makes the long E sound “ee”. Very common in adjectives (happy, funny, silly) and nouns (baby, candy).

Tip

Y at the end of a long word says EEE — happy, funny, baby!

Examples

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