Decoding English
Learn how English letters and sounds work together. Explore vowels, consonants, silent letters and common spelling patterns.
Vowels
English has five main vowel letters: A, E, I, O and U. The letter Y can also act as a vowel in some words.
Consonants
Consonant letters usually represent sounds made by partly or completely blocking the airflow. Some consonants can change sound or become silent.
Silent Letters
Some letters are written but not pronounced.
One Letter, Many Sounds
The same letter can represent different sounds.
Letter Teams
Two letters can work together to represent one sound.
English Sounds Chart
Learn short vowels, long vowels, consonants, r-controlled vowels, and other English sounds with simple graphemes and word examples.
| Phoneme | Graphemes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /ă/ | a | cat, apple, hat |
| /ĕ/ | e | bed, pen, red |
| /ĭ/ | i, y | sit, pig, gym |
| /ŏ/ | o, a, au | hot, wash, because |
| /ŭ/ | u, o | cup, sun, won |
| Phoneme | Graphemes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /ā/ | a, ai, ay, a_e | cake, rain, day |
| /ē/ | e, ee, ea, y | me, tree, leaf, baby |
| /ī/ | i, ie, y, i_e | bike, pie, sky |
| /ō/ | o, oa, ow, o_e | home, boat, snow |
| /ū/ | u, ue, ew, u_e | cube, blue, new |
| Phoneme | Graphemes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /b/ | b, bb | ball, rabbit |
| /d/ | d, dd, ed | dog, add, smiled |
| /f/ | f, ff, ph | fish, puff, phone |
| /g/ | g, gg, gh | go, egg, ghost |
| /h/ | h | hat, happy |
| /j/ | j, g, ge, dge | jam, giant, bridge |
| /k/ | c, k, ck, ch | cat, kite, duck, school |
| /l/ | l, ll | leg, bell |
| /m/ | m, mm, mb | moon, summer, lamb |
| /n/ | n, nn, kn, gn | net, dinner, knee |
| /p/ | p, pp | pen, happy |
| /r/ | r, wr | run, write |
| /s/ | s, ss, c | sun, dress, city |
| /t/ | t, tt, ed | top, butter, walked |
| /v/ | v, ve | van, give |
| /w/ | w, wh | wet, whale |
| /y/ | y | yes, yellow |
| /z/ | z, zz, s | zoo, buzz, please |
| Phoneme | Graphemes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /ar/ | ar | car, star |
| /er/ | er, ir, ur | her, bird, turn |
| /or/ | or, ore | fork, more |
| /air/ | air, are | chair, care |
| /ear/ | ear, eer | near, deer |
| Phoneme | Graphemes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /oo/ | oo, u | book, put |
| /ōō/ | oo, ue, ew | moon, blue, chew |
| /ow/ | ow, ou | cow, cloud |
| /oy/ | oy, oi | boy, coin |
| /aw/ | aw, au, al | saw, auto, walk |
| Phoneme | Graphemes | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /ng/ | ng | sing, song |
| /ch/ | ch, tch | chair, match |
| /sh/ | sh | ship, fish |
| /th/ | th | thin, bath |
| /th/ | th | this, mother |
What is a phoneme?
A phoneme is a single sound in a word. For example, the word cat has three sounds: /k/ /ă/ /t/.
What is a grapheme?
A grapheme is the letter or letter group that spells a sound. For example, /k/ can be written as c, k, or ck.
Vowel Sound Spellings
Learn English vowel sounds with spelling patterns, pronunciation guides, and simple word examples for kids and beginner readers.
‘ae’
| Grapheme | Pronunciation | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| a | /eɪ/ | table, baby, paper |
| ai | /eɪ/ | rain, train, snail |
| a-e | /eɪ/ | game, cake, name |
| ay | /eɪ/ | say, play, day |
| eigh | /eɪ/ | eight, weigh, neighbour |
‘ee’
| ee | /iː/ | meet, tree, green |
| ea | /iː/ | seat, leaf, beach |
| e | /iː/ | me, we, she |
| y | /iː/ | funny, happy, baby |
| ie | /iː/ | chief, field, thief |
‘ie’
| igh | /aɪ/ | night, light, right |
| i-e | /aɪ/ | like, bike, smile |
| y | /aɪ/ | dry, fly, sky |
| ie | /aɪ/ | pie, tie, lie |
| i | /aɪ/ | wild, child, find |
‘oe’
| oa | /əʊ/ | boat, coat, road |
| ow | /əʊ/ | grow, snow, yellow |
| o-e | /əʊ/ | note, home, stone |
| oe | /əʊ/ | toe, goes, foe |
| o | /əʊ/ | most, open, robot |
‘ue’
| u-e | /juː/ | mule, cube, cute |
| u | /juː/ | pupil, music, unicorn |
| ew | /juː/ | few, new, stew |
| ue | /juː/ | cue, rescue, value |
‘oo’
| oo | /uː/ | boot, moon, spoon |
| ue | /uː/ | blue, true, glue |
| ew | /uː/ | grew, chew, flew |
| o | /uː/ | do, to, who |
| ou | /uː/ | soup, group, you |
Short ‘a’
| a | /æ/ | cat, hat, bag |
| a | /æ/ | map, apple, rabbit |
Short ‘e’
| e | /e/ | bed, red, pen |
| ea | /e/ | bread, head, ready |
| ai | /e/ | said, again |
Short ‘i’
| i | /ɪ/ | in, sit, fish |
| y | /ɪ/ | myth, gym, symbol |
Short ‘o’
| o | /ɒ/ | not, dog, hot |
| a | /ɒ/ | was, want, watch |
| ou | /ɒ/ | cough |
Short ‘u’
| u | /ʌ/ | tub, sun, cup |
| o | /ʌ/ | Monday, son, love |
| ou | /ʌ/ | touch, young, double |
‘or’
| or | /ɔː/ | for, born, short |
| ore | /ɔː/ | more, store, before |
| aw | /ɔː/ | lawn, saw, draw |
| au | /ɔː/ | fraud, August, sauce |
‘er’
| er | /ɜː/ | her, fern, person |
| ir | /ɜː/ | girl, bird, shirt |
| ur | /ɜː/ | turn, burn, nurse |
| ear | /ɜː/ | learn, earth, early |
‘ar’
| ar | /ɑː/ | jar, car, star |
| a | /ɑː/ | glass, father, fast |
| al | /ɑː/ | calm, palm, half |
‘air’
| air | /eə/ | chair, hair, fair |
| are | /eə/ | dare, care, share |
| ear | /eə/ | bear, pear, wear |
| ere | /eə/ | where, there |
‘ear’
| ear | /ɪə/ | near, hear, year |
| eer | /ɪə/ | deer, cheer, steer |
| ere | /ɪə/ | here, sincere |
‘oi’
| oi | /ɔɪ/ | join, coin, soil |
| oy | /ɔɪ/ | boy, toy, enjoy |
‘ow’
| ow | /aʊ/ | cow, now, flower |
| ou | /aʊ/ | out, cloud, house |