Literacy and Phonetics

You have already learned many things up to this point in time. So what I want to remind you is that you can learn, you do learn, you are a learner already.

And if you need a helpful affirmation along the way, it is, "I can learn. I have learned many things already."

Small words, such as cat, may be considered baby words by some. However, by understanding that the letters CA in cat represent the same sound in the word Cathy can be a big plus in sounding out the word Cathy.

Also knowing that the letter C, when followed by the letter A in the same syllable, will represent the same sound as the letter K represents, is an extra plus.

Whereas the letter C followed by the letter i in the same syllable, represent the same sound as the letter S in the word silly.

Any size word is made up of common letter groups. Multiple letter groups added together make bigger words, called multi-syllable words.

So understanding and recognizing smaller letter patterns can be helpful in decoding and sounding out multi-syllable words.

There are five letters in the English language that are always vowels: A, E, I, O, and U. Vowels can be long, say their name; be short and represent a more breathy sound; or be paired with other vowels to represent new sounds.

The letters W and Y can also act like vowels depending on the word they are in and their location in the word. Y acts like a silent E in the word play, like a long E, as in the word silly, and as a long I, as in the word byte. W acts like a silent E, as in the word grow.

In the English language, all words and the majority of syllables, at least 99.9% of the syllables have a vowel in them. An exception is the word rhythm, in which there are two syllables and only one vowel.

Other than the word rhythm, there will be at least one vowel in each syllable and up to three. Your jaw will drop with the voicing of each new syllable.

There are 19 letters that are always consonants, B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, and Z. There are 21 when counting the letters W and Y, which sometimes act like consonants and sometimes act like vowels.

Most consonants are usually known for a specific sound: B, D, F, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, T, V, and Z, with only a few exceptions.

Three consonants can also represent a hard or soft sound; they are C, G, and S. The C can be hard as in the word cat or soft as in the word city. The G can represent its hard sound as in the word go, or its soft sound as in the word gel. The S can represent its hard sound as in the word seal, or its soft sound as in the word rise, in which the S sounds like the Z sound. See more below under General Spelling/Phonics Rules.

The X represents four sounds. X sometimes represents the Z sound as in xylophone, says its name as in x-ray, sounds like the K sound as in tuxedo, or the CKS sound as in fox.

B, K, and W are also sometimes silent is in the words climb, knew, and wrap.

All the rules are 'usually' true. There can be exceptions. They also apply to small words and/or individual syllables. Remember that small words and/or syllables add up to make larger multi-syllable words.

Short Vowels - A single vowel followed by a single consonant is usually short, as in bag.

Silent E or Long Vowels - A single vowel followed by a single consonant and the vowel E, is usually long, as in lake.

Two vowels together - When two vowels are between two consonants, the first vowel is usually long and the second vowel silent, as in boat.

The letter B is silent when it is at the end of the word and following the letter m, as in crumb, pronounced crum with a short U.

Hard C Sound - C sounds like the K sound when it is followed by A, O, or U, as in cat, cob, and cut.

Soft C Sound - C makes the sound like S when it is followed by E, I, and Y, as in cent, city, and cyan.

Hard G Sound - G makes its hard sound when it is followed by A, O, or U, as in gap, got, and gum. It can also make its hard sound when it is followed by E or I, as in get and give.

Soft G Sound - G usually sounds like the sound of J when it is followed by E, I, and Y, as in gem, gibe, and gym.

The letter K is silent when it is paired with and precedes the letter N in a word or syllable, as in knee.

S makes its hard sound when it is at the beginning of a word and not followed by H, as in seal.

S usually makes its soft sound, meaning it sounds like the Z in haze, when it comes at the end of a word or syllable and when it comes between two vowels, as in has and praise. Some common exceptions to S on the end of the word are bus and this.

The letter W is silent when it is paired with and precedes the letter R, is in write.

X says its name in the word x-ray. The sound of X sounds like a Z in the beginning of other words, as in xylophone. The sound of X at the end of most syllables and words sounds like the sound of CKS, as in fox. Now say the word docks. X also represents the sound of K as in the word tuxedo, pronounced tuk-see-doe, with a short u, long e, and long o.

Aa

A is the first letter of the alphabet. A is a vowel.
A represents its short sound as in at and tap. A represents its long sound as in ate and cape.

Short vowel patterns for A include:

A followed by a consonant

Sam mat bag tap

AI as short A

plaid

AU as short A

laugh

Long vowel patterns for A are:

A, consonant, silent e as long A

same make plate grape wade

AI as long A

aim aid rain train grain

Note: The AI pattern represents three different sounds. The AI represents the short A sound in plaid, and the long A sound in aim, and also the short E sound as in the word said.

AY as long A

say pray lay stay may

Note: The AI pattern is found at the beginning or the middle of the word. The AY pattern is predominantly found at the end of the word. An exception is the word crayon.

Other vowel patterns that represent the sound of long A are:

EA as long A

steak break great

Note: The EA pattern can represent the sound for long A, short E, and long E. See the Alphabet section Ee.

EI as long A

vein

EIGH as long A

weigh weight freight neighbor

Note: The EI in the above words stands for the long A sound and the letters GH are silent.

EY as long A

they prey

Note: the EY pattern can also represent the long E sound as in key. See the Alphabet section Ee.

A with R

When A is paired with and immediately precedes the letter R, the A appears to be silent, as it sounds like you are just saying the letter name R:

AR

are car far star

When the letter E immediately follows the letters AR, then the ARE pattern can also sound like you are saying the word air:

ARE as the AIR sound

care share stare dare

A is also paired with IR, (AIR)

AIR

hair fair lair

A with U as a Dipthong

A is also used in another pattern, representing a new sound; a dipthong, a blend of two vowel sounds in one syllable. Such a pattern is AU.

AU

cause pause August

Note that the AU represents the same sound that the AW represents in paws.

There are different parts of speech. verbs, adverbs, nouns, pronouns, and adjectives.

Verbs show some kind of action or doing. Adverbs describe verbs.

Nouns are things. Adjectives describe nouns. Pronouns are substitutes for nouns.

Letter patterns make up words. Words are divided into syllables. Phonics are the sounds that the letters represent. The letters are made up of vowels and consonants. Vowles can be long, say their name, or short.

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