SnapPhonics

whisker

WIHS-ker/ˈwɪs.kər/noun
  1. nounOne of the long hairs that grows from the side of a cat's or other animal's mouth.

  2. nounA single hair from someone's beard.

  3. nounThe part of a beard that grows on the sides of the face or chin.

  4. nounA very small distance between two things.

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Syllables

whisker

2 syllables

Letters

Base word

whisk

Word forms:

Related words (same phonics pattern)

Phonics breakdown

wh

Phonics Rule: WH Digraph

WH at the start of a word usually sounds like /w/, like in 'when' and 'what'.

In most American English, 'wh' sounds the same as 'w'. It appears at the beginning of question words (who, what, when, where, why) and other common words.

Tip

WH asks questions — when, what, where, why!

Examples

i

Phonics Rule: Short I

The letter I makes a short sound, like in 'sit' and 'big'.

When the letter I appears in a closed syllable, it usually makes the short I sound /ɪ/. This is one of the trickiest short vowels because it sounds similar to short E.

Tip

I says /ɪ/ like an itch you can't miss.

Examples

sk

Phonics Rule: SK Blend

SK blends /s/ and /k/ together, like in 'skip', 'skin', and 'sky'.

SK appears at both the beginning and end of syllables. It reliably makes the /sk/ sound in all positions.

Tip

SK skips — /sk/ skip, skin, sky!

Examples

er

Phonics Rule: Suffix -ER

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?

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