Wednesday, February 29, 2012

English Sounds and Corresponding Spellings

Sometimes English spelling is confusing because one sound can be represented by multiple letters or letter combinations. Use the following chart as a reference to recognize the different spellings for English sounds. (The letters between slash marks “/  /” represent sounds.)


Vowels
Sound
Spelling
Example
/ə/, /ŭ/
a
about
e
open
i
pencil
o
money, summon, lemon
u
cactus
/ā/
a
gate
ai
paint
ay
say
/ē/
ea
dream
ee
sweet
ie
field, chief
y
sunny
/ī/
i
kite
igh (ign)
tight, sign
ie
pie
y
fly, style
/ō/
o
so, note, cold
oa
boat
oe
toe
ow
show
/ū/
(as in suit)
u
suit, tube
ue
blue
ui
suit
oo
food
ew
new
/ĭ/
i
it
y
gym
Special Vowel Sounds
Sound
Spelling
Example
/ow/
ou
out
ow
how
/oo/ (book)
oo
book
u
push
/aw/
aw
lawn
au
fault
a
call
/oy/
oy
boy
oi
oil
Consonants
Sound
Spelling
Example
/k/
c
cat
k
kitten
ck
truck
ch
choir
/f/
f
fish
ff
stuff
gh
tough
ph
phone
/j/
j
jump
gi
giant
ge
gel
dge
fudge
/n/
n
nest
gn
gnome
kn
knee
/r/
r
red
wr
write
/s/
s
sing
ce
cent
ci
ci
cy
cycle
/sh/
sh
shirt
ch
chef
ti
lotion
ci
special
/ch/
ch
chime
tch
itch

Information reproduced from the English Language Enhancement published by Reading Horizons. Used with permission.

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