under
PronouncedUHN-der
prepositionBelow something or at a lower level, as in 'The cat sat under the table'.
prepositionOn the other side of something, by going below it, as in 'We swam under the bridge'.
prepositionLess than a number or amount, as in 'She is under ten years old'.
prepositionFollowing a rule or being controlled by someone, as in 'We must work under the new teacher's rules'.
prepositionIn a group or type of something, as in 'Find the book under 'Animals' in the library'.
adverbIn an asleep or unconscious state, as in 'The patient went under during the operation'.
Phonics breakdown
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: ND End Blend
Sound“nd”·/nd/
ND at the end of a syllable blends /n/ and /d/ together, like in 'hand', 'sand', and 'send'.
ND is a common end blend (coda blend). The nasal /n/ and voiced stop /d/ are both heard. It appears very frequently in English words.
Tip
ND ends with a d-d-d — hand, sand, send!
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
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