English Sounds to Phonograms

Cards · 102

/k/ (unvoiced velar plosive)

c (before a, o, u), k (before e, i, y), ck (after short vowel at end of base word), ch (Greek origin), qu (as /kw/ or /k/ in French loans)

/s/ (unvoiced alveolar fricative)

s, c (before e, i, y), ss (after short vowel), sc (science), ps (psychology), st (listen)

/z/ (voiced alveolar fricative)

z, s (between vowels or after voiced sounds at word ends), zz, se, ze

/dʒ/ (voiced postalveolar affricate, 'soft g')

j (rarely ends English words), g (before e, i, y), dge (after a single short vowel), ge (after long vowel or consonant)

/tʃ/ (unvoiced postalveolar affricate, 'ch' sound)

ch (common), tch (immediately following a single short vowel), t (before u in nature)

/ʃ/ (unvoiced postalveolar fricative, 'sh' sound)

sh (native words), ti/si/ci (in Latin suffixes like -tion, -sion, -cious), ch (French loans like chef)

/ʒ/ (voiced postalveolar fricative, 'measure' sound)

s (measure, vision), si (division), z (azure), g (genre in French loans)

/f/ (unvoiced labiodental fricative)

f, ff (after a short vowel at the end of a base word), ph (Greek origin), gh (tough, cough)

/v/ (voiced labiodental fricative)

v, ve (English words do not end in v, always add silent e)

/w/ (voiced labial-velar approximant)

w, wh, u (after q or g, as in queen, penguin)

/j/ (voiced palatal approximant, 'y' consonant)

y (at the beginning of a word/syllable), i (in onion), j (hallelujah)

/h/ (voiceless glottal transition)

h, wh (who, whole)

/m/ (bilabial nasal)

m, mm (after short vowel), mb (climb), mn (autumn)

/n/ (alveolar nasal)

n, nn, kn (knee), gn (gnat), pn (pneumonia)

/ŋ/ (velar nasal, 'ng' sound)

ng (sing), n (before k or g, as in sink, finger)

/l/ (alveolar lateral approximant)

l, ll (after a short vowel at the end of a base word)

/r/ (alveolar/postalveolar approximant)

r, rr, wr (write), rh (rhyme)

/b/ (voiced bilabial plosive)

b, bb (often medial after short vowels, as in rabbit)

/p/ (unvoiced bilabial plosive)

p, pp (medial after short vowels, as in puppy)

/t/ (unvoiced alveolar plosive)

t, tt, -ed (past tense after voiceless sounds, as in stopped), bt (doubt), pt (receipt)

/d/ (voiced alveolar plosive)

d, dd, -ed (past tense after voiced sounds, as in played)

/ɡ/ (voiced velar plosive, 'hard g')

g (before a, o, u or consonants), gg, gh (ghost), gu (guard, guest - silent u keeps g hard before e/i)

/θ/ (unvoiced dental fricative, 'thin')

th (voiceless in content words like think, bath)

/ð/ (voiced dental fricative, 'this')

th (voiced in grammatical words like the, this, and between vowels like breathe, father)

/ks/ (consonant blend sound)

x (box), ks (books), cks (rocks), cs (relics)

/ɡz/ (consonant blend sound)

x (when followed by a stressed vowel, as in exam, exit)

Short /æ/ ('short a' in cat)

a (closed syllable: cat, bat)

Long /eɪ/ ('long a' in cake)

a_e (split digraph), ai (middle of word: rain), ay (end of word: day), ei/eigh (eight, vein), ey (they)

Short /ɛ/ ('short e' in bed)

e (closed syllable: bed), ea (bread, head)

Long /iː/ ('long e' in see)

ee (see), ea (meat), e_e (theme), e (open syllable: he), -y (end of multi-syllable word: happy), ie (field), ey (key)

Short /ɪ/ ('short i' in sit)

i (closed syllable: sit), y (gym, system)

Long /aɪ/ ('long i' in kite)

i_e (split digraph: kite), igh (night, high), -y (end of single-syllable word: cry, fly), ie (pie, tie), i (open syllable: spider)

Short /ɒ/ or /ɑː/ ('short o' in pot)

o (closed syllable: hot, pot), a (after w or qu: wash, squash)

Long /oʊ/ ('long o' in boat)

o_e (split digraph: home), oa (middle of word: boat), ow (end of word: snow), o (open syllable: go), oe (toe)

Short /ʌ/ ('short u' in cup)

u (closed syllable: cup, bus), o (love, son, won), ou (touch, cousin)

