barn
Word:
/bɑrn/
noun
b ar n
Sounds:
/bɑrn/
noun
b ar n
Sounds:
/bɑrn/
noun
b ar n
Sounds:
/bɑrn/
noun
star
Word:
/stɑr/
noun
s t ar
Sounds:
/stɑr/
noun
s t ar
Sounds:
/stɑr/
noun
s t ar
Sounds:
/stɑr/
noun
s t ar
Sounds:
/stɑr/
noun
card
Word:
/kɑrd/
noun
c ar d
Sounds:
/kɑrd/
noun
c ar d
Sounds:
/kɑrd/
noun
c ar d
Sounds:
/kɑrd/
noun
march
Word:
/mɑrtʃ/
verb, noun
m ar ch
Sounds:
/mɑrtʃ/
verb, noun
m ar ch
Sounds:
/mɑrtʃ/
verb, noun
m ar ch
Sounds:
/mɑrtʃ/
verb, noun
far
Word:
/fɑr/
adverb
f ar
Sounds:
/fɑr/
adverb
f ar
Sounds:
/fɑr/
adverb
corn
Word:
/kɔrn/
noun
c or n
Sounds:
/kɔrn/
noun
c or n
Sounds:
/kɔrn/
noun
c or n
Sounds:
/kɔrn/
noun
north
Word:
/nɔrθ/
noun
n or th
Sounds:
/nɔrθ/
noun
n or th
Sounds:
/nɔrθ/
noun
n or th
Sounds:
/nɔrθ/
noun
horn
Word:
/hɔrn/
noun
h or n
Sounds:
/hɔrn/
noun
h or n
Sounds:
/hɔrn/
noun
h or n
Sounds:
/hɔrn/
noun
sport
Word:
/spɔrt/
noun
s p or t
Sounds:
/spɔrt/
noun
s p or t
Sounds:
/spɔrt/
noun
s p or t
Sounds:
/spɔrt/
noun
s p or t
Sounds:
/spɔrt/
noun
for
Word:
/fɔr/
preposition
This present is for me.
f or
Sounds:
/fɔr/
preposition
This present is for me.
f or
Sounds:
/fɔr/
preposition
This present is for me.
fern
Word:
/fɝn/
noun
f er n
Sounds:
/fɝn/
noun
f er n
Sounds:
/fɝn/
noun
f er n
Sounds:
/fɝn/
noun
germ
Word:
/dʒɝm/
noun
g er m
Sounds:
/dʒɝm/
noun
soft g
g er m
Sounds:
/dʒɝm/
noun
g er m
Sounds:
/dʒɝm/
noun
girl
Word:
/gɝl/
noun
Girl is an exception to the soft G rule.
g ir l
Sounds:
/gɝl/
noun
Girl is an exception to the soft G rule.
g ir l
Sounds:
/gɝl/
noun
Girl is an exception to the soft G rule.
g ir l
Sounds:
/gɝl/
noun
Girl is an exception to the soft G rule.
third
Word:
/θɝd/
noun
th ir d
Sounds:
/θɝd/
noun
th ir d
Sounds:
/θɝd/
noun
th ir d
Sounds:
/θɝd/
noun
burn
Word:
/bɝn/
verb
b ur n
Sounds:
/bɝn/
verb
b ur n
Sounds:
/bɝn/
verb
b ur n
Sounds:
/bɝn/
verb
fur
Word:
/fɝ/
noun
f ur
Sounds:
/fɝ/
noun
f ur
Sounds:
/fɝ/
noun
a e i o u
r
a e i o u
r
a e i o u
r
a e i o u
r
ar er ir or ur
Double R is not bossy. A syllable break stops R from being bossy.
ar er ir or ur
/ɑr/
Double R is not bossy. A syllable break stops R from being bossy.
ar er ir or ur
/ɔr/
Double R is not bossy. A syllable break stops R from being bossy.
ar er ir or ur
/ɝ/
/ɝ/
/ɝ/
Double R is not bossy. A syllable break stops R from being bossy.
a
ă
ar
ar
o
ŏ
or
or
i e u
ĭ
ĕ
ŭ
ir er ur
er
er
er
as in apple
uh
ar
:
/ɑr/
as in car
sounds like:
‘ar’
The letter A can sometimes make this sound by itself. When AR follows W it can sound like 'or'.
frequency:
common
car star park farm
uh
or
:
/ɔr/
as in fork
sounds like:
‘or’
When OR follows W it often sounds like 'er‘. Will often reduce to a schwa at the end of words depending on your accent.
frequency:
common
horse fork corn storm
uh
er
:
/ɝ/
as in fern
sounds like:
‘er’
Will often reduce to a schwa at the end of words depending on your accent.
frequency:
common
her term fern serve
uh
ir
:
/ɝ/
as in bird
sounds like:
‘er’
IR commonly appears before D, T, TH, and ST in base words.
frequency:
uncommon
bird first third shirt
uh
ur
:
/ɝ/
as in burn
sounds like:
‘er’
UR is often used before N, S, and T in base words.
frequency:
uncommon
turn burn nurse purple
a
:
/æ/
as in apple
sounds like:
‘a’
The short A sound is commonly found in closed syllables (CVC).
frequency:
very common
cat apple bat
hat
o
:
/ɑ/
as in frog
sounds like:
‘o’
The short O sound is commonly found in closed syllables (CVC).
frequency:
very common
frog
stop
otter
orange
AR
AR makes the ‘ar’ sound.
car
farm
shark
OR
OR makes the ‘or’ sound.
corn
horn
storm
ER
ER makes the /er/ sound.
her
fern
stern
IR
IR also makes the /er/ sound.
bird
girl
swirl
UR
UR also makes the /er/ sound.
fur
nurse
turtle
Double R
R is not bossy when it is doubled.
carry
berry
hurry
Syllable Wall
R can only boss the vowel in its own syllable.
spi-rit
ve-ry
spi-ral
W + OR
W before OR can change the sound to ‘ur’.
word
world
worm
W + AR
W before AR can change the sound to ‘or’.
war
warm
ward
Schwa + R
R is not bossy in some unstressed syllables.
(Pronouncing these final sounds as a schwa will depend on your accent.)
butter
doctor
sugar
Consonant Blocks R
A consonant between the vowel and R stops it being bossy.
secret
hungry
extra
YRE Beats Bossy R
The YRE spelling pattern is not bossed by R.
tyre
lyre
pyre
When R IS Bossy Over Y
In a very small number of words, R does boss the Y — making it say ‘er’. This only happens in the rare '-yr' pattern.
Examples:
myrrh
myrtle
martyr
YR could be pronounced as a schwa here depending on your accent.
A rare example of double R being bossy.
Usually Y Stands Up to Bossy R!
In words ending with '-yre', the Y keeps its long ‘eye’ sound and R cannot change it. These words are much more common than the rare '-yr' pattern.
Examples:
tyre
lyre
pyre
ARE
Silent E makes ARE say ‘air’.
care
share
dare
IRE
Silent E makes IRE say ‘eye-er’.
fire
hire
wire
ORE
Silent E makes ORE say ‘or’.
more
shore
store
ERE
Silent E makes ERE say ‘ear’.
here
sphere
severe
URE
Silent E makes URE say ‘yoor’.
pure
cure
lure
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Words that end in V
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