worker
nounA person who does a job to earn money.
nounAn insect in a colony, like an ant or bee, that does all the work for the group.
Syllables
2 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: Letter W
The letter W makes the /w/ sound, like in 'win', 'wet', and 'web'. The lips round into an O shape.
W is a voiced bilabial approximant — the lips round tightly then open as voice flows. W is sometimes silent (write, wrong) and can act as a vowel in some combinations (aw, ew, ow).
Tip
W rounds your lips — make an O then say /w/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: R-Controlled OR (as /ɜːr/)
After W, the letters OR say /ɜːr/ instead of /ɔːr/ — like 'word' and 'work'.
When OR follows W, it makes the /ɜːr/ sound (same as ER, IR, UR). This is a small but predictable group of words. Companion rule to r_controlled_or.
Tip
W+OR sounds like ER — work, word, world!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter 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
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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