Phonics: which letters complete the word?
English spelling is not perfectly regular, but many letter groups are reusable. Hear a complete word, look at the missing part and choose the spelling that fits. The feedback explains the pattern and its limits.
Play the phonics game
Ten patterns a round and three lives. Start where the spellings are useful to you; after two clear rounds, the next level joins the mix. There is no countdown, so replay the word as often as you need.
· Complete the spelling for
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The patterns in this game
Recordings use General American English. The spelling notes describe useful patterns, not rules without exceptions: English words can use the same letters for different sounds. Learn the whole word as well as the pattern.
Level 1: Consonant spellings
| Word | Pattern | Sound | What to notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| ship | sh | /ʃ/ at the start | The letters sh usually spell /ʃ/, as in ship, shop and finish. |
| chair | ch | /tʃ/ at the start | The letters ch often spell /tʃ/, as in chair, check and much. |
| phone | ph | /f/ at the start | In words from Greek, ph often spells /f/: phone, photo and graph. |
| thing | th | /θ/ at the start | In thing, th is the quiet sound /θ/. Put your tongue lightly between your teeth. |
| this | th | /ð/ at the start | In this, th is voiced /ð/. The spelling is the same as /θ/, but your throat vibrates. |
| yes | y | /j/ at the start | At the start of yes, y spells the consonant /j/. |
| bridge | dge | /dʒ/ at the end | After a short vowel, English often uses dge for final /dʒ/: bridge, edge and badge. |
| know | kn | /n/ at the start | The k is silent in kn at the start of know, knee and knife. |
| wrong | wr | /r/ at the start | The w is silent in wr at the start of wrong, write and wrist. |
| laugh | gh | /f/ at the end | At the end of laugh and enough, gh spells /f/. In many other words it is silent. |
Level 2: Vowel teams
| Word | Pattern | Sound | What to notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| seat | ea | /i/ | The vowel team ea spells /i/ in seat, read and team. |
| boat | oa | /oʊ/ | The vowel team oa often spells /oʊ/ in the middle of a word: boat, road and coat. |
| rain | ai | /eɪ/ | The vowel team ai often spells /eɪ/ in the middle of a word: rain, train and wait. |
| coin | oi | /ɔɪ/ | The vowel team oi often spells /ɔɪ/ in the middle of a word: coin, point and choice. |
| mouth | ou | /aʊ/ | The letters ou can spell /aʊ/ in mouth, out and around. |
| blue | ue | /u/ | At the end of blue, ue spells /u/. The final e is not a separate sound. |
| book | oo | /ʊ/ | In book, good and look, oo spells the shorter vowel /ʊ/. |
| right | igh | /aɪ/ | The group igh spells /aɪ/ in right, light and night. The gh is silent. |
| bird | ir | /ɝ/ | In General American English, ir spells the r-coloured vowel /ɝ/ in bird and first. |
| word | or | /ɝ/ | After w, or can spell /ɝ/ in word, work and world. |
Level 3: Useful endings
| Word | Pattern | Sound | What to notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| information | tion | /ʃən/ | The very common ending -tion is usually pronounced /ʃən/. |
| decision | sion | /ʒən/ | After a vowel, -sion can be pronounced /ʒən/, as in decision and vision. |
| politician | cian | /ʃən/ | The ending -cian means a person and is pronounced /ʃən/: politician, musician. |
| delicious | cious | /ʃəs/ | The ending -cious is pronounced /ʃəs/, as in delicious and precious. |
| dangerous | ous | /əs/ | The adjective ending -ous is usually unstressed and pronounced /əs/. |
| comfortable | able | /əbəl/ | The ending -able is often reduced to /əbəl/ in natural speech. |
| necessary | ary | /ˌseri/ | Necessary ends in -ary. In American English the ending is commonly /ˌseri/. |
| university | ity | /əti/ | The noun ending -ity is unstressed; its first vowel is usually reduced. |
| technology | ogy | /ədʒi/ | The ending -ology is used for fields of study; its final -gy is /dʒi/. |
| responsibility | ity | /əti/ | Words ending in -ibility use the noun ending -ity, pronounced with a reduced vowel. |
Keep practising
Use the sound chart to see how each sound is made, compare close sounds in Minimal pairs, or practise full-word recall in Spelling from sound.
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