Long /uː/ ('long oo' in moon)

oo (moon), u_e (flute), ew (flew), ue (blue), ui (fruit), ou (soup)

Long /juː/ ('long u' with /j/ in mule)

u_e (mule), u (music), ew (few), ue (cue)

/ʊ/ ('short oo' in book)

oo (book, foot), u (push, put), ou (could, should)

/ɔɪ/ (diphthong 'oy' in coin)

oi (middle of base word: coin, boil), oy (end of base word or syllable: boy, enjoy)

/aʊ/ (diphthong 'ow' in cow)

ou (beginning/middle of word: out, shout), ow (end of word or before n/l: cow, down, owl)

/ɔː/ (broad 'aw' sound in law/talk)

aw (end of word/syllable: saw, lawn), au (middle: sauce), a (before l: all, ball), al (talk, walk)

/ɜːr/ (r-controlled central vowel in bird/her)

er (most common: her), ir (bird, first), ur (burn, turn), ear (earth, learn), wor (word, work)

/ɑːr/ (r-controlled vowel in car)

ar (car, star, part)

/ɔːr/ (r-controlled vowel in fork)

or (fork, sport), ore (core, more), oar (board), war (war, warm)

/ɛər/ (r-controlled vowel in chair/care)

air (chair), are (care, share), ear (bear, wear), eir (their)

/ɪər/ (r-controlled vowel in dear/deer)

ear (dear, hear), eer (deer, cheer), ere (here)

/ʊər/ (r-controlled vowel in tour/cure)

ure (cure, pure), oor (poor), our (tour)

/ə/ (schwa, unstressed vowel)

Any vowel grapheme in an unstressed syllable: a (sofa), e (taken), i (pencil), o (lemon), u (circus)

Final /k/ sound after a single short vowel

Spelled 'ck' (pack, neck, kick, lock, duck). Never use bare 'c' or 'k' alone right after a single short vowel in a 1-syllable word.

Final /tʃ/ sound after a single short vowel

Spelled 'tch' (catch, fetch, pitch, notch, hutch). Exceptions include rich, which, much, such.

Final /dʒ/ sound after a single short vowel

Spelled 'dge' (badge, edge, bridge, dodge, fudge). Used only right after a single short vowel.

Final /f/, /l/, /s/, or /z/ in a 1-syllable base word after short vowel (FLOSS rule)

Spelled with doubled letters: ff (cliff), ll (bell), ss (miss), zz (buzz).

/kw/ (unvoiced labial-velar blend)

qu (English words never use q without u; sounds like /kw/ in native/Latin words like quick, queen)

Silent 'b' after 'm' in syllable rime

b (silent at word end or before suffix: climb, comb, dumb, lamb, thumb, debt/doubt from Latin etymology)

Silent 'k' before 'n'

kn (Germanic origin, initial position only: knee, know, knife, knot, knight)

Silent 'g' before 'n'

gn (initial position in gnat, gnaw, gnome; medial/final in sign, reign, foreign)

Silent 'w' before 'r'

wr (Germanic origin, initial position only: write, wrong, wrap, wrist, wreck)

Silent 'l' before dental/labial consonants

l (silent before k, m, f, d in native words: walk, talk, calf, half, calm, palm, would, could, should)

Silent 'p' in Greek word-initial clusters

pn, ps, pt (Greek root initials: pneumonia, pneumatic, psalm, psychic, pterodactyl)

Silent initial 'h'

h (silent in French loanwords: hour, honor, heir, honest; and silent after r in rhyme, rhythm)

Past tense suffix pronounced /t/

-ed (inflectional suffix added to base words ending in voiceless sounds except /t/: walked, jumped, missed, laughed)

Past tense suffix pronounced /d/

-ed (inflectional suffix added to base words ending in voiced sounds except /d/: played, hugged, robbed, buzzed)

Past tense suffix pronounced /ɪd/ or /əd/

-ed (inflectional suffix added to base words ending in root /t/ or /d/: wanted, planted, needed, folded)

Plural/3rd person suffix pronounced /s/

-s (inflectional suffix added after unvoiced consonant sounds except sibilants: cats, maps, books, laughs)

Plural/3rd person suffix pronounced /z/

-s (inflectional suffix added after vowels and voiced consonant sounds except sibilants: dogs, beds, trees, runs)

Plural/3rd person suffix pronounced /ɪz/ or /əz/

-es or -s (inflectional suffix added after sibilants /s, z, ʃ, tʃ, dʒ/: buses, wishes, watches, foxes, judges)

Suffix '-tion' pronounced /ʃən/

-tion (Latin suffix indicating state/action: action, option, caution, tradition)

