Multiple Letter Phonograms
er
/er/ the “er” of her
her, fern, tiger
ir
/er/ the “ir” of first
first, bird, chirp
ur
/er/ the “ur” of nurse
nurse, hurt, turn
wor
/er/ the “wor” of works
work, world, word
ear
/er/ the “ear” of early
earth, heard, learn
sh
/sh/ two-letter sh
she, fish, ship
ee
/e/ double /e/ always says /e/
see, green, cheese
th
/th/ as in “think”; /th/ as in that
1st Sound: think, three, thorn, 2nd Sound: that, then, smooth
ay
/a/ two-letter /a/ that we DO use at the end of English words
say, play, may
ai
/a/ two-letter /a/ that we DO NOT use at the end of English words
trail, pain, wait
ow
/ow/ as in cow, /o/ as in low
1st Sound: cow, crown, flower
2nd Sound: low, grow, snow
ou
/ou/ as in mouse
/o/ as in four
/oo/ as in soup
/u/ as in touch
1st Sound: mouse, ground, noun
2nd Sound: four, court, pour
3rd Sound: soup, group, youth
4th Sound: touch, young, trouble
oy
/oy/ two-letter /oy/ that we DO use at the end of English words
toy, joy, destroy
oi
/oi/ two-letter /oi/ that we DO NOT use at the end of English words
voice, point, coin
aw
/aw/ two-letter /aw/ that we DO use at the end of English words
straw, law, awful
au
/au/ two-letter /au/ that we DO NOT use at the end of English words
haul, author, pause
ew
/oo/, /u/ that we DO use at the end of English words
/oo/ as in grew
/u/ as in few
1st Sound: grew, flew, chew
2nd Sound: few, new, pew
ui
/oo/, /u/ that we DO NOT use at the end of English words
/oo/ as in fruit
/u/ as in suit
1st Sound: fruit, cruise, nuisance
2nd Sound: suit, pursuit
oo
/oo/ as in food
/oo/ as in book
/o/ as in door
1st Sound: food, school, moon
2nd Sound: book, good, shook
3rd Sound: door, floor
ch
/ch/ as in child
/k/ as in school
/sh/ as in chef
1st Sound: child, march, chicken
2nd Sound: school, scholar, ache
3rd Sound: chef, machine, chute
ng
/ng/ as in king
king, long, morning
ea
/e/ as in dream
/e/ as in feather
/a/ as in break
1st Sound: dream, leaf, teacher
2nd Sound: feather, treasure, meadow
3rd Sound: break, great, steak
ar
/ar/ as in farm
farm, large, part
ck
/k/ two-letter /k/ used after a single, short vowel sound
back, neck, clock
ed
/ed/, /d/, /t/ past tense ending
/ed/ as in traded
/d/ as in robbed
/t/ as in baked
1st Sound: traded, rented, painted
2nd Sound: robbed, climbed, scrubbed
3rd Sound: baked, stopped, jumped
or
/or/ as in corn
corn, horse, storm
wh
/wh/ with a feather
white, wheat, whisper
oa
/o/ the /o/ of boat
boat, toad, coach
ey
/a/ the /a/of they
/e/ the /e/ of key
1st Sound: they, obey, prey
2nd Sound: key, valley, trolley
ei
/e/ the /e/ of ceiling
/a/ the /a/ of veil
/i/ the /i/ of forfeit
1st Sound: ceiling, conceive, either
2nd Sound: veil, reign
3rd Sound: forfeit, counterfeit
ie
/e/ the /e/ of field
/i/ the /i/ of pie
1st Sound: field, believe
2nd Sound: pie, tie
igh
/i/ three-letter /i/
light, night, might
eigh
/a/ four-letter /a/
eight, neighbor, sleigh
kn
/n/ two-letter /n/ used only at the beginning of English words
knock, know, knee
gn
/n/ two-letter /n/ used at the beginning and the end of English words
gnaw, gnome, sign, align
wr
/r/ two-letter /r/
wrist, wrap, write
ph
/f/ two-letter /f/
telephone, dolphin, phonogram
dge
/j/ three-letter /j/ used after a single, short vowel sound
dodge, badge, judge
oe
/o/ the /o/ of toe
toe, woe, oboe
tch
/ch/ three-letter /ch/ used after a single, short vowel sound
watch, catch, kitchen
ti
/sh/ tall /sh/ used at the beginning of any syllable after the 1st one
nation, station, quotient
si
/sh/, /zh/ used at the beginning of any syllable after the 1st one
1st Sound: session, mansion
2nd Sound: vision, explosion
ci
/sh/ short /sh/ used at the beginning of any syllable after the 1st one
social, ancient, delicious
ough
/o/ as in though
/oo/ as in through
/uff/ as in rough
/off/ as in cough
/aw/ as in bought
/ow/ as in bough
1st Sound: though, dough, thorough
2nd Sound: through
3rd Sound: rough, tough, enough
4th Sound: cough
5th Sound: bought, thought
6th Sound: bough