Suffix '-sion' pronounced /ʒən/

-sion (occurs when base word or root ends with a vowel or r sound before the suffix: vision, division, decision, television)

Suffix '-sion' pronounced /ʃən/

-sion (occurs after a base consonant like l, s, or n: tension, mansion, passion, mission, expansion)

Suffix '-cian' pronounced /ʃən/

-cian (Latin root denoting a person skilled in an art/science: musician, magician, physician, technician)

Suffix '-cious' and '-tious' pronounced /ʃəs/

-cious (preceded by vowel in base like delicious, precious), -tious (derived from nouns ending in -tion like ambitious, cautious)

Suffix '-cial' and '-tial' pronounced /ʃəl/

-cial (usually follows a vowel: social, special), -tial (usually follows a consonant: partial, essential; exception: initial)

Suffix '-ture' pronounced /tʃər/

-ture (Latin bound root suffix: nature, picture, capture, future, structure)

Suffix '-sure' pronounced /ʒər/

-sure (Latin suffix following a vowel: measure, treasure, pleasure, exposure)

Suffix '-que' pronounced /k/

-que (French suffix/spelling at end of loanwords: unique, boutique, antique, plaque)

Word-final /i/ sound in multi-syllable base words

y (English words rarely end in i; final unstressed long /i/ is spelled y: baby, candy, happy, funny)

Final /oʊ/ sound in base words

o, ow, oe (o in open syllables like hero; ow at word end like snow, blow; oe in monosyllables like toe, foe)

Phonogram 'igh' pronounced /aɪ/

igh, ight (Old English origin containing silent gh: high, sigh, night, bright, flight)

Phonogram 'eigh' pronounced /eɪ/

eigh (Old English origin with silent gh: eight, weigh, neighbor, freight, sleigh)

Phonogram 'ough' pronounced /ɔː/ or /ɑː/

ough (bought, brought, thought, fought, ought)

Phonogram 'ough' pronounced /oʊ/

ough (though, although, dough, doughnut)

Phonogram 'ough' pronounced /ʌf/

ough (rough, tough, enough)

Phonogram 'ough' pronounced /ɒf/ or /ɔːf/

ough (cough, trough)

Phonogram 'ough' pronounced /uː/

ough (through, breakthrough)

Phonogram 'ough' pronounced /aʊ/

ough (bough, drought, plough)

Phonogram 'ough' pronounced /ə/ (schwa)

ough (unstressed ending in thorough, borough)

Vowel sound /eɪ/ spelled 'ei'

ei ('i before e except after c, or when sounding like a': vein, rein, reign, beige, surveillance)

Phonogram 'ey' pronounced /eɪ/

ey (stressed final syllable: they, obey, convey, grey, prey)

Phonogram 'ey' pronounced /iː/

ey (unstressed final syllable: key, valley, chimney, monkey, honey)

Phonogram 'ea' pronounced /ɛ/ ('short e')

ea (historical shortening: bread, head, dread, feather, leather, measure)

Phonogram 'ea' pronounced /eɪ/ ('long a')

ea (limited set of common words: great, steak, break, yea)

Phonogram 'ui' pronounced /uː/

ui (fruit, juice, suit, bruise, cruise)

Vowel sound /iː/ spelled 'ie'

ie ('i before e': piece, chief, brief, shield, grief, believe)

Vowel sound /aɪ/ spelled 'ie'

ie (word-final open position or derived: tie, pie, lie, die, cried)

Silent 't' in '-tle' and '-sten'

t (silent medial stop before syllabic l or n: whistle, castle, rustle, listen, fasten, moisten)

Silent 'c' in 'sc-' words

c (silent after s before front vowels: scene, scent, science, muscle, fascinate)

Phonogram 'gu' representing /ɡ/ before front vowels

gu (French/Romance spelling to keep g hard before e, i, y: guide, guitar, guest, guilt, guarantee)

Phonogram 'bu' representing /b/ with silent 'u'

bu (build, building, built, buy, buoy)

Phonogram 'rh' representing /r/

rh (Greek origin with silent h: rhinoceros, rhyme, rhythm, rhetoric, rhombus)

Phonogram 'mn' representing final /m/

mn (silent n in final base rime: autumn, column, hymn, condemn, solemn)

Phonogram 'ch' representing /k/ (Greek words)

ch (Greek morphemes: echo, chorus, school, mechanic, ache, stomach, chaos)

Phonogram 'ch' representing /ʃ/ (French loans)

ch (modern French borrowings: chef, machine, chute, champagne, brochure, parachute)